Part of a wall and a doorway in the ruins of St Mary Graces Abbey, in the present basement at the Mint
The proposed Chinese Embassy at the Royal Mint, East Smithfield
The Chinese government proposes to relocate its embassy in the buildings of the Royal Mint, currently empty, north-east of the Tower of London. The design of the new complex, which includes several Listed Buildings and structures, is by architect David Chipperfield. A first proposal was refused planning permission by the local authority, Tower Hamlets, in 2022. Chipperfield has now submitted a second application which is exactly the same as the first. This has been called in by the Secretary of State Angela Rayner. There will now be a Public Enquiry about the project in 2025.
CoLAT has concerns about the future display and public access in the present basement of fragments of walls from St Mary Graces Abbey, extensively found on the site during excavations of the 1980s. Here is a note describing the site and the setting of the fragments:
| Title | File Type | File Size |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Embassy note by CoLAT 0 |
481 KB | |
| 0 |
In June 2024 MOLA published a major report on Roman buildings and waterfront development on the west side of the first Roman bridge, that is excavations of 1994-6 at Regis House, by Trevor Brigham and Bruce Watson. The publication, which is in e-book or PDF format, was supported by CoLAT. David Bowsher of MOLA writes:
Extensive excavations at Regis House revealed remarkable evidence for pre-Boudican waterfront activity next to the Roman London bridge, followed in AD 63–4 by the construction of a massive timber quay, warehouse and other buildings, greatly altered and extended over the course of the 1st century AD. These in turn were destroyed in the AD 120s by the Hadrianic Fire, leading to the dumping of a thick layer of fire debris to allow the construction of large masonry buildings which remained in use until the end of the period. Many thanks for the valuable COLAT support for this book which enabled us to get it finally published.
For free download of this important text, go to https://doi.org/10.48583/j7n8-vh88.
Welcome to the CoLAT website
The City of London Archaeological Trust (CoLAT) is a charity whose purpose is to support and initiate archaeological work in the City of London and its environs.
The Trust supports all kinds of archaeological work and the exhibition of archaeological sites. We prefer to concentrate on education and research, especially publication, within or in addition to existing research frameworks; but assistance with survey and excavation projects may be requested.
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