For 2000 years, people in Southwark have been living life to the full - opening theatres and pubs, creating beautiful ceramics, and brewing the finest ale.
As a new chapter begins on this site, archaeologists from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) are digging through these layers of time to reveal new information and stories about those who came before.
Roman Southwark was home to bathhouses, temples and mansions. The people living around here could afford grand memorials and tombs, like the mausoleum which once stood on this site.
Archaeologists excavating the Roman mausoleum at Harper St, Southwark © PCA (Pre Construct Archaeology)
Life was a little quiet in early medieval Southwark, but by CE 915 the settlement abandoned by the Romans in the early 400s was back in business. Southwark gets its name from the early medieval fort Suðringanaweorc - the fort of the people of Surrey.
Tudor Southwark was really well connected. Its location on the river meant locals could get their hands on the latest goods from Europe, including the iconic Bartmann jugs.
This Bartmann jug, imported from Germany, was found during excavations at King’s Place ,Southwark, © MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)
Just like today, early modern Southwark had plenty of pubs and brewing companies. This tankard was the property of a local Southwark pub, the Ship and Ball. However, that didn’t stop someone taking it home with them!
Pewter tankard, Tanner Lane, Southwark, © MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)
Construction of the Surrey County Gaol on Horsemonger Lane (now Harper Road) began in 1791. Some of the men and women imprisoned here inspired characters in the novels of Charles Dickens.
