Summary

Part of the Roman wall known as London Wall including bastion number 3.

Source: Historic England

Details

The monument includes a section of the Roman Wall running approximately 78m north-south. The southern part of the section, beneath Fenchurch Street Station, consists of a buried stretch of the Wall, 32m in length, with a bastion located at its northern end. The Wall stands to the first tile course, approximately 2m above the height of the plinth. The bastion, ‘D’-shaped in plan, stands to a similar height and projects some 4.4m eastwards beyond the external face of the Wall. It is built of similar material and is faced with ragstone, flint and limestone. Of C3 date, it contains fragments of earlier Roman fabric.

Beyond the railway station, the Wall continues northward and a 30m section is displayed in the basement of No.1 America Square. Here the Wall, divided into three visible upstanding sections, separated by walkways, stands in places to the height of its first tile course above the level of the plinth, approximately 2m. The Wall is up to 2.44m wide and an arched culvert, 1.5m wide and 0.5m high, has been built through the Wall just to the south of where it runs beneath Crosswall. The arch of the culvert is formed of bricks and is bonded into the Wall with chalk rubble and mortar.

At the northern end of the basement of No.1 America Square, the Wall is situated some 2.5m below the modern ground surface and is considered to survive as a buried feature continuing approximately 16m northward beneath Crosswall.

EXCLUSIONS
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these include the arches of Fenchurch Street railway station; the modern steps, walkways, railings and bases, glazed screens, display gravel, display board, concrete basement pillars and external walls at No.1 America Square; the tarmacadam or paved surfaces, including pavements, of Crosswall with any lamps and lamp posts, bollards, modern drains and drain covers, modern water pipes and electricity cables. However, the ground beneath all the above features is included.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The section of the London Wall at Crosswall, No. 1 America Square and Fenchurch Street Station, including remains of the Roman wall and bastion number 3, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Historic importance: London Wall was pivotal to the protection of London from the Roman period until far into the Middle Ages and was a key factor in determining the shape and development of the city;
* Survival: this part of London Wall incorporates standing remains (within the basement of No.1 America Square) as well as buried remains including the remains of bastion number 3;
* Documentation (archaeological): this part of the Wall has been recorded through excavation, providing important information regarding Roman and medieval civil engineering and construction techniques;
* Potential: the Wall retains potential for further investigation into its history and construction, particularly beneath Crosswall;
* Group value: this part of the Wall holds group value with the other surviving scheduled sections of London Wall and more widely with the scheduled Roman amphitheatre and public bath houses.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Merrifield, R, The Roman City of London, (1965)
Milne, G, Roman London, (1995)
Maloney, John, 'Recent Work on London's Defences' in Maloney, John, Hobley, Brian, Roman Urban Defences in the West, (1983), 96-117
Other
Department of Urban Archaeology, Museum of London - Interim Report on Preliminary Work at America Square (1987)

Source: Historic England