thames discovery programme

Bankside FSW11
This site is approximately 650m long and 40m wide; it is bounded by Cannon
Street and Blackfriars Railway Bridges. There are four access points to the
zone: three of these are of modern concrete, Globe, Bankside, Founders
Arms Stairs. The fourth is underneath Southwark Bridge – the gate here is
usually locked. The ground conditions on the site are generally firm (gravels)
with considerable deposition at the top of the foreshore. Towards the
downstream end of the site, the ground surface is particularly uneven due to
modern rubble dumping.

archaeological and historical background

prehistoric
Archaeological excavations in north Southwark have shown that until the Roman period, if not later, this
area consisted of a number of small islands divided by braided river channels. Excavations close to the
Tate Modern at Hopton Street and at Skinmarket Place have produced firm evidence for prehistoric
settlement on this, one of the larger islands. Neolithic ceramics and lithics were recorded at the latter
site, while continuing agricultural activity into the Bronze Age has been excavated in the form of ard
marks and stakeholes. The stakeholes were associated with small pits and postholes and to the south,
the natural sand was cut by a pit containing a whole closed Beaker bowl (a rare find in Britain) with a flint
core and blade. A series of water courses were also recorded suggesting a gradual rise in water levels
leading to the abandonment of the site in the mid Bronze Age. On the foreshore itself, extensive
exposures of prehistoric peat layers have been recorded and it is likely that that Neolithic land surfaces
survive under much of the modern foreshore.

roman
There is very little evidence from either the foreshore area or dry land excavations to suggest Roman
activity in the vicinity, and it is likely that fluctuating water levels, combined with a low-lying marsh
environment may have inhibited extensive development of the area. The main focus of Roman activity
lay to the east of the zone in the area of the bridgehead. However, artefacts of Roman date are
occasionally found on the foreshore.
Roman tile

medieval
The topography of medieval Southwark, and especially the Bankside area, is far less well documented
than that of the City, partly because it was less well developed but also because there is no local
equivalent of the great body of private title deeds enrolled at the City’s Court of Husting. The area to the
eastern side of Masons Stairs and the alley leading to it, lay within the manor of the bishops of
Winchester, known from the 15th century as ‘The Clink.’ This was created in the 12th century, partly with
land purchased from Bermondsey Abbey, and when complete in the 1180s amounted to some 60 to 70
acres. To the west it adjoined Paris Garden, a possession of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, and to
the east the bishop’s mills and palace. Much of this land was low-lying and marshy in character, and
despite much ditching and reclamation work from the early 13th century largely remained so until the 16th
century: the entire manor was known as ‘the marsh of the bishop,’ and as late as 1477 tenants were
required to raise the lower-lying meadowlands with earth and dung. Fronting the properties on the
Southwark bank and running along the river all the way between Paris Gardens and Winchester mills was
th
the roadway which since at least the 16 century gave the name Bankside to the area. There is no
mention of Bankside in medieval deeds which usually describe the local properties, known as the stews,
as extending from the river on the north to Maiden Lane on the south. It is likely that the way called
Bankside was essentially a private access road created on top of the riverside embankments that each
riparian landowner or tenant was bound to maintain. Beyond the stews and the Winchester mills it was
continued eastwards as far as St Mary Overy’s dock by the road known from at least the 17th century as
Clink Street. Evidence from excavations in the vicinity has found flood deposits dating to the 14th-15th
century and the GLSMR records evidence for a number of late medieval features including a wharf,
revetments, pot kiln waste, millponds and a watermill.
post medieval
A series of archaeological investigations at Hopton Street have revealed evidence for increasing activity
through the post-medieval and into the Victorian period. This included the construction of 17th century
buildings, including an inn, with associated drainage. . A ditch some 40m long was associated with these
buildings, and appears to have been cut in the 16th century, lined with wooden posts and planking (re-
used from Thames boats and other vessels) during the 17th century and continued in use into the 18th
century. After the ditch was backfilled, a number of brick-lined cesspits were constructed over it, with
other cesspits constructed nearby. A glasshouse with a brick kiln, in operation from the mid 18th century
until the late 19th century, was also excavated. The Steam Cocoa Mills were constructed on the site in
1878. A group of commercial buildings was also recorded before demolition. The ends of two early 19th-
c brick buildings, originally extending to the E and demolished by 1957, when Bankside Power Station
was built, were encased in a warehouse probably of mid 19th-c date. Further to the west, the yard was
enclosed by two and three-storey brick buildings, documented in 1860 as a van-builder's workshop, with
dwelling and offices, and a one-storey building, partly housing stables, incorporating a brick chimney next
to the warehouse. The warehouse was probably built to store timber, possibly imported mahogany,
documented as unloaded on Bankside: traces of bearings on a wall and stone-edged pits in the cement
floor, later infilled, suggested saw pits, perhaps steam-powered. No trace of a boiler or hearth was seen
under the chimney, which is documented as serving a smithy. The west side of the warehouse was later
closed with a brick wall under the roof eaves, and the building reinforced with steel girders; roof tiles were
replaced by slates, and the yard was roofed with wired glass, documented by 1914. The other buildings
were partly rebuilt with concrete and steel, possibly after Second World War bomb damage. The
steelwork was generally reused, and cut and joined to fit. Latterly the buildings were a paper warehouse.

A101 Access Stair. Southwark Bridge. Triple vaulted stone.

A102 Access Stair. Timber. Foundation for A101 or earlier structure re-used as such.
A103 Access Causeway. Southwark Bridge. Timber and stone
A104 Furniture Railing and Gate. Cast iron at top of Stair A101
A105 Agradation Gravel against upstream side A101
A106 Artefact scatter Ceramic Scatter with A105. Roman to 19th century. Redeposited?
A107 Historic Site Approximate site of crane in 1873 and wharf structure in 1750
A108 Historic Site Approximate site of crane in 1873
A109 Furniture Cranebase. Cast iron 1.9m x 1.6m.
A110 Furniture Cranebase. Cast iron 1.2m x 1m.
A111 Access Stair? Vertical timber with diagonal brace.
A112 Wharf Timber. Three vertical and two horizontal timbers wharf?
A113 Wharf Timber. Four vertical timber and morticed baseplate. Wharf?
A114 Wharf Timber. Three vertical posts. Wharf?
A115 Wharf Timber. Three vertical posts Wharf?
A116 Riverfront defence Brick. wall
A117 Riverfront defence Stone capping added to A116
A118 Riverfront defence Brick wall with timber fenders. Straight-jointed to A116 and A120.
A119 Riverfront defence Brick wall with timber fenders. Straight-jointed to A116 and A120.
A120 Riverfront defence Brick wall with timber fenders. Later concrete cap.
A121 Riverfront defence Sheet piled
A122 Riverfront defence Concrete, probably covering earlier wall.
A123 Bargebed Timber and rubble
A124 Bargebed Timber and rubble
A125 Access Stair. Site of New Thames St Stair (Rocque)
A126 Access Stair. Site of ‘Goat Stair’ (Rocque)
A127 Consolidation Remains of.
Worked stone. Moulded architectural fragments, some of medieval style within
A128 Artefact scatter
spread of rubble.
A129 Bridge Southwark Bridge
A130 Wharf Concrete.
A131 Riverfront defence Stone corbel built into wall A116
A132 Bargebed Timber revetted stone. Probably part of A124
A133 Consolidation Compact, iron-stained, blackish
A134 Consolidation Concrete. Patch of poured concrete, apparently deliberate
A135 Consolidation Concrete. Patches of poured concrete, apparently deliberate
A136 Hard Chalk rubble.
A137 Timber Isolated timber. probably redeposited
A138 Timber Isolated timber. probably redeposited
A139 Mooring feature Timber. Roundwood vertical. Mooring post?
A140 Mooring feature Timber vertical. Mooring post?
A141 Bargebed Timber, linear feature.
A142 Mooring feature Timber vertical. Mooring post?
A143 Timber Isolated timber. Probably redeposited.
A144 Timber Timber vertical.
A145 Timber Timber vertical.
A146 Timber Timber base-plate or shuttering.
A147 Consolidation Rubble and ironpanning
A148 Consolidation Rubble and ironpanning
A149 Consolidation Containing CBM and glass dumps
A150 Mooring feature Chain. attached to block covered by gravel
A151 Artefact scatter Nails. Shipyard.
A152 Deposit Patch of crushed wood fragments. Boatyard waste?
A153 Artefact scatter Nails. as A151
A154 Mooring feature Timbers (2) Angled. Remains of braces to support hull during boat work?
A155 Mooring feature Timbers (8) Angled. Remains of braces to support hull during boat work?
A156 Mooring feature Timber. Angled. Remains of braces to support hull during boat work?
A157 Mooring feature Timber. Angled. Remains of braces to support hull during boat work?
A158 Mooring feature Block. Concrete
A159 Mooring feature Block. Stone
A160 Mooring feature Block. Stone
A161 Furniture Crane. Two vertical iron cylinders linked by pipe running upshore. Well to supply hydraulic crane?
A162 Deposit Sequence. Island of gravel and sands capped with organic clay.
A163 Forest Intermittent exposure of organic clays with roots and rootlets.
A164 Artefact scatter Nails. associated with shipworking
A165 Timber Large horizontal timber. Appears to be part worked, during shipworking.
A166 Jetty? Timber.
A167 Jetty? Timber.
A168 Access Stair. Timbers. 2 vertical. Remains of Mason's Stair?
A169 Access Stair. Timber vertical. Remains of Mason's Stairs?.
A170 Access Causeway. Timbers. 6 vertical. Remains of Mason's Stairs?
A171 Drain Bored log.
A172 Structure (unclassified) Crane base? Mooring feature? Timber. Base of box-like structure, c.2m square.
A173 Deposit Peat/organic clay. Similar to A162 and A163
A174 Degradation Erosion line
A175 Mooring feature Timber vertical. Mooring post?
A176 Mooring feature Timber vertical. Mooring post?
A177 Artefact scatter Nails. Shipyard remains.
A178 Structure (unclassified) Slipway? Jetty?Timber. 3 parallel lines of vertical and horizontal timbers, at right angles to the river.
A179 Consolidation Chalk scatter
Crane. Timber, concrete and metal structures. Three near square and one circular. Foundation and well for
A180 Furniture
hydraulic crane?
A181 Vessel Rudder
A182 Jetty Panorama Island'. Now removed
A183 Standing building Power Station. Bankside (Tate Modern)
A184 Access Stair. Concrete. Bankside Stairs. Modern
A185 Access Causeway. Stone and Timber
A186 Watercraft Clinker built vessel fragment
A187 Access Causeway. - remains of. Stone and timber
A188 Jetty? Remains under Panorama Island
A189 Bridge Blackfriars Bridge - old railway bridge piers
A190 Mooring feature Block. Stone
A191 Mooring feature Block. Stone
A192 Structure (unclassified) Single square softwood post
A193 Structure (unclassified) Single circular post
A194 Structure (unclassified) Two vertical posts
A195 Structure (unclassified) Single timber beam
A196 Structure (unclassified) Single stake
A197 Structure (unclassified) Single angled timber, 17th / 18th C?
A198 Agradation Sand
A199 Agradation Coarse gravel against river wall