Roman London
 

One thing that I thought was fabulous and unexpected about London is its Roman history. There is good information and periodic free guided tours of Roman Britain sections in the British Museum and also places around London where you can find actual ruins. They are a little tricky to locate but here is a new smart phone app on the topic I found in Chicago Tribune travel section that looks like fun. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Explore-online/Apps/

Quite cool! Just downloaded it...

Sounds interesting. I love Roman stuff but have never seen any in England, not even Hadrian's wall. Well, something else to put on my "to do" list.

There's quite a lot of Roman ruins in Britain. Most outstanding, in addition to Hadrian's Wall are Bath, Fishbourne Roman Palace, Chedworth Roman Villa, the walls of York and the undercroft of the York Cathedral. And assorted Roman villas. I haven't been to St. Albans; it's supposed to be good.

Ooops, I forgot the Roman walls at the Tower of London.

There are also some visible (in situ) in the Museum of London - as well as a section recreating Roman London.

>>I haven't been to St. Albans; it's supposed to be good.<< It is good, it was the 3rd largest Roman city in Britain. It's a very nice town too and easily accessed from central London by train although the roman sites are a bit far from the station. Google Verulamium for more info.

" I love Roman stuff but have never seen any in England,"

It's all over, little publicised but expanding at an extraordinary rate.

There have been over 2,000 hoards of Roman coins known to have been discovered in England - most over the past 20 years since metal detectors became commonplace (few people in the Roman era seem to have stashed their cash anywhere the 20th century archaeological community was likely to investigate, so they've practically all come to light through freelance opportunism.)

Museums almost don't know what to do with them, so they're finding their way into places as obscure as the Henley River and Rowing Museum.

It's also a legal requirement to conduct an archaeological survey before any significant new build - and it's astonishing how much of the last 25 years' building boom turns out to be getting done over what was once a Roman settlement, outpost or workshop.

As a result, just about every museum in England now has a section of recent local Roman discoveries. Few (actually: I think no) guidebooks or websites have kept up.

Few of the recent discoveries (apart from a coin found near us proving the existence of a previously unacknowledged Emperor) are anything near earth-shattering - but taken together, they mean our understanding of the three centuries of Roman occupation is changing faster than almost any other period of our history.

Add to that the sheer amount of Roman stuff on or below the ground (if the Flannerpooch and I walk over to Bloody Blenheim to remind ourselves how horrible it is, most of the 7 mile footpath's a Roman road), and the Romans are now seen to underpin huge swathes of most people's daily lives.

Well worth looking at the small print of the writeup for any British tourist site these days to see whether the Romans did anything for it.