The center of London is actively condensed. Therefore there it's simply impossible to squeeze any new construction. But the requirement for them constantly appears. For example, the project of architect James Gardener on bridge building through Thames, the bridge will become simultaneously and as new parkway in the center of London, and also will create set of the new areas in the same place. High Tide Street, the new bridge through Thames, will created from several floating platforms. In these platforms also there will be infrastructural city elements: library, a concert hall, floor spaces. Here it will be possible to go in for sports, and simply to have a rest on a bench. Here after all there will be no car nearby. Therefore air here will be pure!
The bridge over Thames
Besides, into this architectural project will be possible to add a new element and even the whole branches.
A piece of broken pottery, newly identified 40 years after it was found as important evidence of an early Christian community in Roman London, is going on display for the first time at the Museum of London, over the Easter weekend.
A volunteer spotted the shard while sorting through hundreds of pieces of broken pottery found in the 1970s [Credit: Museum of London]
A sharp-eyed volunteer, sorting through hundreds of pieces of pottery shards found in the 1970s in an excavation on Brentford High Street, west London, noticed one fragment inscribed with the chi rho, the first two letters of Christ in the Greek alphabet, which was a common symbol in the early Christian church.
The pottery was made in Oxfordshire in the 4th century, rather than imported, so the symbol suggests a very early Thames-side Christian community.
Adam Corsini, the archaeology collections manager, said it was a very rare find. “Although we can’t say from one object that Roman London and its hinterland were practising Christianity, it does suggest that Christians were at least present at some point in 4th-century Roman Brentford.
“Christian symbols from the Roman period are rare, especially from sites within Londinium’s surrounding hinterland, and there are only a few examples in our collections relating to London.”
Although Brentford is now a nondescript suburb, carved up by main roads and scattered with tower blocks, it has a long and distinguished history. From prehistoric times it was an important river crossing, where the Thames could be forded at low tide. The museum has a wealth of material from Brentford, including beautiful bronze age metalwork believed to have been thrown into the river as ritual offerings.
There was a Roman settlement, and possibly an even earlier encounter with the invaders. A large pillar made from recycled stone was erected by an amateur historian in 1909, recording the belief that the local tribesmen fought Julius Caesar there in 54BC. Although historians doubt the story, the pillar still stands, though it has been moved from its original riverside site. There is better evidence for the battle in 1016 between King Canute and Edmund Ironside, which the pillar also marks.
Author: Maev Kennedy | Source: The Guardian [March 24, 2016]