Model forum

Model of Londinium's forum and basilica showing how it might have looked from about AD130 when it was at its largest.

The basilica, which was the centre of local government for Londinium, is the tallest part of the complex, along the northern side. The forum, which was used as a meeting place and market, is the large open space surrounded by permanent shops and offices, with the main portico or entrance in the middle of the southern side. There is a colonnade across the centre of the forum dividing it into two courtyards. An orator and his audience are shown in the northern courtyard and market stalls in the southern one.

The main east-west road through Londinium runs through the centre of the model and to its south further ranges of buildings are shown. The scale of the complex can be appreciated by comparing the size of the private dwellings to the east and west.

Plans for this model were drawn up using information from many archaeological excavations in the Gracecurch Street area. This is a massive complex - using modern streets for reference, the main east-west road is beneath Lombard Street and Fenchurch Street, and the road running up to the portico from the south is on the line of Gracechuch Street. The mid-point of the northern limit of the basilica lies under the junction of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street.