Crossrail: Archaeological Investigations Conducted in Advance of Construction of the Elizabeth Line
Crossrail: Archaeological Investigations Conducted in Advance of Construction of the Elizabeth Line
Crossrail: Archaeological Investigations Conducted in Advance of Construction of the Elizabeth Line
The construction of Crossrail through the heart of London has resulted in one of the most extensive archaeological programmes ever undertaken in the UK. The project has given archaeologists an exceptional opportunity to record important parts of London’s history.
The Generic Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) was prepared in consultation with English Heritage and relevant County and local authority archaeologists to ensure a consistent approach across the route and throughout the life of the project.
One of the core objectives of the Crossrail archaeology programme was the dissemination of archaeology information to the wider archaeological community, together with a focused education and outreach programme for local communities.
Years of research have been carried out to understand the impact that construction will have on the archaeology along the route. Moreover, Crossrail’s archaeological team will be producing detailed reports on their findings. All the significant artefacts will be provided to the Museum of London and the Natural History Museum.
Collection Details
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Item type:Dataset, Eleanor Street Shaft (Crossrail XTJ13)(2019)MOLAThis archive presents the results of an archaeological evaluation carried out by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) on the site of the Eleanor Street Shaft, within the area known as the Bow Triangle, London E3, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Overlying the natural terrace gravels in evaluation Trench 1 (area of the temporary shaft) was a layer of reworked brickearth, probably as a result of cultivation, dated by clay tobacco pipe to 1700-1770. Above this was a buried soil which was interpreted as a horticultural horizon. Overlying this were 19th-century building remains, sealed by modern overburden. Underlying the modern made ground on the site was a layer covering the entire shaft area. This has been dated to c.1480-1800/1900 and interpreted as a post-medieval cultivation soil. Historic mapping illustrates that the site remained undeveloped through the post medieval period until the mid-19th century, when urban development around the site accelerated and construction of railways in this part of London began. On Gascoigne's 1703 map the site was open ground, the later maps of Rocque in 1746 and Horwood in 1799 show the area was in use as fields and Stanford's map of 1862 depicts the area surrounding Eleanor Street comprising of market gardens. These are all consistent with the archaeological evidence. Underlying the layer were natural terrace gravels. The archaeological fieldwork has demonstrated that remains relating to the Prehistoric, Roman or medieval period have not survived to the modern era, if they were once present on site.2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, City Wall at Old Broad Street (Crossrail XSZ11)(2019)MOLAArchaeological watching brief on Crossrail utility diversions at Old Broad Street in the predicted location of the City Wall (Scheduled Monument LO26N). A trench (19.00m long x 0.60 to 1.00m wide) was dug to install new utility ducts, and was between 0.45 to 0.80m deep. The trench was located at the south end of Old Broad Street, at the junction with London Wall. Although within the area of the City Wall, no archaeological remains were encountered in this area at this depth. An archaeological watching brief on three gas main trial trenches in London Wall (between the junctions with Coleman Street and Blomfield Street). This followed a previous phase involving a watching brief on a utility trench in Old Broad Street (molas1-117511). The trenches on London Wall revealed truncated sections of circa 17th to 19th-century brick walls and floors between 0.30 and 3.90m below the existing road surface. These features were not fully exposed but were possibly the remnants of backfilled cellars or culverts. Although the monitoring was carried out to prevent damage to the City Wall (Scheduled Monument (LO26N and LO26P)), no remains relating to the City Wall were encountered. The area was found to have been extensively disturbed by numerous modern utilities. A small section of The London wall (LO26P) was exposed, recorded and surveyed- the earliest deposit identified. The 0.38m by 0.2m fragment been heavily truncated by 19th-20th century utilities, and only survived as an isolated feature slightly to the north of the junction between Blomfield Street and London Wall. A larger section of wall was also exposed to the south-east, which had been previously exposed during earlier Crossrail works, also monitored by MOLA (MOLA 2010). The anticipated postern (gate) that had also been previously recorded by Compass to the north of the traffic island (southern end of Blomfield Street) did not survive within the narrow utilities trench. MOLA's fieldwork helped to more accurately record and locate these surviving parts of the wall, adding to the wider database of the predicted east-west wall alignment along London Wall. No archaeologically significant deposits were exposed in the trial hole adjacent to 41/42 London wall.2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Tottenham Court Road (Crossrail TCG09)(2019)MOLAThe Tottenham Court Road archive includes data from both field evaluation and building recording. A group of non-Listed buildings located to the south of the Astoria Theatre were recorded in December 2009 prior to demolition. The earliest building was formally a 19th-century brick-built warehouse (constructed 1877-85 by R L Roumieu and A Aitchison, completed by R A Roumieu) belonging to the Crosse and Blackwell Company who produced pickles and sauces in a factory in Soho Square. This building, 12 Sutton Row, is known to have been linked by a walkway over the street to the Astoria to the north, itself formerly a warehouse and part of the food factory. Its appearance had been much altered; the original Gothic arched loops and windows were replaced and the whole fa�ade onto Charing Cross Road re-rendered, although the proportions of the original fa�ade remained as did a turret with a spire in the NE corner of the building. Crosse and Blackwell left the Soho area in the 1920s and the warehouse was converted to showrooms and offices in 1925. It formerly extended further to the SW. The other buildings included one fronting Charing Cross Road that was built as a dance school in 1905, with retail units on the ground floor. The third building was built on the site of the demolished portion of the Crosse and Blackwell warehouse complex. The buildings on the site formed an entire block, whilst the 2nd and 3rd buildings were linked together in a recent phase of refurbishment to form 12 Goslett Yard. Eight evaluation trenches were excavated between July 2009 and February 2010. These revealed no sign of natural brickearth, the quarrying of which may have resulted in such widespread truncation. Trenches to the south revealed a water-lain deposit which may have been a pre-17th-century land surface, overlain by dumped layers containing material dated 1650-1700. Trenches in the SW and northern parts of the site revealed 17th-century structural remains consistent with the first development of Bow Road (now Goslett Yard) in the 1670s. The northern trench revealed 18th-19th-century additions, while a trench to the east had a large subsurface vaulted chamber of probable 18th-century date. However, it was filled - almost to the roof - with late 19th/early 20th-century pot and glass associated with Crosse and Blackwell's occupation of the site. A trench in the NW corner of the site revealed a timber warehouse floor overlain by a similar deposit of this material. A trench in the NE corner exposed an 19th/20th-century brick structure whose function and extent could not be determined within the confines of the trench.2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Custom House Station, Victoria Dock Road (Crossrail XTI13)(2019)MOLA4 trial trenches and two window samples exposed former wood peat (intrepreted to be the former backswamp area of the Thames Floodplain) overlying late Pleistocene Shepperton Gravels. Above the peat was estuarine influenced alluvial clay.4 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Ham and Wick Sewer Protection (Crossrail XTH12)(2019)MOLAMonitoring of works for two sewer diversion shafts revealed only truncated natural London Clay(in the Wick sewer access chamber, near the cutting for the Blackwall Tunnel approach road and truncated natural gravels(in the Ham sewer access chamber west of Wick Lane. No archaeological remains were observed on either site and modern material and services sealed the truncated natural deposits.3 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Limmo Peninsula (Crossrail XRW10)(2019)MOLAFour phases of archaeological excavation (two general watching briefs, an evaluation with two trenches and a targeted watching brief) carried out at the site of Crossrail Limmo Peninsula Shaft by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), between 09/08/10 to 03/12/10. 20th-century made ground (10m OD) on structural remains of 19th-20th-century Thames Ironworks (3.5m OD) , over 19th-century made ground (2.6m OD), overlaying alluvial and natural deposits (0.49mOD). A walkover assessment was carried out on the non-listed built heritage at Instone Wharf, consisting of structures of low historical value associated with its former use as a freight terminal. Mooring posts mounting iron bollards, probably installed during the redevelopment of the site in the 1930s, were recorded, as were paved surfaces associated with railway lines which may date to the 1950s. An evaluation trench and subsequent targeted watching brief at Instone Wharf at the mouth of the Lea, exposed substantial brick walls related to the Thames Iron Works Offices and Workshops along with associated foundations and bases for machinery. Also uncovered were the lower portion of the Mast House and Mould Loft building and the south-easternmost slipway of the Iron Works, separated by a timber revetment.2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Journal article, An important 16th-century finds assemblage from ‘Moorfields’, Liverpool Street, London(2019-10-15)2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, MOLA Conventions, Attribute Definitions, and Validation Tables (Crossrail)(2019)MOLAThe files presented here provide additional documentation for the Crossrail site archives deposited by MOLA. MOLA Conventions and Attribute Definitions: The Conventions documents explain the structure of the spreadsheets forming part of this archive and the layer conventions for all AutoCAD documents. The Attribute Definitions expand on the Field Names used in the Attribute Tables for .shp files. MOLA Validation Tables: The Validation Tables explain any abbreviations referred to in the Spreadsheet conventions document for Field, Finds and Environmental digital records.1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Blomfield Worksite, Liverpool Street, 11-12 Blomfield Street, EC2 (Crossrail XSL10)(2019)MOLAThree trenches were excavated in the basement of the now-demolished 11 and 12 Blomfield Street and rearward extensions. Natural gravels were exposed in two trenches. In the E of the site, natural deposits were cut by a series of sterile waterlain clays sloping from W-E, probably from a relatively fast flowing section of the Roman Walbrook (or a tributary of it) whose ancient alignment is echoed in the current N-S orientation of Blomfield Street. A small fragment of Roman tegula roofing tile dated AD 50-160 was recovered from within a sandy dump deposit sealing this sequence, mortar on the broken edge suggesting reuse. To the west the sequence was repeated, with a naturally formed alluvial layer and inclusions of wood and plant suggesting formation in a semi-terrestrial environment, possibly delineating the eastern edge of the Walbrook. Again Roman pottery was recovered from overlying dump and/or reclamation layers. The earliest tentatively identified as a Roman round-bodied jar likely to be 1st century in date. A sherd of Roman natural blue-green glass was also recovered along with pottery common in London assemblages dated to the 1st-3rd centuries. This suggests that this part of the Walbrook may have been backfilled or become disused in the 2nd-3rd centuries, with dumped domestic rubbish utilised as landfill. In the lower double basement at the back of 11 Blomfiled, 19-c brickwork was exposed immediately below the foundation slab. A floor surface and wall formed of yellow stock bricks were of similar construction and probably contemporary appearing to relate to an earlier phase of construction, and may an be a retaining wall for the metropolitan line underground built in the 1870's. The basements and foundations of 19th and 20th-c buildings completed the archaeological sequence in all areas of the site.2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Dataset, Whitechapel Station (Crossrail XSH10)(2019)MOLAThree evaluation trenches were opened at the Cambridge Heath worksite (located to the E of Brady Street, TQ 3486 8195), while watching briefs were conducted at both that site and the Essex Wharf worksite (on the N side of Durward Street, TQ 3461 8196). Natural Taplow terrace gravels were recorded at each borehole location between 3.25 and 4.90m below street level. In the extreme eastern edge of the gardens, waterlain deposits were recorded possibly from an undated ditch or paloechannel. Immediately to the north two phases of brick floor, possibly delineating yard surfaces and associated deposits were exposed in a starter pit. One particular context containing fine Chinese porcelain, a wig curler and imported German stoneware gives us a snapshot of daily life at the time. A subsequent borehole suggested that substantial brick foundations survived to a considerable depth in this area, most likely associated with 18th-19th century terraced buildings that had been levelled following World War II. Little in situ remains survived from the period when the gardens were in use as a (Quaker) burial ground, from the late 17th to 19th centuries. Only tentative evidence was recorded of in situ remains. Disarticulated human bone was documented in each intervention, generally in the higher deposits, implying that the remains had been well disturbed and subsequently redistributed across the site. Chalk and sandstone inclusions drilled from one borehole may have been from an in situ structure of unknown date, but are just as likely arbitrary inclusions. The majority of the deposits were dated by inclusions (ceramics and tobacco pipes) from the 18th-19th centuries, and were recorded within substantial levelling/ make up dumps. The watching brief demonstrated that there is extensive survival of low grade post medieval deposits across the site, the majority formed once the burial ground had gone into disuse. 18th-19th century domestic buildings survive at a shallow depth in the north of the gardens, as predicted through contemporary mapping. There is limited evidence of Victorian and latter disturbance, again supported by documentation that shows little change following the gardens establishment in the 19th century. The watching brief was part of a wider project investigated and recorded with this site code. At Durward Street Shaft (Essex Wharf worksite) the natural brickearth was cut by two undated ditches which may relate to the division of the area into planned plots for intensive agriculture as shown on Rocque's 18th century map. A circular brick-lined structure set into natural gravel is in the same position as a feature marked 'tank' on the 1873 Ordnance Survey map midway between the contemporary rail head and a superphosphate fertiliser works. It may relate to water supply for the former or water disposal for the latter. A part of the 19th century railway cutting retaining wall which had remained in use until the present day was recorded during demolition.2
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