Excavations at 15-16 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London (BDO 05) TQ 3025 8075
By Jim Leary
In January 2005 Pre-Construct Archaeology began a five month long programme of archaeological excavations in the basements of buildings 15 and 16 Bedford Street in the heart of Covent Garden. Although terracing for the basements of the existing buildings led to the truncation of archaeological layers, deep cut features such as rubbish pits, cesspits and drains were recorded. The excavations identified Middle Saxon activity from the settlement of Lundenwic (7th to 9th century AD), including evidence for craft activity, and large 17th century pits, thought to represent gravel quarrying associated with the construction of Covent Garden piazza and the surrounding roads. 18th and 19th century activity included cesspits and drains. The site, which was funded by GallifordTry on behalf of the Lothbury Property Trust, provided an important window into the heritage of a modern and trendy part of the West End.
Background
The site lies on the western side of the Middle Saxon settlement of Lundenwic, the 7th to 9th century town of London. This town was known from Saxon chronicles to have been a major trading centre, and, for a long time was believed to have existed on the site of Roman Londinium, which is mirrored by the modern day City of London. The lack of archaeological evidence for Middle Saxon occupation from within the City of London, and the growing number of finds from the City of Westminster, led archaeologists to the conclusion that Lundenwic existed 1km west of the site of Londinium, and we now know it extended from Trafalgar Square to Aldwych, with the waterfront on the Strand.
Recent excavations have shone new light on domestic life, commerce and industry in Lundenwic and a picture of daily life is now beginning to emerge showing the settlement as a thriving and densely populated place, which traded throughout Europe (for more information see 'Tatberht's Lundenwic', PCA monograph 2).
Viking raids in the 9th century drove the inhabitants back into Londinium (the solid and well-made Roman walls made it more defendable), causing Lundenwic to be abandoned. The area degenerated into open land and fields, and the name Lundenwic soon disappeared from the historical record. It was remembered only as the 'old wic', which later become 'Aldwych'. This area remained open pastureland for many centuries after and became part of the garden of Westminster Abbey, known as the convent garden.
In the mid-17th century, at the instigation of the Earl of Bedford, the famous architect Inigo Jones designed and laid out the piazza and surrounding roads and buildings. By the 18th century the area once again bustled with people and for a while was extremely fashionable. Drinking establishments such as coffee houses and taverns sprung up, becoming places for informal debate as well as centres of radical dissent, attracting everyone from lawyers and politicians to authors and wits of the day. Although these drinking establishments continued into the 19th century many became brothels and the area developed a decidedly seedy feel. The wealthy left in favour of places such as Kensington.
The archaeological excavations
Although modern basements had removed the Saxon stratigraphy from the site, six pits of varying sizes date to the Saxon period. One pit was notable for the quantity of antler and bone working waste, including numerous comb blanks, recovered from the fill. This clearly indicates waste from a craft workshop, which must have been situated on or near the site. Another pit had a wooden base (the wood having degraded to a fine powder) and, judging by the fill, was used as a cesspit. Other Saxon finds from the site include pottery for storage and cooking; spindle whorls used in the weaving process and lava querns used to grind corn. Lumps of daub were the only evidence for the wattle and daub buildings that would have once lined the bustling streets.
The next phase of activity dates to the 17th century and is represented by a series of large pits recorded across the site. The size and depth of these pits suggests that they were for quarrying gravel, used for the construction of roads around the newly built piazza. Whilst a wall, constructed with bricks made prior to 1666, indicates the position of one of the original buildings in the area.
Cutting through all of the above were 18th century brick lined cesspits, walls and masonry drains; all reminders of the major developments that were going on during this fashionable period. The pottery recovered from one cesspit had a high quantity of serving and drinking vessels, as well as sanitary wares, and therefore suggests the presence of a drinking establishment such as an alehouse, tavern, public house or inn, or even possibly a brothel, which was also indicated by the presence of a ceramic cockerel: a symbol of lust. A dinking establishment is also indicated by the presence of a large quantity of tobacco pipes. Elsewhere, the presence of a wig curler hints at the rather fashionable and upmarket nature of the clientele.
The 19th century saw a continuation of the development of the site, and finds included pottery and clay tobacco pipes, some of which were associated with secret societies such as the Free Masons, whom are known to have frequented the drinking establishments of Covent Garden. By the late 19th century the two present buildings, 15 and 16 Bedford Street, had been constructed. The following 100 years can be characterised by continued remodelling of these buildings and this present phase of work, which necessitated these archaeological investigations, can be seen as just the next phase of an interesting, yet constantly changing, piece of land.
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A 17th/18th Century Chamber Pot |
Examples of Pottery |
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Tobacco Pipes & Wig Curler |
An C.18th Drain |
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