A few facts may, however, be given on the thickness of the soil
over these ruins. Close outside the northern rooms there is a
broken wall, the summit of which was covered by 5 inches of black
mould; and in a hole dug on the outer side of this wall, where the
ground had never before been disturbed, black mould, full of
stones, 26 inches in thickness, was found, resting on the
undisturbed sub-soil of yellow clay. At a depth of 22 inches from
the surface a pig's jaw and a fragment of a tile were found. When
the excavations were first made, some large trees grew over the
ruins; and the stump of one has been left directly over a party-
wall near the bath-room, for the sake of showing the thickness of
the superincumbent soil, which was here 38 inches. In one small
room, which, after being cleared out, had not been roofed over, my
sons observed the hole of a worm passing through the rotten
concrete, and a living worm was found within the concrete. In
another open room worm-castings were seen on the floor, over which
some earth had by this means been deposited, and here grass now
grew.
Brading, Isle of Wight.--A fine Roman villa was discovered here in
1880; and by the end of October no less than 18 chambers had been
more or less cleared. A coin dated 337 A.D. was found.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174