This document outlines a research framework for studying the archaeology of the River Thames foreshore in Greater London. It is divided into three parts: [1] Previous Investigations, which involves assessing existing records and collections of Thames archaeology; [2] The Physical Thames, focusing on understanding the river's evolution over time; and [3] Liquid History, exploring evidence for past human uses of the river through groups, technology, food/housing, wartime activities, and recreation. Each part poses research questions to guide interdisciplinary study of the Thames as an archaeological site. The goal is to inspire collaboration and contribute new insights into London's history through the lens of its defining river.

1. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Introduction
London’s ‘longest’ archaeological site is still a largely untapped resource with new
discoveries being revealed by the dynamic riverine regime, and the discoveries of
previous investigations awaiting further assessment, analysis and publication. This
present document has been produced to outline avenues of research for the
archaeological study of the River Thames foreshore within the Greater London area. It
aims to provide guidance regarding thematic studies, and is arranged to encompass a
wide range of potential research interests from methods and techniques, geology and
topography, and cultural heritage. It is presented as a series of ‘research questions’
which we hope will inspire interdisciplinary research, collaboration and dissemination.
The document is divided into the following sections:
Part 1: Previous Investigations
Part 2: The Physical Thames
Part 3: Liquid History
This Research Framework has also been designed to encourage contribution to the
Riverpedia project; a community research initiative supported by the Public
Engagement Unit at University College London.
Nathalie Cohen
Team Leader, Thames Discovery Programme
March 2010

2. Part 1: Previous Investigations
The Thames Discovery Programme (TDP) follows in the footsteps of a large number of distinguished
antiquarians, collectors, archaeologists and historians. Understanding the context of this research is an
important aspect of assessing our current knowledge of the Thames and its use. We need to assess both
the ideas previous scholars have had about the Thames and the records that they produced of the
archaeology of the foreshore. As the TDP provides a high-precision base-line survey of selected areas of
the foreshore, river wall and related structures, features and finds scatters at a known date, we can then
compare and contrast the results with both earlier and later surveys, noting the changes.
Research Questions:
1.1 What plans exist of the archaeology of the Thames foreshore, and can these be compared /
contrasted with the current Thames Discovery programme of recording?
1.2 What can we learn through studying the artefact collections of Thomas Layton, Charles
Roach Smith, GF Lawrence and others, such as the Society of Thames Mudlarks and the
Thames and Field Metal Detecting Society?
1.3 How can we use the data collected by the Portable Antiquities Scheme?
1.4 What records survive from foreshore investigations undertaken by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
and Ivor Noel Hume?
1.5 What can we learn from the archives of local archaeological and historical societies, such as
the Wandsworth Historical Society, the Richmond Archaeological Society and the City of
London Archaeological Society, among many others?
1.6 How far did the Thames Archaeological Survey achieve their aims of systematically
recording the foreshore, and raising the profile of inter-tidal archaeology?
1.7 What new methodologies and techniques were developed by commercial archaeological
units working on the foreshore?
Foreshore survey, 1949, by Ivor Noel Hume

3. Part 2: The Physical Thames
The TDP seeks to increase our understanding of the physical evolution of the Thames through the last
10,000 years, as well as explore some of the strategies adopted by humans in relation to changes in the
environment and climate. The rate of erosion of the Thames estuary coast by stormy seas, and of coastal
and inland features by landslips and wind action, are significantly affected by climatic variation. Our
foreshore survey produces data of direct relevance to issues of environmental change, such as assessing
changes in prevailing winds and wind direction, ocean currents, prevailing sea temperatures, the
occurrence of ice on rivers, lakes and seas, river levels and river mechanics. Specific questions we hope to
address are:
Research questions:
2.1 Where was the tidal head of the Thames at different times?
2.2 What was the shape of the riverbank at different times in the past? What is the size of the
floodplain, or inter-tidal zone? Where are the islands of the Thames today, and where might
they have been in the past?
2.3 What was the evolution of the Thames drainage system at different times? Where were the
tributaries of the Thames? When were different tributaries buried / canalised?
2.4 What is the change in river-levels? What is the evidence for the tidal range; the high and
low tides at different times? Is there evidence for rises and falls in the relative river level
through time?
2.5 What is the stratigraphic sequence of the Thames foreshore? Can we map the evidence for
clay, silt and peat to determine the horizontal sequences of deposition and erosion? Where
were the marshes, beaches, woodlands and meadows of the Thames?
2.6 What is the impact of infrastructure development such as embanking, bridge and pontoon
construction on the river mechanics?
2.7 What could assessment of geological samples from the foreshore tell us?
2.8 What is the evidence for flood events?
Satellite view of the Thames

4. Part 3: Liquid History
The Thames foreshore provides a variety of evidence for past maritime connections, and the lives of
people who lived and worked on the Thames. There are a range of questions the TDP hope to address
around the following topics:
• Groups, organisations, and institutions
• Technology, transport and working lives
• Food, clothing and housing
• The Thames in war
• Recreation
Liquid History – groups, organisations and institutions
Research questions:
3.1 What can the foreshore tell us about the people and groups that lived and used the Thames
in the past?
3.2 What evidence is there for pre-Christian ritual activity (prehistoric, Roman, pagan Anglo-
Saxon)? What could different kinds of studies, such as examination of artefacts, tell us?
3.3 Burial and deposition in riverine contexts – what is its significance and meaning?
3.4 Where are the Thames-side churches and from when do they date? Do we have evidence
for bridge chapels? What could an examination of the dedications of churches and chapels
tell us? What materials are the church buildings constructed of?
Battersea church, photo by N. Cohen
3.5 Where did the merchantmen and seamen of London worship, and where were they buried
and commemorated?

5. 3.6 How was the medieval port of London organised and administered; what material evidence
survives? Where were the Customs Houses, Customs Lookouts, reeves and bailiffs of the
historic port? Where do we find the seals and tokens?
3.7 What neighbourhoods existed along the Thames?
3.8 Can we see evidence for zones of activity along the waterfront? Can the study of
documentary sources, place names / field names and artefacts help us to plot these zones?
3.9 What evidence is there for Hanseatic trade? What can we draw from place name studies,
timber analysis, artefact studies (eg luxury goods) etc?
3.10 Where are the naval colleges and from when do they date?
3.11 What can we learn from a study of guilds and livery companies associated with riverine
occupations?
3.12 What evidence exists for the use of the river and Port of London as part of the Transatlantic
Slave Trade?
3.13 What can we learn of crime and punishment along the river?
3.14 What is the evidence for Thames tragedies, such drowning or ship wreck?
3.15 How can we use the archaeological evidence of the foreshore to compare and contrast the
experience of Thames-side communities between 1930 and 1955, a time of dynamic and
fast moving change?
3.16 How can we use the history & archaeology of the Thames to explore the evidence for Black
and Ethnic Minority communities in London?
3.17 What can we learn of modern day use of the river as ritual focus – Hindu & Sikh activity?
Statue from Bermondsey, photo by A. Chopping

6. Liquid History – technology, working lives and transport
London’s story is inexorably linked to the River Thames. Whether as a Roman provincial port, seventh-
century riverside settlement, or a major European and global city, the Thames has played a significant role
in London’s rise to prominence. Many questions can be asked about the physical structure of the port of
London and its transport links, as well as the network of commerce which flowed in and out of the
settlement. A particular interest is to understand the social and economic role of the Thames through
time.
Research questions:
3.18 How did past peoples make a living from the Thames?
3.19 What industrial processes took place? Did mineral or gravel extraction take place, or salt
making?
3.20 What were the impacts on economy and society of local maritime industries, harbour
design, port facilities, and the existence of Thames-side communities?
3.21 How was the river channel improved or developed through time?
3.22 How was the river used to generate power?
3.23 What is the earliest bridge / ford / ferry, etc?
3.24 What was the lowest point at which the Thames was fordable?
3.25 Where did Julius Caesar cross the Thames?
3.26 What materials are used to build the crossings of London?
3.27 How many bridges are there today, what still survives of the old crossing places of the
Thames?
th
3.28 The 19 century revolution in shipbuilding meant that wind-powered wooden ships were
replaced by steam-powered steel-hulled vessels. This is turn had a great impact in terms of
vessel size; shipbuilding and breaking yards, along with slipways would have had to be
significantly enlarged. Can this development be traced on the foreshore?
3.29 Similarly, the technologies required to build and break-up steel and iron vessels were
significantly different to those required for wooden vessels. Can evidence for this
technological revolution be recorded?
3.30 The change in propulsion from sail to steam may have had an effect in the location of docks
and wharves, in that parts of the riverfront which may have been difficult to access under
sail with the generally prevailing winds would be easily accessible under steam-power. Is
there any evidence for this?
3.31 Who built and broke up these vessels? Can we use evidence from photographs, paintings,
orals histories for the people involved in shipbuilding & breaking on the Thames? This could
include family history research and local area studies using census data.
The timber stack at Charlton, photos by N. Cohen

7. Liquid History – Food, clothing and housing
What were the river’s natural resources and how were these exploited for subsistence?
Research Questions:
3.32 How did people use the wetlands for hunting, fishing, gathering, swanning, or pasture?
3.33 What are riverside houses built of in different periods?
3.34 What can we learn of the layout and plan of riverside villages and associated infrastructure?
3.35 What evidence is there for fishing at different periods?
3.36 What kinds of fish / shell fish were exploited?
3.37 Where are the main Fishmarkets?
3.38 What traditions are associated with droving animals across water and at bridge crossings
and where are the transhipment points for live animals?
3.39 Where are the slaughterhouses and butchers located?
3.40 What evidence do we have for tanning/cloth manufacture?
3.41 What illnesses and diseases were associated with the River?
3.42 What can we learn about the ‘Dirty Thames’ - sewage and rubbish disposal, epidemics, the
Great Stink?
3.43 How was the river changed to facilitate water supply, sewerage, and drainage?
Mid Saxon fish trap at Chelsea © Thames Archaeological Survey

8. Liquid History – the Thames at war
The Thames could serve as both a conduit and boundary.
Research Questions:
3.44 What evidence is there for defensive networks in the tidal Thames area at different
periods?
3.45 Can we use prehistoric artifacts to consider warfare and conflict in the past?
3.46 How can place-name recording of beacon sites or watch towers provide evidence for the
location of networks of communications and signaling?
3.47 What riverside earthworks existed; can they be traced in street patterns and village
topography?
3.48 Is there any evidence for destruction relating to wartime activity at different periods?
3.49 What evidence exists for Black & Ethnic Minority involvement in the defence of the river
and Port during the 1st & 2nd World Wars?
Plane over Docklands, 1940s

9. Liquid History – Recreation
Research Questions:
3.50 What are the ways in which people use the river for recreation? How modern a
development is this?
3.51 What kinds of evidence could we investigate for information? (Archaeology, documentary
sources, photographs, prints, engravings, oral history)
3.52 How many riverside public houses are there? How many were there at different periods in
the past?
3.53 How many pleasure gardens were there along the Thames? What were their periods of
operation?
3.54 What is the evidence for the construction and use of high status riverside retreats, such as
Fulham Palace, Richmond Palace, Greenwich and Whitehall, among others?
3.55 What is the evidence for the use of the river as a ‘performance space’ for events such as
reconstructions of sea battles, state processions, funerals, boat races, balloon events,
tightrope walking?
3.56 What can we learn of the phenomenon of frost fairs?
3.57 The Thames and the Arts – what can we learn from studies of Fine & Applied Arts
representations or music?
Tower Beach © Museum of London