The Grimes' London Archive

Archaeological excavation in the City of London during the first 2 decades after the Second World War was dominated by the work of Prof W F Grimes, Director of the London Museum until 1956 and then, until his retirement in 1973, Director of the Institute of Archaeology, London, now part of University College. Prof Grimes carried out a series of 63 controlled rescue and research excavations in the City of London and its immediate hinterland but unfortunately his other commitments, and the ever-increasing cost of post-excavation work and publication, severely hampered his efforts to produce definitive publications of his work, although he was able to produce an informative interim account (The Excavation of Roman and Mediaeval London Grimes, W F 1968). In the Summer of 1988 Prof W F Grimes transferred the records of his excavations in the City of London to the Museum of London, where the finds from these sites had been stored, via the Guildhall Museum, since their discovery. His death in December 1988 brought to a close this important opening chapter in the history of systematic and scientifically-controlled excavation in London. The Grimes London Archive contains the excavation and post-excavation records for all 63 and is in the care of the Department of Early London History and Collections, Museum of London.

A detailed assessment of the Grimes archive following the principles of MAP 2 was carried out in order to formulate a research programme that would culminate in the publication of this material. The quantity and quality of documentation and finds availability for each site was assessed and compared with statements made in Grimes' published comments (including newspaper articles). The data for each site was also compared with adjacent excavations subsequently carried out by the Museum's archaeological departments since 1973. The results revealed the state of completeness of each archive, the potential for publication independent of more recent work, and the possibility of integrating Grimes' work with current excavation, research, and publication programmes. Five separate programmes could be identified: 2 single site projects (St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, and the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook are due for publication in 1996-7 as EH monograph reports), 2 multi-site projects focused on the Cripplegate area, and the fifth project comprised the compilation of an archive gazetteer of all the sites (Which will be published in 1997-9).

The excavation at St Bride's Church was the first extensive research excavation of a parish church in the City. Although the surviving records of Grimes' work at the church were not complete, the fact that the pre-Wren foundations still survived in the crypt of the modern church meant that it would be possible to complement the original archive with new records. A team from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London recorded the substantial remains of the Roman and medieval features in greater detail than had previously been possible. This new work facilitated a substantial reassessment of the site, which is included in the publication. Occupation of the site began with the digging of a Roman quarry, thought to be a ditch, followed in the late Roman period by construction of a cellared building. The church appears to have been founded in the early to mid-11th century and it expanded thereafter with the addition of a free-standing bell tower to the south (subsequently replaced by a western tower), an enlarged chancel, north and south aisles, and 3 chapels. That building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, but was rebuilt to a design which incorporated much of the medieval material into its plan and fabric. The rebuilt church with its famous spire survived until it was destroyed in the Blitz on 29th December 1940. It was restored and rededicated in 1957.

A detailed account of the archaeological record of the Temple of Mithras, perhaps the most famous of all Roman discoveries in the City during this century, is included in the first volume together with the evidence for the underlying and the contemporary deposits associated with the Walbrook stream. This is in keeping with the original intentions of the excavation which was to record a full section across the Walbrook valley in an effort to clarify the nature of this important feature in the topography of Roman London. The discovery of the Temple was, as Grimes readily admitted, somewhat of a fluke but its discovery did not deter him from continuing to pursue his original objectives. The final report, also includes an account of the public interest and press campaign which generated heated debate over the preservation of the site. This was fuelled by the discovery of the now famous sculptures which had been buried in the temple. These and the many small finds and pottery assemblages have been reexamined and are published together for the first time. The temple was originally built during the mid-3rd century, but the burial of the main group of sculptures during the first quarter of the 4th century would appear to have brought to an end the use of the building as a Mithraeum. The building continued to be used as a shrine and recent work also included in the report, suggests that the most probable worshippers were followers of Bacchus.

These reports will be followed by publication in the series of a Gazetteer of Grimes' entire archive. This contains an entry for every site examined by Grimes in the City and hinterland and includes full archival details. It is hoped that this volume will allow researchers to access more easily the wealth of data still contained in the archive but which are not included in the Temple of Mithras, St Bride's Church, or the Cripplegate volumes.

Finally the work done by Grimes in the Cripplegate area of the City, the area to the immediate east of the Museum of London itself, will be presented in 2 further volumes. The first of these examines the Roman sequence and in particular the evidence for the Cripplegate fort. The second examines the post-Roman occupation and development of the same region. The latter was never conceived as a separate project by Grimes, but the assessment showed that, in his effort to record as much as possible of the evidence for the fort, Grimes produced detailed records of the later sequence as well. These records are the sole surviving material for the post-Roman study of this area which, until recently, had scarcely been examined by later archaeological work. The 2 reports together examine the development of the area from the late-1st century AD to the 17th century. They include a detailed survey of the city defences. The fort, built in the early-2nd century, was incorporated in the Roman city defences in c AD 200 and in the post-Roman period the defences remained in use until their abandonment during the early-17th century. The Roman sequence includes a reanalysis of the west gate of the fort, still visible beneath the modern street of London Wall. As with the St Bride's project, students of the Institute of Archaeology prepared new records of this monument, the medieval bastions, and the city wall to the north, to complement the Grimes London Archive. The Grimes London Archive project will be completed in March 1997 followed by publication of the 5 volumes between the summer of 1996 and March 1999.