20 Ropemaker Street Archaeology Desk Based Assessment
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20 Ropemaker Street Archaeology Desk Based Assessment August 2017 20 ROPEMAKER STREET, 101-117 (odd nos) FINSBURY PAVEMENT and 10-12 FINSBURY STREET LONDON EC2 LB ISLINGTON ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT Prepared for Manford Properties (BVI) Ltd and Great Elm Assets Ltd Mills Whipp Projects 40, Bowling Green Lane London EC1R 0NE 020 7415 7000 [email protected] June 2017 20 Ropemaker Street, 101-117 (odd nos) Finsbury Pavement and 10-12 Finsbury Street EC2 Summary The purpose of this report is to identify the archaeological potential of deposits on a Site at 20 Ropemaker Street, 101-117 (odd nos) Finsbury Pavement and 10-12 Finsbury Street EC2 in LB Islington and consider the scheme’s likely impact on them. The Site is centred on TQ 3275 8180 and is c. 33,000 sq m (Fig. 1). During the preparation of this report the Greater London Historic Environment Record (HER) was consulted for an area of 250m radius centred on the Proposed Development (Historic England report No. 12269) (Fig. 2). The Site but does not contain any Scheduled Ancient Monuments and does not lie within a Designated Archaeological Area as defined in Scheduled Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The research indicates that there is a low potential for significant prehistoric archaeology on the Site. In the Roman period the area close to the north of the city wall was used as a burial ground c.100m south-east of the Site. Later in the Roman period the Moorfields marsh began to form, possibly due to the Walbrook becoming partially blocked. The subsequent marsh deposited alluvium over the Roman land surface. The potential for significant Roman archaeology on the Site is considered to be low given its location away from the burial grounds and beyond the city wall. During the mediaeval period the Site occupied the now fully formed Moorfields marsh. Following attempts to drain the area it was used for pasture. In the 13th century the manor house ‘Finsbury Court’ was built the main buildings lying north of the Site. The Site lay in the southern part of the manor precinct and was occupied by a garden with a small building adjacent to Finsbury Pavement. In the 18th century the Site was developed. On its western side a Chapel was built, possibly with a burial ground and further north the Site was occupied by a distillery. A major redevelopment of the Site took place in 1950s and again in the 1970s. Most of the Site has existing basements and in some areas double depth basements although the north- west corner of the Site has no basement. Archaeological survival is generally considered to be poor. The buildings on the Site are fully occupied no archaeological evaluation will be possible until vacant possession in 2019. The Proposed Development is described as: “Demolition and redevelopment of existing buildings to provide a 27 storey, plus 3 basement levels, building with office use (Class B1) at all basement levels, ground, and upper floors, and flexible retail uses (Class A1/A2/A3) at part lower ground and ground floor levels, along with associated landscaping and works.” Excavations undertaken in 1978 have provided enough data for the potential of the Site to be assessed. It is extremely unlikely that there are heritage assets of national or regional significance on the Site. Heritage assets of local interest may be present. The Site is within an Archaeological Priority Area as defined by LB Islington. It is policy for planning applications in APAs to be accompanied by an “assessment”. It is proposed that this report fulfils the needs of the planning authority. It is suggested that the archaeological aspects of the development can be secured by means of conditions attached to the planning permission. 20 ROPEMAKER STREET, 101-117 (odd nos) FINSBURY PAVEMENT and 10-12 FINSBURY STREET LONDON EC2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT Contents 1. Introduction 2. Geology and Topography 3. Prehistoric 4. Roman 5. Saxon and Mediaeval 6. Post Mediaeval 7. Archaeological Potential 8. Impact Assessment 9. Conclusions Appendix 1 Archaeological Gazetteer Appendix 2 Sources Consulted Appendix 3 Report Specification Appendix 4 Planning and Legislative Background Fig.1 Site Location and Finsbury Court Fig.2 Archaeological Background Fig. 3 Wyngaerde 1544 Fig.4 Copperplate Map 1553 Fig.5 Agas 1562 Fig.6 Braun & Hogenberg 1572 Fig.7 Faithorne & Newcourt 1658 Fig.8 Moorfields 1665 Fig.9 Morgan 1677 Fig.10 Rocque 1746 Fig.11 Horwood 1799 Fig.12 Ordnance Survey 1873 Fig.13 Ordnance Survey 1894 Fig.14 Ordnance Survey 1913 Fig.15 LCC Bomb Map 1945 Fig.16 Ordnance Survey 1958 Fig.17 Existing Basements Fig.18 Existing Basements and 1978 Excavations Fig.19 GIS Data / Historic England Fig.20 Proposed Basement 20 ROPEMAKER STREET & 101-117 FINSBURY PAVEMENT LONDON EC2 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Mills Whipp Projects has been commissioned by Manford Properties (BVI) Ltd and Great Elm Assets Ltd to prepare an archaeological desk-based assessment of Site at 20 Ropemaker Street and 101-117 Finsbury Pavement (Fig.1). 1.2 The Site is centred on TQ 3275 8180 on the western side of Finsbury Pavement at the junction with Ropemaker Street. It lies within an Archaeological Priority Area as defined by LB Islington advised by the Greater London Archaeological Advisory Service (GLAAS), part of Historic England. 1.3 The Greater London Historic Environment Record (HER) has been consulted for an area 250m radius centred on the Site with relevant data drawn from a wider area (GLHER Report 12269). The chief cartographic sources have been used and a selection of these is appended as figures. Printed primary and secondary sources for the history of the area have been employed, and research undertaken in the London Metropolitan Archive and London Library. 1.4 The Site slopes down from north-east to south-west possibly reflecting the historical topography of the area. It is currently occupied by 1970s office blocks with single and double depth basements. There is no basement in the north-west corner of the Site but modern foundations are present. 1.5 Before the construction of the existing building an archaeological investigation was undertaken. This demonstrated that the Site at that time had undergone extensive truncation in the 1950s and no significant archaeological deposits are likely to be present in the basemented part of the Site. 1.6 A Site inspection was carried out by Mills Whipp Projects on 12th April 2017 and the London Archaeological Archive Centre was consulted on 15th June 2017. 1.7 Dates used in this report: Palaeolithic c 700,000–8,000 BC Mesolithic c 8,000–4000 BC Neolithic c 4000–2000 BC Bronze Age c 2000–600 BC Iron Age c 600 BC–43 AD Roman 43–410 Saxon 410–c 1000 Mediaeval c 1000–1500 Post mediaeval–modern (1500–present) Ropemaker DBA v6 2. GEOLOGY and TOPOGRAPHY 2.1 The Site lies on the on the northern side of the River Thames on the upper part of the valley side. In this area the geology consists progressively of older Pleistocene and Eocene beds outcropping down the riverbank. Basal geology is composed of London Clay buried beneath drift deposits formed of Pleistocene (Quaternary) fluvial sediments deposited by the early River Thames (British Geological Survey, 1:50 000 Series, sheet 256). These deposits are arranged in flights or gravel terraces representing the remains of former Thames floodplains, the highest (most northerly) being the oldest with each terrace becoming progressively younger down the valley side. 2.2 Deposit modelling by the British Geological Survey (BGS) specifies two gravel terraces within this part of southwest Islington. The older Hackney Gravel lies on the northern side of the Site while the younger Taplow Gravel lies beneath the Site. Discrete areas of both gravels are shown capped by a sandy silt brickearth (Langley Silt) which formed in the Late Devensian stage (32,000-10,000BC). It is considered to be a combination of loess and water lain sediments and was an important source of building material in London in all periods. That closest to the Site is shown to lie approximately 400m to the west. Just west of the Site the survey indicates that the gravel gives way allowing the basal London Clay beneath to outcrop in two relatively small areas. 2.3 Archaeological interventions within the study area have been used to refine the BGS model. Excavations on the Site (site code: FINP78) recorded the highest brickearth at 11.46m OD and the highest gravel at 9.41m OD. In addition, a palaeo-channel was recorded to a depth of 9.26m OD. Excavations at 127-139 Finsbury Pavement in 1996 just north of the Site (site code: FIS96) recorded brickearth at 12.28m OD and Taplow Gravel at 11.33m OD (MoLA, 2009, 11). Brickearth was also recorded in 1998 on the other side of Finsbury Pavement at 50 Finsbury Square (site code: FSQ98). It lay at 11.73m OD but was truncated so it too is likely to have originally lain at over 12m OD (MoLA, 2009, 19). It capped the Taplow Gravel. These interventions show that in the immediate vicinity of the Site the Taplow Gravel has a brickearth cap which lies at an elevation of over 12m OD. 2.4 Further north the older Hackney Gravel was recorded during several archaeological excavations. At 25-32 Chiswell Street, approximately 120m to the north-west it was recorded at 14.40m OD (site code: CSU96) (MoLA, 2009, 26). At Bunhill Row, approximately 400m north of the Site, the gravel was recorded at 16.50m OD capped with brickearth at 17.10m OD (site code: BRV98).