Digging Beneath Britain’s Houses of Parliament

The Palace of Westminster in London houses Britain’s Parliament. While digging beneath this palace, archaeologists have discovered several artifacts, including a 19^th-century beer jug, a fragment of a 2,000-year-old Roman altar, and 6,000-year-old prehistoric flint flakes.

Excavations were commissioned by the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Program. The digs are part of an ongoing archaeology project to illuminate Westminster’s history and inform restoration work.

Westminster has been a central part of Britain’s national story for at least a thousand years. It has been the location of momentous events in the U.K.’s history. While planning for restoration and renewal, scientists must also protect and learn from the history below the building.

60 prehistoric flint fragments (which date to about 4300 BCE) are evidence of toolmaking in the late Mesolithic or early Neolithic periods. Tools were made from flint by chipping the stone until it had a sharp edge. They were discovered in sand deposits that once formed part of Thorney Island, where prehistoric inhabitants fished, hunted, and gathered food. Finding prehistoric remains in central London is rare.

Researchers also discovered remains of Lesser Hall, also known as the White Hall. As a medieval two-story building built in 1167, it originally was a royal dining area. Later, it accommodated the Court of Chancery, the Court of Requests, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords during certain time periods. This was an unexpected discovery found below the present-day courtyard and car park.

When Lesser Hall housed the House of Lords in 1834, a fire started in the basement furnace room and became the Great Fire of 1834. These excavations showed the hall’s stone walls survived the fire. The building was reroofed and used until 1851, when it was demolished. The discovery of Lesser Hall provides insights into the layout of historic structures. The remains of Lesser Hall and other pre-1834 structures were documented (and some recreated in 3D models) before being reburied.

The Roman altar fragment was likely repurposed in another structure built later. Other artifacts included 800-year-old shoe soles, straps, a leather boot, and a lead badge shaped like a flowering heart from the 14^th or 15^th century.

Several artifacts from the 19^th century included fragments of clay tobacco pipes, which were probably smoked by the stonemasons working after the 1834 fire. Also found was a five-pint beer jug bearing the words “Ship and Turtle Tavern”. It also said “Geo Painter”, which likely referred to George Painter, the owner of the tavern.

I’ve been to London. I found it to be a very busy place. And all these artifacts show that it has been a busy place for a very long time.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-digging-beneath-britain-s-houses-of-parliament-discover-6-000-year-old-flint-artifacts-and-a-2-000-year-old-roman-altar-fragment/ar-AA1RAb5x?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=692f561f60da44d0807bb72e64e341b3&ei=37