A cobbled street at Temple Mills is laid bare after 150 years
A cobbled street over 150 years old unearthed by archaeologists investigating the site of a 12th Century Knights Templar mill on the edge of the London 2012 VeloPark site is to be reused in the Olympic Park design.
The Museum of London Archaeological Services and Pre-Construct Archaeology team believe the street may be part of the original Temple Mills lane.
It is thought that the street formed part of the western area of a more recent mill complex demolished in 1854 before being covered by thousands of tonnes of rubbish and rubble over the last 150 years.
Once recorded by Museum of London archaeologists the cobbles will be carefully dug up and stockpiled so they can be reused by parkland designers in the Olympic Park being created for the Games and legacy.
Archaeologists will now begin digging deeper to search for evidence of the original Knights Templar mill, known as Temple Mills, which started the industrialisation of the Lea Valley.
ODA CEO David Higgins said: “Cleaning and clearing the Olympic Park has given us the unique opportunity to look back into the past of the area before it is transformed for future generations.
"The industrial heritage of the Lea Valley has played an important role in the development of London. Bringing back to life this cobbled street in the Olympic Park will be an important way of telling the fascinating story of the development of the area.”
Previous archaeological finds around the Olympic Park site including a prehistoric settlement and the skeletons of four prehistoric settlers; Roman river walls; a complete 19th century boat; and Second World War gun emplacements.
Archaeologists have also been charting the topography of the site to build a picture of how the land and waterways have developed and how climate change has affected the area.
