By An office building from the 1930s in the heart of London was about to be demolished and redeveloped by its owners — until archaeologists unearthed remnants of the city’s first Roman basilica in the basement.
Built around 80 AD, a few decades after the Romans invaded Britain, the ancient basilica was part of a wider forum and served as a town hall for Londinium, the city’s ancient Roman name.
There, magistrates and officials presided over major political, judicial, and commercial decisions, according to Andrew Henderson-Schwartz from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), which led the excavation.
“There could be political discussions happening. It could have been business transactions and big business deals,” Henderson-Schwartz told NBC News.
“Essentially, it’s like shooting forward 2,000 years in time and finding the speaker chair to the House of Commons,” he said.
The discovery, which was made at 85 Gracechurch Street next to Leadenhall Market, is one of the most substantial pieces of Roman architecture in Britain.
