Episode 9: From prehistory to the London blitz: foreshore archaeology and a rising river | Spring 2011 - Lunch Hour Lectures

When the tide is out, the Thames foreshore is the longest archaeological site in London. The remains cover a wide range of our long history and include prehistoric forests, a Bronze Age bridge, Saxon fish traps, Tudor jetties, later shipyards, watermen's causeways, and the hulks of boats, barges and ships. Our most recent study has even found evidence for bomb-strikes from the London Blitz, exactly 70 years ago. Much of this evidence is suffering from the river's increased erosion or by modern redevelopment. The Thames Discovery Programme team is training up a group of committed Londoners to survey the sites on a regular basis, recording the history on the foreshore before its washed away forever.