This is a preserved stretch of the eastern circuit of the Roman city wall of Londinium, including the remains of an external bastion, lying beneath modern buildings just inside the line of the medieval wall near Aldgate. The wall here was constructed c. AD 200, of Kentish ragstone with bonding courses of red tile, while the bastion (one of the eastern series, Bastions 4 or 4A in the conventional numbering) is a later addition, generally dated to the late 4th century as part of refurbishments to the city's defences.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
This sector formed part of the c. 3 km defensive enceinte enclosing Londinium, the provincial capital and largest city in Roman Britain; the eastern bastions, solid and semicircular, reflect late Roman concerns with urban security, possibly under Count Theodosius or in response to barbarian raids. The America Square/Crosswall stretch is one of the better-preserved sections of the eastern circuit, visible in situ in basement settings.
Sections of the wall have been recorded during 19th-century railway construction (Fenchurch Street station, 1841) and successive 20th- and 21st-century redevelopments at Crosswall and No. 1 America Square, where masonry of the wall and bastion footings was exposed, conserved and in places displayed in situ.
This is a preserved stretch of the eastern circuit of the Roman city wall of Londinium, including the remains of an external bastion, lying beneath modern buildings just inside the line of the medieval wall near Aldgate. 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 wall and bastion beneath Crosswall, No. 1 America Square and Fenchurch Street railway station 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: remains of medieval and Roman wall extending 75yds (68m) N from Trinity Place to railway (0.1 km), London Wall: remains of Roman wall and bastion (4a) at Crutched Friars (0.1 km), London Wall: remains of Roman wall, bastions and city gate of Aldgate from 17 Bevis Marks to India Street (0.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
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 wall and bastion beneath Crosswall, No. 1 America Square and Fenchurch Street railway station