The modern City of London is built on the site of the Roman settlement of Londinium when the Romans had conquered Britain close to 2,000 years ago. Whenever excavations are undertaken in the city, it quite often uncovers echoes from the past. And when the structure known as the Gherkin was being built, the remains of a teenage Roman girl were uncovered.
The Gherkin
As is normal in these cases, archaeologists from the Museum of London are called in and they investigate and take away such remains and sometimes store them for future research. They were able to place her as having lived around AD 350 to AD 400 which was during the Roman occupation.
In this particular case it was decided by all concerned parties that when the building was complete, she should be reburied close to her original site. This was done and if you walk around the Gherkin today, you will see a gravestone set into the ground as a memorial to a young Roman girl of which we know so little.
The grave today
John Pullen 