Archaeology and scheduled monuments
The important archaeology sites in Southwark. How we manage and protect them with planning policies.
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Prehistoric Southwark
For more than 10,000 years, Southwark's heritage has been rich, varied and archaeologically important.
In prehistoric times, the lower Thames Valley looked very different. The river was wider and shallower. The Southwark side was low-lying marshes and braided river channels. Many large sand and gravel eyots (islands) were interspersed among them. Archaeological work in Southwark has revealed many prehistoric sites. Early people settled and managed land on the higher, drier islands. Well-preserved waterlogged structures and deposits survive in the channels and lower intertidal areas.
The prehistoric archaeology of Southwark includes evidence of:
- worked flint tools from the Mesolithic (about 10,000 years ago) in areas like the Old Kent Road, Tooley Street, and Lafone Street
- late Iron Age (about 2,000 years ago) settlements in Grange Road, Cherry Garden Pier, Borough High Street, and along Tooley Street
- ploughing and field systems of Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Phoenix Wharf, Wolseley Street and Hopton Street
- a range of other important prehistoric sites, including deeply buried late Neolithic and Bronze Age wooden platforms and trackways at the former Bricklayers Arms Railway Depot and Bramcote Grove, Bermondsey