Guy usually takes all the site photos, as he is a keen photographer, and he always carts round an ancient Pentax, taking shots for his own purposes.. So here are a series of images he has taken in black and white…

GM44

GM44
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London | Archaeology | Excavation | Dig | Peter Marsden | Ralph Merrifield | Coopers Row | Roman | Medieval | Found Image
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Posted Jul 25, 07:25 AM.
Taken Jul 25, 08:25 AM.

I did not take this photo, I found it in the Museum archive (LAARC). The picture was taken by Peter Marsden in 1962 when he was the Guildhall Museum's lone roving archaeologist. The site is at Coopers Row in the City of London. The site was being redeveloped by Midland Bank... the 17th, 18th and 19th century buildings were making way for a bright new modernist tower designed by Richard Seifert. The results were published in note form in LAMAS and have the site code GM44. Marsden was under incredible pressure, attempting to cover hundreds of development sites all over the city of London practically single handed. You will note his Lambretta in the background, this must have been invaluable for getting quickly between the sites. You can see the figure of Ralph Merrifield in the foreground and so I imagine Marsden taking this picture when his boss or mentor came down to visit the site. Merrifield is wearing a wonderful Homburg hat and smart woollen suit. The square format suggests that the photo was taken with a medium format camera and putting two and two together I would imagine this to be a twin lens reflex (TLR) typical of the early 1960s such as a Rolleiflex. I have a personal connection to this place: I am working on a publication of 3 excavations at this site in 1999, 2003 and 2006. We re-excavated Midland House in 1999 when it was being redeveloped, we subsequently excavated next door to the site and at the rear of Midland House. I am fascinated by this image, the archive contains many better images of the archaeology, but this image captures something of the life of the site. The picture is rich in the history and psychogeography of archaeology. I keep thinking of Debord's image of the "Naked City" with Marsden riding between interwoven points in time as he moves from a Roman dig in Tower Hill to a medieval dig in Moorgate. The picture captures all of these references and so many more, from the workmen's tweed coats to the dragline excavator, the image is firmly located in it's time at the nexus of all these elements.