The Roman Relic Hidden In Clapham

London was established by the Romans just after 43AD (is anyone else looking forward to the 2000 year anniversary toga party?) and occupied London until around 410AD.

There are a few scattered remains in the city from this period, such as the Roman Wall and the Mithraeum. There is however a lesser-known relic in the front garden of a theatre in Clapham.

The Theatre

At 1 Clapham Common North Side you will find a late-Victorian red-brick building, pictured above. In the 19th century, due to the arrival of the railway, Clapham developed from a village into a burgeoning suburb and it was constructed in 1889 as a purpose-built library for the growing population of the area.

It was one of the first libraries in London to trial open access bookshelves, i.e. you could browse the books yourself.

After over 100 years serving the local community , the library closed in 2013 due to lack of funding.

After a seven year campaign to save the beloved Victorian building from developers, locals transformed it into an arts hub. It became the Omnibus Theatre and, inspired by the building’s literary heritage, they focus on contemporary story-telling and reimagining the classics.

The Stone 

In the front garden, obscured by the foliage, you will find this odd stone. 

You can find it here in the front garden.

This seemingly mundane block is actually, remarkably, of Roman origin, likely dating from the 1st century AD. Just a reminder that that was the century London was founded. But, what is it and where did it come from?

The Historic England listing describes it as an ‘altar stone’ suggesting it has religious significance.

Now very faded, a Latin inscription on the stone reads: ‘to the spirits of the departed and to Vitus Licinius Ascanius, he made this for himself in his own lifetime’. So it is essentially a monument, created by the person it honours, before he died.

It was discovered in the early 1900s during the demolition of a mansion called Cavendish House nearby. Cavendish House stood where Cavendish Road now meets Clapham Common South Side.

The stone, when discovered, was gifted to the library by Councillor E.J. Golds. The librarian at the time, J Reed Welch, was a keen collector of antiquities and tried to find out the origins of the stone.

Origins

Who Vitus was, no one is sure, but due to his 3 barrelled name we know he was a freeman and potentially a citizen of the Roman Empire at a time when the vast majority (97%) of people in Britain were non-citizens. 

Welch traced its original discovery back to the Tower of London. It was discovered in the foundations of the Lanthorn Tower in the Tower in 1777 after a fire in 1774. It is thought that the stone had potentially been repurposed as a building block in a previous construction project. 

How it got to Cavendish House is a mystery, but it was potentially acquired by Henton Brown, a wealthy banker who lived there in the 18th century. 

It is a great example of a London oddity. There are lots of questions around it but it is indicative of the incredible layers of history in London.

Thank you for reading! More curiosities below…