This site at St Alphage Garden preserves one of the best-surviving above-ground sections of London's Roman city wall, originally constructed c. AD 200, with later medieval heightening and refacing clearly visible in the standing fabric. The Roman wall here formed part of the northern defensive circuit of Londinium, running roughly 3.2 km around the city and enclosing some 130 hectares; the remains incorporate the ruined gable of the medieval church of St Alphage (originally part of Elsing Spital priory).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
This stretch lies on the northern landward defences of Londinium, close to the line linking the Cripplegate fort (incorporated into the wall) and Bishopsgate, and demonstrates the long continuity of London's defensive perimeter from the Roman period into the medieval city.
Excavations and surveys (notably post-WWII bomb clearance work by W.F. Grimes and later by MOLA) revealed the characteristic Roman construction of ragstone rubble core faced with squared Kentish ragstone blocks and triple bonding courses of red tile, surviving here to several metres in height, with medieval brick and stone superstructure clearly distinguishable above the Roman fabric.
This site at St Alphage Garden preserves one of the best-surviving above-ground sections of London's Roman city wall, originally constructed c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
London Wall: section of Roman and medieval wall at St Alphage Garden, incorporating remains of St Alphage's Church is classified as a Roman site — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including London Wall: site of the Roman and medieval gateway of Cripple Gate (0.1 km), London Wall: section of Roman wall within the London Wall underground car park, 25m north of Austral House and 55m north west of Coleman Street (0.1 km), London Wall: section of Roman and medieval wall and bastions, west and north of Monkwell Square (0.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around London Wall: section of Roman and medieval wall at St Alphage Garden, incorporating remains of St Alphage's Church