Page:VCH London 1.djvu/136

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A HISTORY OF LONDON a white ground, was found in a deserted cellar in Bartholomew Lane, but evidently not in situ ' [Tite, Cat. Antiq. Roy. Exch. 31]. In the Guildhall Museum, a vase of Upchurch ware [Cat. 397]. See also Bank of England, St. BARTHOLOMEw-By-THE-ExcHANGE. Basing Lane. — 5^^ Cannon Street. Basinghall Street. — Finds few and of no great importance. They include a glass bottle, 5 in. long, found in 1890 [Journ. Brit. J nh. J ssoc. xivii, 88], a bronze bell, a terracotta cock, and other objects in the Guildhall, and Gaulish pottery in the British Museum (from E. B. Price) and in Mr. Hilton Price's collection. Of the fragments in British Museum one has the stamp of the Graufesenque potter Modestus (c. a.d. 40), another that of Primanus ; in the Guildhall are a stamp for vase with reliefs, representing Mars or a warrior {Cat. p. 87, No. 166, pi. 12, No. 3 ; Fig. 34), also a first-century bowl of form 37, with designs in panels, a cup with potter's stamp, a bowl with leaf decoration en harhotine, mortaria. Castor ware, and other plain pottery [see also Arch. Rev. i, 274]. Bath Street (Newgate Street) (Plan C, 200). — At the rear of the G.P.O., in 1877, fragments of Gaulish pottery were found 15 ft. below the surface, some described as 'of great beauty and of an early period, the patterns being well defined and the glaze excellent.' Besides red wares, ' lustred and silvered ware,' Upchurch ware, and mortaria are recorded yourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxxiii, 265]. Baynard Castle (Plan C, 129). — During the destruction of the last remaining portion of the castle in 1890 some oaken piles were found, said to be Roman, and to have formed part of the fort (Arx Palatina) which terminated the southern wall at this point. Among the isolated finds were a wooden comb, a nail, the chain of a caldron, a pair of shears, two spear-heads, and part of a bronze balance with graduated steelyard (at a depth of 19 ft.). Two corbels carved in low relief, one with a ram, the other with a pair of wrestlers, are apparently Roman, though this is not absolutely clear from the illustration ["Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xlvi, 173-81 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. xiii, Iio]. Bell Alley. — See Copthall Avenue, Telegraph Street. Benet's Hill. — Fragment of Lezoux pottery in British Museum (Roach Smith). Bevis Marks (Plan C, 48). — In 1793 the discovery was reported of four figures, supposed to be 'a species of Penates' [Gent. Mag. (1793), i, 416]. A statue of oolitic stone (Fig. 36), about 2 ft. high, was found in 1849, and is now in the British Museum. It represents a youth in Phrygian costume, with bow in left hand, and though probably of provincial workmanship, is of more than average merit [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, v, 90 ; Roach Smith, Retrospections, ii, 206 ; Illus. Rom. Land. 47, pi. 5 ; Cat. Land. Antiq. I, and plate]. See also Houndsditch, and for the wall here, p. 54, and Plan C, 19. Billingsgate (Plan C, 26). — Large numbers of piles discovered about 1843, which seem to be evidence of a bridge at this point (towards Botolph Wharf), east of the present London Bridge ; here also was the harbour or landing-place, as the existence of a gate implies [See J. E. Price, Rom. Antiq. Nat. Safe Deposit Go's Premises, 18]. A fragment of Lezoux pottery in British Museum (E. B. Price) ; in the Guildhall an iron knife [Cat. 82] ; two lamps [Cat. 76, 77] ; and a ' lamp-filler ' [Cat. 162]. In Mr. VV. Ransom's collection at Hitchin, a rhyton or drinking-horn of bufF clay, unglazed, in the form of a sheep's head, apparently of Italian manufacture, and possibly of the second century B.C. Pottery also in Mr. Hilton Price's possession. Billiter Street and Billiter Square. — In Billiter Street the Roman level is estimated at 12 to 16 ft. down. Here have been found a mortar, a lamp-stand, tiles, and pottery, now in the Guildhall Museum [Arch, xxix, 153 ; Arch. Rev. i (1888), 274]. In the British Museum are also fragments of Gaulish ware, with potters' stamps, excavated in 1838 ; they include those of Aquitanus and Patricus of La Graufesenque, and Santianus. In the Guildhall Museum, a key [Cat. 36] ; a Gaulish bowl of form 37, with stags and lions [Cat. 428] ; and also fibulae from Billiter Square [see Arch. Rev. i, 274]. BiRCHiN Lane. — In 1786 an anonymous letter to Mr. Gough mentions the discovery of walls like those on the north side of Lombard Street (p. 109) ; also a chalk-stone pavement at the depth of 14 ft., and fragments of tessellated pavements of different colours. At the north- west corner of the lane was seen a corner of a pavement with border of black, white, red, and green tesserae (Plan C, 65). The buildings ran on as far as Finch Lane (Plan C, 63) [Arch, viii, 119; Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. xxi, 72, 79, 92; see plan, p. 81, Fig. 30]. Fragments of wall-decoration in painted stucco were also recorded. E. B. Price says: 'It is probable that some analogous fragments found in this locality within the last few years are portions of the same floor. They comprise portions of borderings with fanciful and complex 88