New book: 2,000 years of history at Southwark Cathedral

"A splendid volume which I hope is of huge interest to a lot of people," was the Dean of Southwark's description of the paperback when speaking at the cathedral on Monday evening.

In his speech, Dean Colin Slee recalled how leading archaeologist Harvey Sheldon pointed at the floor of a yard and said: "There you will find the Roman road." The prediction made ten years ago proved correct.

The illustrated monograph, called 'A New Millennium at Southwark Cathedral: Investigations into the First Two Thousand Years', tells the story from the first years of Roman occupation with the construction of the road to the foundation and development of the medieval priory of St Mary Overie.

"This was our first major experience of a project where the archaeologists and the archaeology were viewed in a more inclusive role," said Pre-Construct Archaeology project manager Peter Moore. "This inclusiveness led on to an idea to produce a book."

The main authors are David Divers, Chris Mayo, Nathalie Cohen and Chris Jarrett. The volume concludes with a section on the transformation to a cathedral and a reflection on a vision for the future by architect Richard Griffiths.

• The monograph (Oxbow Books £19.95) is available from the cathedral's bookshop.

• Nathalie Cohen will be giving a lecture at the cathedral on Thursday 22 October as part of the Southwark Then & Now series.