Page:The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881).djvu/208

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194
BURIAL OF THE REMAINS
Chap. IV.

a castle; and it is certain that they have been removed. The position of the nave-transept was ascertained not long ago by the foundations having been found; and the place is now marked by stones let into the ground. Where the abbey formerly stood, there now extends a smooth grass-covered surface, which resembles in all respects the rest of the field. The guardian, a very old man, said the surface had never been levelled in his time. In the year 1853, the Duke of Buccleuch had three holes dug in the turf within a few yards of one another, at the western end of the nave; and the old tesselated pavement of the abbey was thus discovered. These holes were afterwards surrounded by brickwork, and protected by trap-doors, so that the pavement might be readily inspected and preserved. When my son William examined the place on January 5, 1872, he found that the pavement in the three holes lay at depths of 6¾, 10 and 11½ inches beneath the surrounding turf-covered surface. The old guardian asserted that he was often forced to remove worm-castings from the pavement; and that he had done