In 2014 PCA London was commissioned to undertake an evaluation at the former Tower Bridge Magistrates Court during which late Iron Age and Roman pottery was found within a suspected ditch or channel. The work was followed three years later by an archaeological watching brief and excavation.

The development comprised part-demolition, alteration, and extension of the existing building, transforming its use from Magistrate’s Court and Police Station to a 7-storey hotel. The archaeological investigation closely monitored the ground reduction within a previously untruncated area of the site to facilitate the construction of a new basement level.

Following the evaluation, work commenced with a watching brief during the bulk ground reduction and on reaching the expected Iron Age horizon archaeological hand excavation began.

The site had been subject to intense animal burrowing and bioturbation into the natural sand drift geology; this same phenomenon was observed during the works when foxes entered the site in the evenings and opened-up many new burrows! The Iron Age and Roman pottery identified during the evaluation was shown to have been residual material as no contemporary levels or features were identified.

The bulk of the site was taken up by tanning waste pits of the 17th–18th centuries. Ground reduction or terracing of the site was thought to have occurred at this time removing earlier horizons and features, which explains the presence of earlier material. The tanning pits were sealed in the later 18th century to provide building platforms for residential terraced housing that appeared at the end of the century.