Overhead view of the Royal Opera House site, showing scale of work, covered area and with the Royal Opera House in the background
 |
Investigations in the historic centre of Chelsea have concentrated on the church of St Luke (formerly All Saints), which is mentioned in medieval documents, and for which place-name evidence suggests a Saxon origin. A settlement around the old church is shown on post-medieval maps, but until recently there has been no archaeological evidence to confirm the date and location of earlier occupation from which the later village may have developed. Two sites close to the old church have recently been evaluated and excavated, revealing evidence of pits and fragmentary structural remains, suggesting that occupation is likely to have been continuous since the eleventh-twelfth centuries.
Excavation at The Royal Opera House.
 |
There is also evidence of Middle Saxon activity consistent with dendrochronological dates obtained from a nearby timber structure recorded recently by the Thames Archaeological Survey. The shifting settlement patterns around the historic core of Mortlake were investigated through excavations at Mortlake High St. Further examples of early Saxon settlement in the form of sunken-featured buildings illustrate the colonisation of the riverside ground, upstream of the city, and complements similar findings at Hammersmith and Ham. A major excavation within the heart of Middle Saxon Lundenwic at the site of the Royal Opera House extensions in Westminster revealed an unprecedented survival of street layouts and sequences of domestic and industrial structures. The well-stratified deposits complement the substantial environmental and artefactual evidence comprising pottery, coins, loomweights, querns, glass fragments, metal working slag, animal bone, plant remains, and a sword guard and runic inscription. The publication of the results of this excavation will crystallise research into the social, economic, and cultural characteristics of this important Middle Saxon development of London. In the City, firm evidence was uncovered at Diawa House, 84-9 Wood St, which confirms that the area of the Cripplegate fort was occupied in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.