Roman remains found in leafy Syon Park

Hidden amongst the fervour of the royal wedding, a far more exciting announcement was made this week as archaeologists revealed they had uncovered substantial Roman remains on a Syon Park building site.

The amazing discovery consists of around 11,500 items, including human remains, buried a mere 50cm beneath the modern concrete jungle. That’s something to think about next time you pound the pavements – who or what is napping just half a metre beneath your feet?

As well as individual pieces of pottery, coinage, skeletons etc. a part of one of Londinium’s most important Roman roads has been found. This road would have originally linked the Roman’s key city of Londinium with the important town of Silchester, where Roman remains are still visible today. It’s thought Londinium was connected to the rest of England by six major routes, now we know one of them went right through Syon Park!

For such an important find, those sneaky bods at the Museum of London have kept it well under wraps – this incredible discovery was made in 2008, but is only now coming to light! Some of the finds, which also include a beautiful Bronze Age bracelet, will soon go on display at a new hotel, currently being built on the site and the reason for the excavations.

Syon House, whose estate borders the site, is the London home of the Duke’s of Northumberland. This historic aristocratic home was built in the style of the Italian Renaissance over the ruins of an Abbey which stood on the site until the Reformation. 

The Abbey was founded here in 1431, long after the Roman’s left Londinium. Their re-emergence on a building site offers a fascinating glimpse into Syon Park’s unknown history and helps fill in a number of blanks which remain in our knowledge about our Roman predecessors.

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