Page:VCH London 1.djvu/107

 LEVEL OF STREET ■ G3C3C3C3E3QaQK3QQ f 3c3OQaaiC3000c3a0QC ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON this length of wall served a last purpose in forming a screen at the back of Bethlehem Hospital and the boundary of the northern extent of the street but after the demolition of Bethlehem in 1 8 17 the portion above ground was broken down and the street was formed over it. At the subsequent widening of the street it was left safely buried under the roadway, though pressed on both sides and in places cut through by sewers and mains of various descrip- tions, until at last no room was to be found except in the space occupied by the old wall, and the telephone mains had to be laid from Moorgate for a considerable distance eastwards actually within its core, in which a trench 2 ft. 6 in. wide was carried to a depth of 8 ft. 6 in. Where the wall crosses Moorgate Street is the site of Moorgate, but the gate was not made until 141 5, when Thomas Falconer, mayor, ' caused the wall of the city to be broken near unto Coleman streete, and there built a postern now called Moregate, upon the moor side where was never gate before.' " On the west side of Moorgate Street, the con- tinuation of London Wall (street) is considerably nar- rower, the base of the wall still serving as a foundation to the fronts of the houses on the north side. Loftus Brock,*^ who made an ex- amination of the wall here records that it corresponds almost exactly with other parts of the line (Plan C, 82). Its thickness was 9 ft. 2 in., ' but this included about 2 ft. of mediaeval work intended to thicken it. Its average height was 4 ft. above ground, but there were also 8 ft. below. There was no pounded brick except in one part, where a mass of the concrete formed of pounded red brick, and evidently taken from some other building, was built up into the wall. Some scored flue tiles and thick roofing tiles had also been used in it.' From this description it would seem as though a bastion had formerly stood here, the fore part of which had at some time been removed (Plan C, 83). Further to the west portions of the wall are still incorporated in the buildings, although " Stow, Surv. 13. " Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxxviii, 424-6. 61 Fig. 20. — Elevation of Wall and Section disclosed bV the Shaft in the Walbrook Bed dug by the Society of Antiquaries in 1905