Page:VCH London 1.djvu/105

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ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON from I ft. to 3 ft. in length, and resting at a depth of about 1 2 ft. They were laid at the level of the original surface on the usual bed of clay, but without any interposition of ragstone, visible on the face, and this was also the case where the bastion rested, but a little to the east of the church the plinth had a few inches of ragstone beneath it. The line of the plinth was not, however, exactly level, as it fell about a foot from the bastion to the western end of the excavation, where the wall crossed a small stream over which the plinth was carried in a straight line. The hollow channel of the stream gradually fell to a depth of 3 ft. 6 in. below the original surface, and this was filled up with undressed ragstone, in the centre of which was a small drain with an opening 15 in. high and 9 in. wide, running diagonally through the wall. It was built of Roman tiles cemented with red mortar, and the tiles had originally projected in front of the wall, but the upper part of the drain had been destroyed for about 2 ft. into the wall before the stream silted up (Fig. 19). In the filling at the mouth of the drain were found the remains of a human skeleton, together with Romano-British pottery. The top had eventually been filled up and levelled with a quantity of building rubbish in which were many pieces of roofing tile {tegula and imbrex) and other Roman relics. Beyond this point the wall was met with when the buildings adjoining Blomfield Street were erected, but only slight mention of it is made. In the street called London Wall, near the entrance to Blomfield Street, two culverts were found passing beneath the City wall. They were in general HOftTM W».X OF AU.HU.LOWS CHuRCh t-EVEL <a CMuncHVattD

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-> -s,^ 17ir_T_JL-l Fig. 19. — City Wall, West of Allhallows Church 59