Revetment, revetment timber

These large timbers formed part of a medieval waterfront revetment. As the population of the city increased, its engineers began to reclaim land from the River Thames. Upright wooden structures (revetments) were built on the riverbank at low tide, and the area behind filled with soil and rubbish to form the new land surface. This revetment was built at Billingsgate on the north bank of the Thames in the early 1200s. It was found during an archaeological excavation in the 1980s. The timbers were preserved in the oxygen-free, waterlogged conditions usually found in excavations along the Thames. For more information, see Schofield, J. et al (2018): London's Waterfront 1100-1666: excavations in Thames Street, London, 1974-84, pg. 113-119, figs. 91-93.