Excavation is continuing at Princes and Bartlett House, 95 Gresham Street. The work is being carried out by Senior Archaeologist Sadie Watson and a team of Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) archaeologists, on behalf of the Standard Life Assurance Company.

Medieval chalk foundations are showing up in plan, and the bases of  a large number of pits. Some of these have decayed wattle linings; that of one pit in the north-western corner was well preserved. Several others have linings made from planks, although these are very degraded. Several near-complete medieval  pottery vessels have been recovered, along with a large amount of animal bone.

A pit against the eastern site boundary was filled with pottery and seems to have been a building clearance deposit. The presence of green glazed pottery indicates that it dates to the 13th-14th centuries AD.

One interesting survival is a stone and chalk wall on the east side of the site, which had been sandwiched between the previous building on the site and the adjoining buildings. This may relate to the former Masons' Hall just to the north (the original, which was burnt in the Great Fire of London in 1666) or to St Stephen’s Church to the east (a Wren church that was bombed during the Second World War and demolished in 1959-60).

The excavation will continue until late June. At their request, Sadie is giving a lunchtime talk on 5 June to neighbours of the Gresham Street site, the London Bullion Market Association, to explain what’s happening on site and what MoLAS does.

Medieval Post-medieval Excavation Business updates