What A Load Of Rubbish

Did you know London sits on 2000 years of rubbish? It’s true. It’s not any old rubbish, either. It’s Roman rubbish.

Romans In London

London is steeped in history, with the Roman settlement of Londinium, founded in AD 43. The city grew, got burned, and rebuilt itself many times, each era leaving behind a whole load of rubbish.

Archaeologists have unearthed everything from Roman pottery shards to medieval cesspits brimming with organic waste, all buried beneath the modern metropolis.

The River Thames, once a dumping ground for rubbish and sewage, has shifted its banks over centuries, preserving discarded relics in mud and silt.

The Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz added charred and shattered contributions to this collection.

The London Wall

The London Wall, constructed by the Romans in the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD, was a formidable defensive barrier encircling Londinium. It stretched roughly 3 kilometres and stood up to 6 metres high.

The Romans didn’t have Dustbin collections like we do today. So what did those living near the Wall do? Throw the rubbish in the River Thames or over the London Wall.

Streets like Cheapside sit atop a chaotic mix of bones, broken tools, and lost coins while the city’s tube tunnels weave through a hidden landscape of forgotten filth.

The Rubbish

Excavations along the wall’s base, like those near the Tower Hill area, have uncovered heaps of refuse, including pottery fragments, oyster shells, and even leather shoes, and very well preserved due to the anaerobic mud.

The wall’s northern stretches, where settlements were denser, saw the most debris, with some spots effectively raising the ground level as rubbish accumulated. The London Wall might have been a bastion of strength, but the human side of life in Londonium was more chaotic.

Mud Larking

I went mudlarking along the Thames and saw first-hand the different types of objects thrown onto the river banks as the tide went out.

Since creating Tabby London, I've been fascinated by history. I paid little attention in history classes, but now I seek it out wherever and wherever I can. So, I didn't hesitate to sign up for the Mudlarking experience because London sits on 2000 years worth of rubbish. The River Thames will inevitably throw some junk onto the river shoreline.

I went to Mudlarking on a school trip when I was seven years old, and I remember being fascinated by the plentiful clay pipes on the river shore. Clay pipes, like today's vapes, were accessible to people, primarily men, who visited taverns in the 16th Century. 

I thought nothing about Mudlarking after my school trip, but recently, I read about it while researching the Museum of London. I once saw a cabinet filled with objects found on the river shoreline. I also knew they had strict rules about taking anything from the riverbed when the tide was out.

My favourite part was the wrap-up, where we learned the history behind the items we found: pottery pieces dating back to King Henry VIII's time, tiles from the Edwardian and Victorian eras, and glass dating to 1780. 

Some of the bones dated back 500 years. This piece of history wowed me.

Parting Comments

Modern Londoners walk around unknowingly over this vast, smelly legacy. This is a testament to the city’s knack for piling the new atop the old and turning yesterday’s rubbish into the foundation of tomorrow.

Thanks to compacted layers of waste, the ground level has risen by as much as 10 metres in some areas, forcing builders to sink foundations deeper into the earth.

‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ rings true in London.

Thank you for your attention.

Best wishes

Tabby

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