Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/234

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

216 ON THE CITY OF ANDERIDA, OR ANDREDESCEASTER. works, the remains of the keep belonging to a far later period. There are also sufficient records of the castle being occupied as a fortress, when it must necessarily have been the residence of those to Avliom the custody of it was intrusted; but it is especially to be remarked, first, that the interior of the Roman walls shews no signs of other buildings attached to or Avithin them, with the exception of the now ruined keep; and secondly, that the town of Pevensey, properly so called, though immediately adjoiniuf/, is entirely distinct from the spot which we would assume to be Andredecester; so that the name Pevensey was bestowed, not on the ancient British city, hut vpon a separate spot. Still farther it may be noticed, as a possible corroboration of Henry of Huntingdon's statement, that the earliest portion of Pevensey church, as now standing, is in style Early English; consequently, that it was not erected till about the time of, if not subsequent to, that writer's death; and there is such a strong resemblance between some arch- mouldings of the church, and others among the ruins of the keep, that I should assign the construction of both buildings to the same period. Before concluding this dissertation I would adduce some support to my views from authority. And first Somner, in opposition to Camden's theory, decidedly inclines to Pevensey as the probable site of Anderida ^, though he does not express a positive opinion. Private information enables me to produce also the observation upon this subject of one, whose reputa- tion stands deservedly high in such matters. The late Henry Pctrie, Esq., Keeper of the Records in the Tower, repeatedly mentioned, that he could satisfactorily recognise every Roman station, from Burgh castle on the confines of Norfolk and Sutiblk round the coast southward and westward to Port- chester in Hampshire, applying to each station both the ancient and the modern name, it-ith only a sinyle exception in each case; the identity of Andredesceaster having never been determined, nor any Roman appellation appropriated to the indisputable Roman ruins existing at Pevensey. From these considerations therefore the huprcssion upon Mr. Petrie's mind was, that Pevensey is, and Pevensey alone can be, the site of the long-lost Romano-British city. This discussion has necessarily been lengthened by the desire not to })ass unnoticed whatever bearing upon the ques-

  • Roman Ports and I'orts in Kent, p. 105.