However my favourite thing is the section of Roman pavement on display, its buried beneath the remains of a Saxon building, which is beneath a Norman building, which is beneath a Medieval building, which is beneath the Christopher Wren designed church. There are many interesting objects – I like the coffins with security features to deter grave robbers. “There are so many interesting church crypts in London, but I really love visiting the museum in the crypt of St Brides. If there’s a chance to visit following that, I highly recommend it.” Jen is looking at the history of the Thames embankments on her walk the River in Chains 3 St Bride’s church crypt Rob Smith chose the crypt of St Brides Church.
Crossrail have agreed to restore the tunnel, including re-instating the tram rails and the cobbles once the work has been completed. Recently the tunnel has been used by Crossrail to build a grout shaft to pump concrete into the ground to firm it and protect the surrounding buildings from ground movement during the boring of the tunnel. The tunnel is rarely open to the public although I was lucky enough to get a look inside when it was opened for an art exhibition in 2009, Chord by Conrad Shawcross – a giant mechanical installation with two machines moving away from each other along the tracks, weaving a hawser made from spools of coloured string, creaking away mysteriously in the darkened tunnel. The Holborn one is still there – ghostly and abandoned – although the Aldwych station was lost when part of the southern section of the tunnel was used to construct the Strand road underpass in 1964. There were originally two tram stations in the tunnel – Holborn and Aldwych. “I had always been fascinated by the tracks running down over the cobbles behind the locked iron gates at the top of Kingsway the entrance to the Kingsway tram tunnel that took trams between Kingsway and Aldwych between 19 when trams ceased operation in London. 2 Kingsway Tram Tunnel Jen Pedler chose Kingsway Tram Tunnel a hidden remnant of London’s transport history. Tina will be teaming up with Thames Discovery archaeologist Nathalie Cohen to look at the Thames foreshore around Queenhithe as part of our River Walks Festival. Walking into the amphitheatre is a real hairs on the back of the neck moment, especially with the audio effect of a roaring crowd added.
Originally used for theatre, fights with wild animals and gladiatorial combat, Footprints of London have used it for poetry readings during our Literary Footprints Festival. An amazing find in the City of London it was discovered by archaeologists in 1988 and the Guildhall Art Gallery has been specially engineered to allow visitors to see this centrepiece of Roman London. Tina Baxter chose the Roman Amphitheatre in the basement of Guildhall Art Gallery. Roman amphitheatre picture courtesy ArtFund