The National Gallery is a famous museum in London.
Workers building a walkway beneath a London art gallery stumble upon the remains of an old Saxon town.
Ahead of its 200th anniversary, the National Gallery commissioned the redevelopment of its Trafalgar Square museum.
While digging under the gallery, construction workers discovered numerous artifacts and alerted archaeologists.
University College London continued excavations and found evidence of an old Saxon settlement called Lundenwick.
image source, Archeology South East/UCL
University College London’s Archeology South East team continued excavations near the gallery.
Archaeologists already knew of the existence of Lundenwick, a 7th century Saxon settlement.
However, until now it was unclear how far the reconciliation had progressed.
Senior archaeologist Stephen White, part of the South East Archeology team that led the excavation, said: “Lundenwick’s city center extends further west than originally thought.”
The town was founded about a mile west of the Roman town of Londinium, which was founded hundreds of years earlier in 47 BC.
London’s history can be traced back thousands of years to Roman times. This photo shows part of London’s Roman fort dating back to 120 AD.
Archaeologists discovered a fireplace and dated it to between 659 and 774.
Students in London were also given the opportunity to witness ongoing archaeological excavations.
Stephen White said the excavation was made “even more exciting” by the involvement of “the young people of this city”.
Sarah Younger, project director at the National Gallery, said the National Gallery was “honored” to be involved, adding that the redevelopment of the gallery “will preserve the fabric and history of London for centuries to come.” It will be a part of it,” he added.