Between 1996 and 2015, PCA undertook excavations on the contiguous development sites of Tobacco Dock and Babe Ruth restaurant, in advance of the construction of over 100 residential homes and a hotel.
The two adjacent sites lie south of The Highway in Shadwell, on an escarpment overlooking the north bank of the Thames, over a kilometre beyond Londinium’s walls; yet our excavations revealed a substantial late Romano-British settlement. The area’s archaeological significance had become apparent in the 1970s with the discovery of monumental masonry and evidence of a third-century settlement and burials.
Our excavations also revealed something truly remarkable and unexpected – a Roman bath house complex, the second largest found in London. Such is its significance, it has been preserved in situ beneath the new development.
General view of the Shadwell sites, looking south from the tower of St George in the East, with The Highway running east–west in the foreground and the Tobacco Dock warehouse in the background. Machine ground-reduction is taking place at the Tobacco Dock site in advance of archaeological excavation. To the left is Babe Ruth restaurant, prior to demolition.
General overhead view of the Shadwell bath house, with west to the top. The bath house is an axial row or angular row type, with its long axis aligned east–west and a south-central riverside entrance.
Prehistoric activity on the steeply sloping ground, where the surface level dropped from 7m OD in the north to 1.6m OD in the south, was restricted to a small flint assemblage and evidence for a north–south aligned palaeochannel between the two sites. Early Roman activity included quarrying, rubbish pits, surface drainage and terracing of the escarpment. A timber building was established which may have been a barn or granary. This first and second-century activity was generally small scale and sporadic.
At Tobacco Dock, Roman activity increased dramatically in the third century when the natural escarpment was terraced and clay-and-timber buildings, drains and water tanks were constructed. On the Babe Ruth site, a stone bathhouse was built with hypocausts, an apse, and convenient access to fresh spring water. It had at least ten rooms in its primary phase, including two bathing suites of warm (tepidaria) and hot rooms (caldaria) accessed from a shared vestibule and changing area (apodyterium) or cold room (frigidarium). Adjacent to it, a well-appointed clay-and-timber building appeared to cater to the needs of the bathhouse and its visitors.
Shadwell’s thriving settlement prospered during the third century, possibly benefiting from the development of an adjacent port facility or beachmarket. Over time, the bathhouse underwent extensive modifications and expansions, with new rooms added to its north-western side and the under-floor hypocausts modified Ancillary buildings were regularly upgraded. For a period, both the settlement and its associated baths enjoyed commercial success.
Further remodelling of the baths involved the removal of sub-floor dividing walls and extension of the entranceway southwards but the hypocausts were subsequently flooded and filled with silt, indicating a hiatus in use. Hillside erosion and fragmentary building evidence may be roughly contemporary to the flood episode. The bathhouse subsequently returned to use and was extended and occupation of the site continued into the late fourth century.
The bath house was abandoned in the late fourth century and was probably quickly stripped of valuable materials for salvage. The latest evidence for activity at Shadwell cannot be dated accurately due to the relatively few finds recovered, but is likely to have continued until the early fifth century. Extensive robbing of the superstructure of the bath house, including the removal of walls and foundations, may have taken place later, though it cannot be dated.
Surviving pilae stacks, many constructed of tegulae placed flange down. Two piers of a dividing wall are visible in the background.
Artist’s reconstruction showing the bath house, service yard and ancillary buildings as they may have appeared in the late third and early fourth centuries.
Key finds
The rich collection of finds from these sites included a gold ear-ring and necklace, indicating the presence of affluent women frequenting the baths. Bracelets, finger rings, and a substantial collection of hairpins were also found. The pottery featured an unusual late assortment of imported samian ware and amphorae. Additionally, the animal bone and palaeoenvironmental remains yielded valuable insights into the local environment, economy, and diet, including rare early evidence of the elusive black rat.
