A treasure trove of Roman London artefacts — discovered on the site of the City of London's Bloomberg HQ — has been gifted to the London Museum.
During the construction of Bloomberg's Queen Victoria Street building between 2012 and 2017, a staggering 14,000 Roman artefacts were excavated by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists.
Some 600 of these are already on show as part of the free-to-visit London Mithraeum attraction, beneath the Bloomberg building. However, many more of the treasures have yet to be seen by the public — something which will change once London Museum opens on its new Smithfield site in 2026.
The City of London sits stop the Roman city of Londinium, and is rich with buried objects from this period. Among the pieces donated to London Museum by Bloomberg Philanthropies are decorated pots, leather shoes, fragments of swords, wooden writing tablets and styluses (the precursor to the pen) and carved bone amulets that would've been worn by military men for spiritual protection.
Says Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg: "London has an extraordinary history with so much to teach and discover. These remarkable artefacts offer a unique window into the past, connecting us directly to the voices of its ancient inhabitants."
Bloomberg Philanthropies has also made a £20m donation to the London Museum — the largest private donation ever made to the museum.
