Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/386

356 ments of this class, the crosses of Carew and Nevern, South Wales, have been already made known to the readers of the "Archæological Journal," by means of Mr. Westwood's faithful representations. He has communicated the following description of the sculptured fragments at Bath. "The first figure represents a carved stone about a foot across, preserved amongst the Roman sculptures, which form so important a feature in the museum of that Institution. This stone was figured by Carter in his work on the 'Ancient Architectural remains of England,' (Pl. 8. fig. A), and described as the 'spandrel of two arches filled with an entwined band or true lover's knot,' and as the 'fragment of a Roman temple at Bath.' It is surprising, however, how Carter could have adopted such an opinion, which is opposed, not only by the small size of the stone, but by the style of ornament, which is quite foreign to Roman work; in fact, any one at all conversant with the early Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, will at once refer it to an Anglo-Saxon origin, and will designate it, without much fear of contradiction, as one of the arms of a cross. This latter opinion is fully confirmed by the examination of another stone (hitherto unfigured), which I also found amongst the Roman sculptures of the same museum, and which both in its form and ornamentation evidently appears to be the broken head of a small cross of the Anglo-Saxon period. The carved work is in relief, and it will be seen that the knots towards the centre of the stone are not symmetrical. The third figure represents a small stone vase recently dug up in the neighbourhood of the cathedral; it is circular, about a foot in diameter at the top, and about eight inches high. The rim is dilated and the sides ornamented with thick plain ribs terminating in slight bosses on the rim and base: there is no hole through its bottom. It appears to be of too small a size for a font, but it may be compared with the figure of the font discovered in the sea at the mouth of the Orwell, communicated to the Institute by Capt. Stanley ." This vase is obviously of a later age than the crosses.

Mr. William Hylton Longstaff, of Darlington, has forwarded a copy from