Page:VCH London 1.djvu/139

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ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON patterns, and are in the Guildhall Museum [Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Proc. E.M. 1 86 1 33]. In 1857 part of another pavement (Plan C, 64) representing a sea-horse was uncovered _Arch. Rev. i, 274], and in 1846 walls of houses and a head sculptured in freestone were brought to light [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, ii, 205]. Fragments of Gaulish pottery in British Museum (stamp of Juvenalis) and Guildhall [Cat. 584, stamp iodivi]. BisHOPSGATE Street Within. — A tessellated pavement (Plan C, 55) was found about 1840 beneath the cellar of No. 1 01, and was covered over with bricks to preserve it ; the portion uncovered was of black and white tesserae in squares and diamonds. It probably formed part of the same building as that found on the site of the Excise Olfice (p. 92). An arch of tiles was also seen [Arch, xxix, 155, pi. 17, figs. I, 2 ; Illus. Rom. Land. pi. 8, fig. i, p. 55 ; Morgan, Rom. Brit. Mosaic Pavements, 182]. In 1862, on the site of the National Provincial Bank (No. 112 = Plan C, 58), were found fragments of Roman pottery, one with stamp RVFiANi (?) M, and coins extending from Nero to Faustina II ; also one of Carausius (a.d. 223), with PAX AVG. [Arch. Journ. xxx, 183]. In 1873 a pavement (Plan C, 57) was discovered at a depth of 7 ft. on the same side of the street ; it had guilloche and trefoil patterns in red, white, and black. Part only was exposed (and subsequently covered in) ; it must have extended beneath the roadway [Illus. Lond. News, 19 July, 2 Aug. 1873]. In 1875 another similar pavement was found opposite Crosby Hall (Plan C, 54), 12 ft. sq., at a depth of 15 ft. [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxxiii, 106]. See also Broad Street and Crosby Square. In Bishopsgatc Street (whether Within or Without is not stated) have also been found an iron object in the form of a duck (?), supposed to have been part of a lamp, and Roman tesserae, the latter 17 ft. below the surface. [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, ix, 75, (new ser.), i, 349]. Similar uncertainty prevails in regard to objects in British Museum and Guildhall ; in the former, a bronze padlock (1843), iron so-called 'hippo-sandal '^ and a bowl of Upchurch ware. In the Guildhall are a pavement [Cat. 7], probably one of the above-mentioned ; a clay lamp and figure of cock, bronze key and armlet, a glass vessel ; and numerous specimens of pottery, Gaulish,* late Gaulish stamped ware. Castor, and other Romano-British wares, and two mortaria. In the collection of Mr. Ransom at Hitchin, a jar of Castor ware with dog pursuing hare, and two jars with ' thumb-markings,' probably New Forest ware. In 1725 Roman remains were found in the street near St. Botolph's Church, including part of a bowl with potter's stamp macrinvs, ' urns,' and clay water-pipes [Gough, Camden, ii, I 7]. See also Crosby Square, St. Helens, and White Hart Court. Bishopsgate Street Without (Plan A, 27,40). — Considerable finds of Gaulish pottery made near Sun Street, in sewerage excavations, 1843 ; mostly acquired by E. B. Price, and through him by the British Museum. He also records cinerary urns found in Artillery Lane (q.v.)and Widegate Street. Among the potters' stamps he mentions atah (Brit. Mus.) ; of face, aventini, of viRiLi (Brit. Mus.) ; of nigri, aeterni • m, aistivi, ivl • nvmidi. Also coins of Antoninus, Faustina, and Probus, and part of a clay lamp with human head in relief [Gent. Mag. (1843), ii, 416, 639 ; Rom. Brit. Rem. i, 201, 204]. Burial remains found in 1873, with part of a decayed cist, four glass vessels, and a Gaulish bowl with stamp mbacci (?), found with bones inside one of the glass vessels [Journ.

  • The meaning and use of these objects has been the subject of much dispute. They have been found In

many parts of the Continent, and in Britain at Towcester, Northants, and elsewhere. In London they occur also in Blomfield Street, London Wall (bed of Walbrook), Great Swan Alley, and Telegraph Street. So many having been found near Moorfields, generally held to have been a marsh, it has been suggested that they were specially used in swampy ground. But it has been objected that they would rather impede than assist horses in soft ground, and that they are more likely to have been used for unshod anim.ils on hard roads. Most of them bear traces of having come from gravel, which by corrosion still adheres to their surface ; prob- ably therefore they were used before the formation of the swamp, and the notion that they were used in soft ground is an error caused by the general misconception of the condition of Moorfields in early Roman times (see Arch, Ix, 180). Monsieur S. Reinach is of opinion that they were a sort of clog used to keep the animals irom straying, and this seems a reasonable suggestion ; a rope might easily be fastened round the hook at the end. It has also been suggested that they are not for horses at all, but carriers for lamps, and the ' handle ' certainly supports that theory ; but the discovery of specimens with horses' hoofs and horse-shoes attached, and in conjunction with the bones of horses' feet, seems to dispose finally of such view. See on the subject generally, Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii, 517 ff ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), iii, 92 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Soc. xxi, 188, 1, 251, 254 ; Arch. Journ. Ix, 229 ; Revue Archeologiqiie, xxxvi (1900), 296 ; Reinach, Guide illus tree du Musee Saint-Germain, p. 95, fig. 72. ' One bowl is of interest as having a stamp, but no decoration, although the form is one almost invariably associated with the leaf-orpament in slip. I 89 12