Discovery of Roman road halts £28m plan

A £28million regeneration project on a London estate has been halted by the discovery of a Roman road.

The road, buried less than a metre underground in Leyton, may date back to the 1st century AD.

It had long been believed that there was a road, connecting London to Great Dunmow in Essex, based on projected route lines from previous discoveries. It would have been used to bring farm produce to sell at market, said Peter Moore, of independent archaeological company Pre-Construct.

The firm was called in to examine the Beaumont Estate before construction work began on a £28million project.

Mr Moore said: "In one corner of the estate we dug down and found a cross-section of this road. It's about six metres wide and has ditches on either side that would have been for drainage.

"It's probably been repaired several times and there will possibly be some wheel ruts etched into the surface. It will be excavated in the hope of finding objects left by its former users."

Once the site has been excavated, the building work will continue.