On Saturday 22nd July a small group of us braved the wet weather and meet up at the Museum of London Docklands to visit Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail.
The construction of the new 26 mile long Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, has provided archaeologists with a unique opportunity to study London’s history and various major sites have been excavated along the route.
The exhibition displayed about 500 of the thousands of artefacts that have been recovered, ranging from early prehistoric stone tools to items from the twentieth century, even including careful photo documentation of the buildings that have been demolished in the process of building the new infrastructure. There have also been a number of burial pits uncovered and some human remains were also on display, along with the insights that these remains have uncovered about the ways of life and death of people living in London hundreds of years ago.
The exhibition also covered some of the amazing technical achievements involved in Crossrail – explaining the route, the issues the project had to overcome, how the tunnels were bored and with interesting videos of the machinery in action. Information about the ecological considerations was also provided.
It proved an interesting and enjoyable exhibition. Afterwards we gathered in the bar and had a long chat about the exhibition and many other subjects.
Socialising afterwards…
