Experts say the find is of international importance. © Museum of London

Archaeologists are hailing an exceptional collection of 19 metal vessels dating to the late Roman period as the most significant find in 30 years of excavations in the Upper Walbrook Valley, in the heart of what is now the City of London.

The pots, which are going on temporary display at the Museum of London from December 7 2007, were recently discovered at the bottom of a wood-lined well and despite being nearly 1,700 years old they are astonishingly well preserved.

They comprise of large wine buckets, a cauldron and large dishes, handled shallow bowls or dippers, part of a hanging bowl, a set of three nested bowls, a flagon, an iron ladle and a trivet.

The vessels lay at the bottom of the well for nearly 1,700 years. © Museum of London

It is also possible these remarkable pieces were hidden by departing Roman Londoners who anticipated a return to the city. Coins found in the well date its construction to 330 AD and its closure to around 380 AD, when significant parts of the Roman city had been deserted.

The finds were uncovered at Drapers Gardens, a site owned by the Drapers Company, during a dig by Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA) and they are, in the main, made of copper alloy with several vessels, a flagon and dish, in lead alloy.

“All sites are unique and all have the potential to spring surprises although very few do,” said Gary Brown, Managing Director at PCA. “At Drapers’ Gardens we were obviously aware that the site was of the very highest order. However the well was very ordinary, black fill with few finds, but suddenly out of the black was this shining metalwork. And so much of it exceptional.”

Some of the objects even have swing handles that remain articulated. © Museum of London

“These finds are amazing, I just couldn’t stop grinning when I first saw them,” said Jenny Hall, curator of Roman London at Museum of London. “In size and scale they are simply unprecedented. Nothing like this has ever been found from London before, or anywhere else in Britain.”

As well as offering a rare glimpse into the last days of Londinium the collection is providing experts with tantalising new evidence of the rituals, which may have accompanied the Roman abandonment of the city.

The vessels lay at the bottom of the well and may mark its symbolic closure, a practice already recorded elsewhere in London but usually with ceramic flagons, figurines and even animal or human skulls.

© Museum of London

Although they look like fine household objects, it is possible the hoard may also have had religious uses. Some shallow dishes with handles were part of the bathing process, other bowls, dishes and jugs were sets for washing hands (much food was eaten with fingers) but were also used during religious ceremonies, including sacrifices, where bowls were used for pouring libations in honour of the gods.

To find uncorroded metal tableware of this type is remarkable and extremely rare, much rarer than silver or gold tableware of the period. Some of the objects even have swing handles that remain articulated. Experts say it is a find of both national and international importance.