Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange, St. Mary Axe, City of London.
TQ 3331 8125 (Victoria Ridgeway); Evaluation; 1 May-5 August 1995; G.M.W. Architects; MAE 95
This project incorporated five evaluation trenches with complete excavation of two
external trenches followed by monitoring and partial excavation of eight engineering test
pits.
Natural brickearth was recorded at a height of 11.73m OD and this overlay natural gravels.
No pre-Roman features were revealed, however worked flints and some burnt flint were found
in the re-deposited backfill of a early Roman ditch suggesting Prehistoric activity close to the site.
The earliest Roman activity uncovered was a large linear cut, 'V' shaped in profile, dated
late first to mid second century AD. tentatively suggested as a military ditch or possible
town boundary. This was located to the west of the area. To the south east of site a
partially excavated cut may have been a similar ditch and building materials and pot found
in the upper fills were dated as of the late second to early third centuries AD and may
indicate the presence of buildings nearby. This feature was partly truncated by a smaller
ditch backfilled with brickearth (with first to third century finds) and superseded by a
row of post holes on the same alignment which was also mirrored by two rows of stakeholes
outside the cut. Thus indicating continuous use of the same property division. Towards the
north east corner of site late second to fourth century finds were recovered from
re-deposited brickearth possibly within a quarry pit. To the north worked soil with spade
or plough marks dating to the first half of the third century indicates this was open
ground at that time. Several pits were also noted including a cess pit that had been re-cut
several times and which contained second and third century AD artefacts.
During the Medieval and post-Medieval period there was intensive pitting in the east of
the site. A homogenous dark deposit across site appears to demonstrate continuous
horticultural activity over a period of time and this ties in with cartographic evidence.
A substantial pit to the east of site contained large quantities of post-Medieval sugar
loaf mould indicating a mould manufactory nearby. Apart from the basement of a medieval
cellar to the west of site running back from the St Mary Axe street frontage there is no
building evidence other than the relatively modern (Victorian or later) foundations.
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