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A fragment of the City Wall of London at Vine Street.
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London’s City & Roman Wall at Vine Street

The wall built by the Romans to protect Londinium sometime between 190 and 230 AD still survives in a number of places. Many of these sections were modified or repaired in subsequent periods of the city’s history. In the 1970s and 1980s a new section of the wall, 10 m long and reaching about 3 m in height, was uncovered during the construction of an office block, Emperor House. That block has recently been rebuilt and the section of the wall, once inaccessible in the basement is now available for all to see, along with the artefacts recovered from the original excavations. The City Wall at Vine Street is open every day (except public holidays) and free to enter, although you must book in advance.

Like many of Europe’s great metropolises, London was a city founded by the Romans. It was in the first century that the colonial forces established Londinium, a settlement on the northern bank of the River Thames. This is the area now encompassed by the City of London – the financial heart of the Greater London area. Today, the City still possesses many reminders of its Roman past, from the Amphitheatre below the Guildhall to the Mithraic Temple along Walbrook. Most of these are hidden beneath the ground, meaning that the only Roman remains which Londoners often encounter on a day-to-day basis are those of the old City Wall.

London's Roman & Medieval Wall

The stone wall around Londinium was built in the late second or early third century, perhaps to deter attackers or to control how people could enter and leave the city. Although falling into disrepair following the collapse of Roman rule in the early fifth century, the wall was often reused in the Middle Ages and various portions of it are still visible around the City. One part looms over a small park at Tower Hill, just a stone’s throw from the Tower of London; another stretch runs south of the famous brutalist structures of the Barbican.
A reconstruction sketch showing what the wall section and bastion tower would have looked like when it was built.
A sketch showing what the Vine Street section of the wall and the bastion tower would have looked like. This image is from a wll plaque produced by the Museum of London to mark the surviving sections of the City Wall, known as the London wall Walk.

The City Wall at Vine Street

Over the decades, new parts of the wall have been revealed by construction work, allowing archaeologists to piece together more of London’s story. In the 1970s, an area along Vine Street was uncovered during the building of an office block. Now, almost half a century on from its discovery, this stretch has been opened to the public as part of a small permanent exhibition, ‘The City Wall at Vine Street,’ located in the basement of the new Urbanest student accommodation building.

While the actual stretch of wall below Vine Street is comparatively small, the site’s owners have gone to considerable effort to make a visit worthwhile. Visitors can walk around both the inner and outer faces of the wall, seeing how the structure was repaired and re-used in post-Roman centuries as well as how metal supports help keep it standing today, nearly two thousand years on from its construction.

The display of archaeological artefacts at the Vine Street exhibition gallery.
The display wall of artefacts recovered during excavations in the 1970s and 1980s.

Also on display are several hundred artefacts recovered from the vicinity of Vine Street. Although some of these objects are Roman, the majority date from later periods and include the contents of several eighteenth-century cess pits. Arranged in chronological order, this material illustrates the complex history of the site and offers glimpses into the daily life of the people who lived here. A more unusual object found buried at Vine Street was a tombstone from the eastern Mediterranean, dated to the early 200s BC. The caption suggests that it was most likely brought to London as a tourist souvenir in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, although how it got buried here is a mystery.

Roman tombstone found at the Vine Street section of the wall.
The Roman tombstone from the Mediterranean.
Glasses and bottles excavated at the Vine Street section of London's Roman Wall.
Roman bottles and glasses on display among the artefacts recovered from excavations at the site.

Visiting & Accessibility

People with no prior knowledge of London’s story will not be left out. An animated video, playing on a loop, gives a broad overview of the City’s history from the Roman period onward, with particular focus on the site at Vine Street. Assisting those with visual or hearing impairments, the video features both audio and subtitles. Overall, visitors interested in reading through the artefact captions will probably spend between twenty and thirty minutes here. Anyone wanting a quick look could easily do it in five.

One of the best things about the City Wall at Vine Street is that entry is free. However, pre-booking via the website is required and entry may not be permitted for those turning up without a prior booking. Although group bookings are apparently admitted via Jewry Street, other visitors can only enter at the Vine Street side of the building. Here, access is via a ground floor café; on entering, you have to immediately turn right and then down a series of stairs to reach the exhibit. I was asked for a booking code before I could pass through a barrier, suggesting that the owners take the need for pre-booking seriously.

Public transport in central London is generally good and the City Wall at Vine Street is only a few minutes walk from Fenchurch Street railway station or the Aldgate and Tower Hill underground stations. If coming from the latter, don’t miss out on taking a look at the exposed portion of the City Wall just around the corner. Tower Hill station is also close to the Tower of London, with it being quite possible to combine visits to the Tower and the City Wall into a single day out.

Visiting the City Wall at Vine Street

Entrance is via the coffee shop at 35 Vine Street, London, EC3n 2PX

Official Website

Opening Hours

Monday to Sunday: 09h00 – 18h00
Closed: Public holidays

Ticket Prices

Free for everyone, but you are required to book in advance. 

Facilities

add details about facilities or leave blank

The City Wall at Vine Street may not be a ‘must see’ for visitors to London, but it holds undoubted appeal for those with a particular interest in either Roman archaeology or the heritage of the City. If you have already seen the Amphitheatre and the Mithraeum, then this is a good attraction to check out next – especially as many of the city’s Roman treasures will be inaccessible until the reopening of the Museum of London in 2026.

Add City Wall at Vine Street to Your Itineraries & Travel Lists

You can create your own travel lists (such as places you have been to, places you would like to visit) and an itinerary for your London visit. These can also be shared with your friends and on social media. You can see how this is done by watching our Using the Itinerary video on YouTube, or reading the Using the Itinerary page.

For more sites and museums in Greater London, see Art, Archaeology & History Sites & Museums in London.

A fragment of the City Wall of London at Vine Street.

The City Wall at Vine Street

In the basement of Emperor House, on Vine Street, is a part of the 4th century wall that surrounded the Roman city Londinium. A small section of the wall ( 10 m long and 3 m high) still stands along with the foundations of a Roman bastion tower. Originally excavated by archaeologists in the 1970sand 1980s, and studied again in 2012 the remains of the London Wall ae now the centrepiece of a gallery space and café. Besides the wall, a number of artefacts recovered during the excavations are on display. Entry to the gallery is free to anyone, but you are required to book in advance on the website. The venue is open everyday except public holidays.

Archaeology Travel Writer

Ethan Doyle White

When not exploring archaeology and history sites at home and abroad, and then writing about these for Archaeology Travel, I research religion in early medieval England and contemporary uses of heritage. In 2019 I completed a PhD in medieval history and archaeology from University College, London. Read More

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