Stop? Go? Undecided?

There is a story (isn't there always with a glimpseoflondon?) relating to these unusual traffic lights.

Created by French Sculptor Pierre Viviant it originally sat on a roundabout near Canary Wharf, part of the old Docklands area that now is largely banks and apartments.  The sculpture was to represent the old plane tree that once stood in its place but was killed by pollution.  It was originally intended that the lights would operate in a way that reflected the activity of the stock exchange.  That idea was quickly scarpered when motorists became confused thinking it was to direct the traffic.

In 2011 major road works required the traffic light tree to be removed.  A new place was sought for this very popular art work.  Following all the usual bureaucracy a new roundabout was found and in January 2014 it was unveiled at the entrance to the Billingsgate Fish Market.

Roman Bath House

OK it looks like a rubble of rocks but let me explain the significance of the rubble.  This is the remains of a Roman Bath House.  The Billingsgate house and Bath House were believed to have been built in 2AD.  It is a very important find as it is the only known building to survive from Roman London that was still in use as late as the 5th century, the end of the Roman era here.

A model of what the bath house would have looked like is pictured on the left.  It is unusual as it is too small to be a public bath house, and the deign of the house itself, plus the artefacts found during the excavations clearly indicate it was not the property of a wealthy owner.  One theory is that it could have been a private spa.

Let me explain how the bath house (left) was used.  The little room at the front on the left hand side was the hot steam room.  The water from an underground spring was heated under the floor, then piped across to the little room on the right hand side.  This was the warm room.

The large room at the rear is the cold room.  Bathers could cool of here and have the hair pluckers remove    all body hair, as was the fashion of the day.

The image above is a glimpse of the hot room.  What you are seeing here is the floor of the room, the pipes carrying the heated water would have lain where the gaps that look a bit like tunnels on the left of the frame.

The entire ruin was so well preserved as it was buried under a thick layer of debris as a result of the London fire in 1666.