Restoration teams may have discovered medieval Thames

[ THE PAST FEW MONTHS have seen significant milestones in the programme to rescue and restore the Palace of Westminster from the many years of neglect and decay.

In November experts unearthed possible remains of the original medieval Thames River wall – believed to run under the Houses of Parliament – as part of thousands of hours of investigative surveys by the Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority to map out the condition of the historic Palace of Westminster.

Over the summer and early autumn, specialists spent nearly 5,000 hours examining 160 rooms and drilling boreholes up to 70m deep to assess ground conditions around the Palace of Westminster.

During one of the geotechnical borehole investigations – in Chancellor’s Court, near the House of Lords chamber – the discovery of a section of possible medieval river wall meant the borehole drill was paused and the discovery assessed by archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA).

The structure is likely to be at least 700 years old and is made from Kentish Ragstone: a hard grey limestone quarried from Kent that was also used in the construction of the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey.

Borehole drills gathered dozens of ground samples from under the palace, which were sent to a specialist lab in Coventry for testing to better understand the composition of the ground. MOLA is also conducting its own archaeological report based on the data from the boreholes, to confirm more about the discovery of the possible river wall.

Patsy Richards, interim CEO of the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body, commented: “We expect more exciting finds from dozens of surveys carried out over the coming months. We are also working really closely with the teams who keep the palace running now. As we learn more from our surveys, we can develop in more detail proposals to agree a safe and cost-effective way to plan the work needed to restore the Palace of Westminster and preserve it for future generations.”

The boreholes are part of an extensive programme of sensitive building investigations by the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority. Archaeologists have been on site for each of the boreholes to record any finds of historical significance which could add to the records of the palace. A small amount of material from the river wall was removed for analysis before the site was carefully sealed up again to protect the structure.

The discovery is probably the second finding of a part of the medieval river wall which runs under Parliament, which was first identified in Black Rod’s Garden in 2015 when medieval timber structures thought to represent waterfront revetments were discovered. The wall runs alongside the medieval location of the riverside. When the palace was built in the 1800s, after many of the medieval buildings burned down, land was reclaimed from the Thames to make the palace site bigger. q