Page:VCH London 1.djvu/186

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A HISTORY OF LONDON ' constructed with large tiles, twenty-one inches long, which kept the earth from the body ' [Allen, Hist, of Lend, i, 25 ; Gough, Camden, ii, 17 ; cf. Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. i, 141, 143, 149 ; see above, pp. 22, 25]. St. Dunstan's Hill (Plan C, 12). — 'Urns,' probably not cinerary, found in 1824 under a pavement [Knight, Land. (ed. Walford), i, 159 ; above, p. 1 1]. In making a sewer (previous to 1840) some Roman pavement was cut through near to Cross Lane [Kelsey, Descr. 0/ Sewers, 80 ; Herbert, Hist, of St. Michael, Crooked Lane, 19 ; said to be now in the Guildhall]. Part of a wall reported in 1863, of chalk and Kentish rag, 35- ft. thick, 20 ft. below street level; a 'clay bottle ' found among the rubble yourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xix, 63]. In the same year was found a well ' of uncertain date,' with chalk lining as in other Roman wells, in which were fragments of pottery, wall plaster, and flue tiles. To the north-east, under the old wall of the churchyard, was found ' a mass of concrete and a cavity, which seemed to have been moulded upon a wooden coffin, and contained some human remains.' Flanged roof tiles were laid over the grave to protect it lbid. xx, 297, pi. 19 ; see above, p. 22]. St. Helens, Great, Bishopsgate (Plan C, 52). — Silver denarius and bronze coin of Helena found near the church in 1766 [Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. x, 130]. Roach Smith mentions fragments of wall-paintings found here, with lattice-patterns in yellow and white stars on red ground, and the figure of a youth in yellow, within a purple border lUus. Rom. Lond. 62]. 'A coped stone of a marble tomb' found in 1877, and now in the Guildhall Clat. 107] had 'associated with it' a coin of Constantine II ^Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Trans, v, 413]. St. Helens, Little (Plan C, 51). — In 1733 ' was discover'd by some workmen a Roman pavement, which by the Inscription had been laid about 1700 years. The Work was Mosaick, and the Tiles not above an Inch square. Several human Bones of large size being found also, it seems to have been a burying Place of note' [Gent. Mag. (1733), 436]. The bones may well have been mediaeval. This pavement is said to have had an inscription [Arch. Journ. xxxiii, 269], but it was never copied. St. Martin's Lane, Cannon Street. — Roman vase found in 1833, mentioned by Kelsey [Descr. of Sewers, 105]. In the Guildhall, Gaulish bowl of form 33 with stamp of OF PRIMI [Cat. 471] and a bronze key. St. Martin-le-Grand (and General Post Office) (Plan C, 1 80). — Discoveries of ' three ancient vaults' together with human bones and a stone coffin, and a copper coin of Constantine, were made in 181 8 in clearing the site for the new Post Office ; but although the tiles used in the arches are described as ' Roman bricks ' there do not seem to be adequate grounds for regarding these remains as Roman [Gent. Mag. (i8i8), ii, 272, 393 ; (1819), ii, 325 ; Arch, xix, 255 ; xxvii, 411 ; Roman date upheld in Gent. Mag. (1825), ii, 245.] A Roman tile inscribed p • p • BR • lon (in Brit. Mus.), a bowl of form 29, stamped of VITAL (Bethnal Green Mus.), and a 'flower-vase' of the 'frilled' type (dating about the beginning of the second century) were found about 1845 [Arch. Journ. iii, 69 ; x, 4 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xiv, 237, p^. 26 ; Corp. Inscr. Latin, vii, 1235 ; Jewitt, Reliquary, v, 50, pi. 3]. Excava- tions at the corner of Newgate Street (Plan C, 199) in 1870 yielded a considerable quantity of Gaulish pottery, and a good specimen of a quern formed of two stones (said to be of lava from the Rhine), the lower 16 in. in diameter and 4 in. thick [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), iv, 466 ; Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Trans, iv, 124 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvii, 157]. Perforated clay weights, similar to those found in Gresham Street and Tokenhouse Yard (pp. 104, 130), were reported in 1872 [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxviii, 172] ; a key and a needle-case of ivory were also found in 1870 [ibid, xxix, 202 ; xxxiii, 226]. In 1872 there was said to be in Mr. Syer Cuming's possession a ' broad-mouthed olla ' with glazed interior, ' certainly discovered with Roman remains on the site of the new Post Office in 1824'; the writer attributes it to the fourth century (with some hesitation), but no further description or illustra- tion is given, and it can hardly be cited as evidence for the remains mentioned above [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxviii, 394]. Fragments of Gaulish pottery in British Museum, third-century vase modelled in form of head, and mortarium with stamp of sollvs. In the Guildhall Museum, various implements and utensils, a Gaulish bowl of form 31, another with stamp of cres [Cat. 567, 569], a bowl with slip-decoration, and two mortaria. In the museum at Alnwick Castle is a ' smother-kiln urn ' found on the site of the Post Office in 1824 [Bruce, Cat. 597]. A large portion of the Roman Wall (Plan C, 42-44), extending to 131 ft., uncovered in 1888 in the course of excavations at the General Post Office ; it ran east and west from Aldersgate Street to King Edward Street [Arch. Iii, 609, 616 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xlvii, 98 ; Arch. Rev. i, 282 ; Athenaeum, 28 April, 1888, p. 540 ; and see above, p. 63]. ST.MARY-AT-HiLL(PlanC,38,. — Fragments of Gaulish pottery in British Museum from Roach Smith, including a fragment of ' marbled ware,' and stamps of potters Atilianus, Censorinus, Cosaxtisus, 122