Page:VCH London 1.djvu/204

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

A HISTORY OF LONDON of the park ; it was subsequently buried and dug up again and placed against the Marble Arch [Load, and Midd. Arch, Sue. Trans, iv, 62], but it has now disappeared. The writer of that article essayed to prove that it was a sort of centre whence all the Roman roads were measured ; at all events it seems (if Roman) to mark the spot where the Watling Street crossed the road from the west to London, on its way to Westminster {sa above, p. 32). St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. — Stone coffin found in the foundations of the portico in 1722, con- taining ashes and a bell-shaped glass vase. Under the church was a brick arch 14 ft. deep [Gough, Camden, ii, 17, 93 ; Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and Wales, x, pt. i, 9 1 ; Allen, Hist. of London, i, 25 ; Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. i, 151, 170; Arch. Rev. i, 356 ; see above, p. 16]. Strand. — Part of an antefix in red terra-cotta found in April 1871 on the north side near Temple Bar (site of New Law Courts) ; it is in the form of a lion's mask ^ourn, Brit. Arch. Assoc. xxvii, 522]. Strand Lane. — For a description of the supposed Roman bath here, see Knight, London, ii, 165. Thames, Bed of. — Bronze coin of Antoninus Pius found in 1740 at Westminster Bridge, and two coins at Sion House in 1805 [Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. iv, 25 ; xxx, 486]. A fragment of Gaulish (Lezoux) pottery from Waterloo Bridge in British Museum (Roach Smith). Westminster Abbey (Plan A, 36). — A Roman sarcophagus of Oxfordshire oolite (Fig. 3, ante), measur- ing 7 ft. by 2 ft. 4 in. by I ft. 10 in., found on the north side of the Abbey in November 1869 ; it contained a skeleton, fragments of tiles, and a piece of dark grey slag-like substance (lava ?). On the front is a sculptured panel with a pelta carved at each end, and the inscription : MEMORIAE . VALER . AMAN DINI . VALERI . SVPERVEN TOR . ET . MARCELLVS . PATRI , FECER Memoriae Faler{ii) Amandini Valeri[us) Stiperventor et Marcellus patri fecer{unt). The lid is of later date (probably eleventh century) and bears a cross showing it to be Christian, and the position of the sarcophagus cannot have been its original one. It is now in the cloisters of the Abbey. As to the date of the inscription. Professor Mommsen and others have pointed out that the absence of praenomen and the termination in -inus are post-classical, as is the use of memoriae without d.m. Further, the term Superventor (here a proper name) only occurs in Ammianus Marcellinus (xviii, 9), where it is used for ' light-armed troops.' Professor Hubner, arguing from the goodness of the lettering, placed the inscription in the second century, or at latest about 200 ; but the fact of its being an inhumation, not a cremation-burial, forbids us to accept a date anterior to 250 [Arch. Journ. xxvii, 103, no, 119, 145, 191, 251, 257; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvi, 61 f. 76 f. 166 ; Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Trans, iv, 61 ; Free. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), iv, 409, 468 ; v, 85 ; Corp. Inscr. Latin, vii, 33 ; see above, p. 13]. Loftie mentions the discovery, some twenty-five years ago, of remains of a Roman build- ing with hvpocaust under the nave [Hist, of London, i, 30 n.]. Whitehall. — Dr. J. S. Phene found in pulling down a house in 1897 a quantity of Roman tiles and ' beautifully-carved stone-work.' He also removed various blocks of masonry from the original bank of the river along the line of Whitehall, and restored them as a breakwater surmounted by an octagonal structure which he considered to represent the temple of Apollo mentioned by old writers as standing on the site of Westminster Abbey in the Isle of Thorney [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, (new ser.), iii (1897), 203, 264]. BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK (WITH BERMONDSEY, LAMBETH, AND NEWINGTON) [N.B. — The Plan references in the text of the following pages are to the special Plan D, of Southwark.] Bank Side, Southwark. — See Clink Street, Park Street. Barclay and Perkins' Brewery. — See Park Street. Battle Bridge Lane, formerly Mill Lane (Plan D, 2). — Near Battle Bridge Stairs ' Roman brass tags and pins,' shoes, sandals, and small amphorae were found in April 18 19. [Brock's Map.] Bear Lane, Southwark. — Fragments of Castor ware in British Museum. Bedale Street, Southwark, formerly York Street (Plan D, 32). — Fragment of bowl of Lezoux ware (form 29) in British Museum. See also High Street. Bermondsey. — Iron padlock kev found in making the South-Eastern Railway in 1847 [yourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xii, 1^9, pi. 13, fig. 4]. See also Church Street, New. 136