ROMANO-BRITISH LEICESTERSHIRE about 4 ft. from the surface. The pattern was geometrical, the inner tesserae being in. square, the outer ones double that size. It was thought to be of late date, about the beginning of the fourth century, and probably the atrium of a Roman villa. The materials used were whin- stone (blue), brick (red), oolitic stone (drab), and composition (white) on a bed of ordinary mortar about 2 in. thick, laid on the ground, which gave no indication of being otherwise disturbed. The pavement showed signs of having been destroyed by fire. Numerous coins, bones, pieces of pottery and wall-plaster, and a stone quern were also discovered. Silver coins of Vespasian (A.D. 70-79), Domitian (A.D. 81-96), Antoninus (A.D. 138-61), Honorius (A.D. 395-423), and Arcadius (A.D. 395-408) were identified [Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 209 ; v, 70, 1 70 ; vi, 42 ; Assoc. Arch. Soc. xiv, Ixii ; Leic. and Rut 1. N. and Q. ii, 209 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), vii, 196, 197, 315]. Between Medbourne and Port Hill, a few hundred yards to the west of the village, were three tumuli. Two of these have been removed, the third is now surmounted by a mill [post, ' Ancient Earthworks ' ; Leic. Arch. Soc. v, 70]. Coins have also been found in other parts of the village. A small silver one of Arcadius, found on the Gartree Road (A.D. 395-408) [Leic. Arch. Soc. ii, 290], a coin of Constantine (A.D. 306-37), found at Ashley on the Medbourne boundary [Leic. Arch. Soc. vi, 42], and two third brass Consular coins, found near the Manor House [Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 295]. MELTON MOWBRAY. Near Melton Mowbray, in 1863, a gold coin of Valentinianus I (A.D. 364-75), and two brass coins, the larger of Allectus (A.D. 293-96), the smaller undecipherable, were discovered [Leic. Arch. Soc. ii, 185]. Two gold coins of Valens (A.D. 364-78) were also found in the neighbourhood in good preservation [Leic. Arch. Soc. ii, 207 ; O.S. xx, 5], MOIRA. The remains of a paved roadway, thought to be Roman, were discovered here [Reliq. ii, 209]. MOUNTSORREL. In June, 1881, in clearing away soil to find granite, a Roman sepulchral chamber, about I ft. below the surface, was unearthed. It was nearly a parallelogram in shape, fhe largest side being 8 ft. 3 in., the shorter side 7 ft., the ends 3 ft. 7 in. and 2 ft. 7 in. The walls averaged 4 ft. in height, and about I ft. 4 in. in thickness. They were coated inside with plaster from I in. to 2^ in. thick, divided into panels of unequal size by bands of red 2 in. wide, with a dado of the same colour 8 in. from the ground. Within the panels a wide pattern in colours could be discerned, made by brush markings in red, black, and amber. One of the panels on the shorter side was ornamented with a figure resembling the letter A. Outside the chamber, and independent of it, about I ft. below the present surface, a band of mortar, 3 in. to 7 in. thick, was to be observed. Two years before, another chamber had been opened about 12 yds. away. It was of rude construction, and not plastered. The floor was of rough Swithland slates, laid in clay or very bad lime concrete. Inside it were found bones, probably of deer, a stag's antlers showing saw-marks, some pieces of dark pottery and tiles, and fragments of coloured wall-plaster. A small iron arrow-head was also discovered [Leic. Arch. Soc. v, 345]. Near this spot were found a small bronze gouge, a stone quern, and some pieces of pottery [Camb. Antiq. Soc. viii, 133 ; Leic. Arch. Soc. ii, 1 06]. A well was opened at Mountsorrel in 1898, containing Celtic and Roman remains ; a mass of concrete with pebbles, portions of roof and flue tiles and tesserae were considered Roman ; a bronze bucket and other utensils of the late Celtic period [ante, ' Early Man']. Several of these things are in the Leicester Museum [Camb. Antiq. Sec. viii, 133 ; Rep. Com. Leic. Mus. 1891-1902]. These remains point to the existence of a Roman villa in the neighbourhood. NARBOROUGH. A coin (third brass) of Antoninus (A.D. 138-61) was found near the Fosse Way in 1862 [Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 82]. NETHER BROUGHTON. The Fosse Way passes between Upper and Nether Broughton and Willoughby-on-the-Wold in Nottinghamshire, and Nichols states that many mosaic pavements were found in Broughton, ' sometimes for as much as five yards together,' also pot-hooks, other utensils, and a great quantity of brass coins. ' Broad stones ' and foundations were also found by the side of the Fosse, Stukeley decided that this was the Roman station of Mar- gidunum (on the west side of the Fofse Way), but more recent opinion has decided that Verometum and Willoughby are the same [Nichols, Hist. Leic. ii, pt i, 121 ; Stukeley, I tin. Cur. i, 107; Haverfield in V.C.H. IVarw. i, 243]. ORTON-ON-THE-HILL. Coins were found here in laying the foundations of a house at the west end of the village [Nichols, Hist. Leic. iv, 852]. OWESTON. Pottery was discovered here, some of it said to be cinerary urns [Throsby, Views of Leic. ii, 390.] RATBY. Five miles north-west of Leicester is a rectangular camp of single vallum and fosse, known as ' Ratby Burrow,' or ' Bury ' Camp ; it lies a mile west of the village of Ratby, and occupies an area of over nine acres [post, ' Ancient Earthworks ' ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (new ser.), vii, 24 ; Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 62 ; Gent. Mag. 1773, p. 76]. 215
