Page:VCH London 1.djvu/163

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON ment of red, white, and grey tesserae (Plan C, 107), and 'mutilated specimens of Etruscan art' (a lamp and two cups) [Gent. Mag. (1843), '> 520; Rom. Brit. Rem. i, 199]. In 1835 a skeleton was found in the boa; earth (Plan C, 106) [Kelsey, Descr. of Sewers, 133]. Knightrider Street, Great (Plan C, 190). — Wall and other remains found in 1863 and 1906 [Arch, xl, 49 ; Ix, 219 ; see p. 76]. See also Friday Street. Knightrider Street, Little (Plan C, 191 ; Plan C, 61). — In August, 1844, an arch was found at No. 15, resembling closely that in Old Fish Street Hill (p. 102 ; see also p. 76 and fig. 27). It was of horse-shoe form, of tiles 12 in. long, in a wall of Kentish rag, and was filled in with earth [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, i, 253]. Lad Lane. — See Gresham Street. Lambeth Hill (Plan C, 189). — At the angle of Lambeth Hill and Thames Street Roach Smith states that ' a very strong wall, built on oaken piles, was found, its upper part generally at a depth of nine feet below the street level. Over the piles was laid a stratum of chalk and stones ; and upon this a course of hewn sand-stones, each one measuring from three to four feet by two and two and a half feet. Upon this solid substructure was laid the body of the wall formed of rag-stone, flint, and lime, bonded at intervals with courses of plain and curved-edged tiles.' This wall continued, with occasional breaks, as far as Queenhithe, and in it were found fragments of sculptured stone and marble " [Arch, xxix, 145 ; Illus. Rom. Land. 18]. One of the tiles with inscription prb.lon (see p. 90) was also found here in 184 1 [Arch, xxix, 157, plate II, fig. 6 ; Illus. Rom. Lond. plate 8, fig. 6 ; Cat. Lond. Antiq. 53, No. 238; Coll. Antiq. i, 143 ; Corp. Inscr. Latin, vii, 1 235 ; now in Brit. Mus.] ; it was 9 in. by 9 in. by if in., and is stated to have formed part of a hypocaust pillar in an extensive building. A fragment of pavement reported in 1879 [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxxv, 215]. The wall above mentioned was thought by Roach Smith to indicate the southern boundary of the City (see above, p. 70). Laurence Pountney Lane. — Roman tiles, being remains of buildings (Plan C, 138), found in 1836 [Kelsey, Descr. of Sewers, 106]. In 1846 walls built of tegutae sesquipedales (18 in. by 12 in.) were discovered (Plan C, 135) ; also fragments of Gaulish pottery and copper coins of Nero and Carausius. A large space was covered by a pavement of coarse red tesserae. Under the adjoining churchyard (Plan C, 137) were remains of dwelling-houses and massive walls, one of great solidity extending from 3 ft. to 10 ft. below ground level. Opposite the houses numbeied 26 and 3 (Plan C, 136) were bases of two columns, at a depth of 8 ft. Towards Cannon Street (Plan C, 134) fragments of millstones, of a kind of hard lava from the neighbourhood of Andernach, were found [fourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, ii, 340, 345]. Fragment of Romano-British painted ware in British Museum. See also Arch. Rev. i, 278. Leadenhall Market (Plan C, 34, 35). — Finds in 1880, indicating a building of considerable extent, with foundations of an apse 33 ft. wide ; the remains were said to shew traces of four distinct conflagrations. It is also stated tiiat there were traces of an apse at each end of the building, and the conclusion drawn that it was a basilica [Arch. Rev. i, 278 ; see above, p. 74]. Fragments of fresco-paintings with foliage in green on red ground and 'inscribed' tiles were also found [Journ. Brit, Arch. Assoc, xxxvii, 84, 90; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), vii, 524; frescoes now in Brit. Mus.]. In April, 1888, ' a beautiful specimen of a Roman floor' (Plan C, 36) was reported [Antiq. xvii, 175] ; this is probably the one now in the Guildhall [Cat. p. 72, Nos. 10-15]. In 1906 continuous walls were traced down the middle of the market [Arch.hi, 225 ; Plan C, 35 ; and see Gracechurch Street]. In the Guildhall are also tiles, a glass vessel, &c. Leadenhall Street. — The chief discovery in this street has been the pavement found in Decem- ber, 1803, under the East India House (Plan C, 44), which is now in the British Museum (Fig. 45). It lay at a depth of lO ft., and formed the floor of a room more than 20 ft. square, the central square, which is all that now remains, measuring 1 1 ft. The design consists of a figure of Bacchus riding on a tiger, with thyrsos and drinking-cup, within a triple border ; in the angles are drinking-cups and plants ; the whole was surrounded by a plain red border 5 ft. wide. Under one corner was found part of an urn containing a jaw bone, and on the opposite side of the street (Plan C, 46) were foundations of tile and Kentish rag-stone [Gent. Mag. (1804), i, 83 ; (1806), ii, 892 ; (1807), i, 415 ; Rom. Brit. Rem. i, 185 ; Arch, xxxix, 493 ; Illus. Rom. Lond. 57, pi. 12 ; Kelsey, Descr. of Sewers, 53 ; Soc. Ant. MS. Min. XXX, 181 ; Allen, Hist, of London, i, 30 ; Hughson, Hist, of Lond. ,T,i^; Morgan, Rom. Brit. Mosaic Pavements, 179 ; see p. 12 above]. Among other finds in this street, between 1803 and 1863, are : a coin of Titus found in December, 1808 [Brayley, Beauties of England and Wales, x, pt. i, 95] ; a head of a Maenad " Among these was apparently the fragment carved with lattice pattern given in fig. 23, p. 70 ; see also p. 128. " 107