A perfectly preserved piece of Roman life can be found hiding in an underground car park in London.
Underneath the Barbican in an underground car park, a 2,000-year-old piece of the London Wall sits alongside expensive SUVs.
Thought to have been built between AD190 and AD225, the wall ran around Tower Hill to Blackfriars.
It played a key role in establishing the both the Roman and medieval borders of London.
The remnant of the wall was first discovered in 1957 when the area was being cleared to build a new road.
However, a decision was taken to build around the wall instead of removing it or building the structure somewhere else.
Speaking to MyLondon inspector of Ancient Monuments at Historic England Jane Siddell said the wall was a “superb stretch” and it was surprising to see how little it had changed.
She said: “It’s a superb stretch of wall. It’s so unexpected that it should be there and very unchanged from when it was built.”
Ms Siddell added: “The fact that it survived the bombing in an area that was badly affected during the Second World War and Victorian expansion of the city when we know they used dynamite to blow up Roman remains is extraordinary.
“Then it survived the construction of the car park and the hope is that it will survive beyond a point when we don’t use cars in the city so it may see the light of day again in 50 to 100 years.
“This stretch sadly suffers from a little vandalism and has kids climbing all over it so it is important to be careful around it.
“What is remarkable is that the wall was almost certainly built by Roman army squaddies who would have come to this backwater part of the empire from all over the world.”
Ms Siddell added that the wall shows that London “has been a melting pot of nationalities and ethnicities for 2,000 years”.
Slices of the old London wall are dotted around the area among the high rises and modern blocks that have been built around and above it.
