Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) has recently published two new books. The first of these reports on the major excavations undertaken between 1989 and 1999 at the Guildhall.

The London Guildhall: an archaeological history of a neighbourhood from early medieval to modern times, by David Bowsher, Tony Dyson, Nick Holder and Isca Howell

The book combines historical, archaeological and architectural analysis to create a major integrated history of the London Guildhall, the home of the City of London’s government. Beginning with the first hall of the 12th century, the book describes later halls and precinct buildings from the 14th to the 20th centuries.

Good organic survival preserved evidence in an 11th- and 12th-century parish churchyard and for a number of adjacent timber houses. This wide-ranging volume highlights other themes from the medieval and later periods, including evidence for medieval Jewish occupation, the cloth market of Blackwell Hall, inns, craft activity and two parish churches.

Hot on the the heels of the London Guildhall book comes:

A Roman drainage culvert, Great Fire destruction debris and other evidence from hillside sites north-east of London Bridge: excavations at Monument House and 13–21 Eastcheap, City of London by Ian Blair and David Sankey

Two 1998 excavations provide important new evidence of Roman and later development on the terraced ground north of the Thames and south of Cornhill. Early Roman quarrying at Monument House was followed by timber buildings.

A 3rd-century AD stone building included a subterranean drainage culvert which carried dirty water south from Cornhill to the Thames. At 13–21 Eastcheap early buildings were sealed by Hadrianic fire debris. Rebuilding included timber drains and fragmentary masonry buildings. Post-Roman reoccupation at Monument House included a 10th-century AD sunken-floored building and medieval properties.

A large 15th-century tenement east of Botolph Lane and north of Cat Lane was remodelled before destruction in the Great Fire. The finds assemblage includes rare ironwork, an ornate fireplace and decorated tiles. At 13–21 Eastcheap isolated medieval pits contained animal bone possibly related to Eastcheap’s role as a centre of butchery.

Full details of all our books and forthcoming titles are available on the MoLAS publication on our publications area of this site:

The London Guildhall: an archaeological history of a neighbourhood from early medieval to modern times

A Roman drainage culvert, Great Fire destruction debris and other evidence from hillside sites north-east of London Bridge: excavations at Monument House and 13–21 Eastcheap, City of London