Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/410

 31 t PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS OF described as on the slope, and below the brow of the hill, looking towards Woodperry and the S. W. ; its furthest point examined is about 97 yards from the outside of the wood, on the north side, being that next to the mansion of Studley Priory. Upon opening the ground the workmen found, at different depths, from 1 foot to 18 inches, a sort of pitching of rough stones set edgewise, about 2h feet in width. This they were directed to follow, in the hope that it might guide them to the discovery of the main building ; but, after tracing it for about 76 feet in one direction (from NN.W. to SS.E.), to a point from which the pitching diverged, nearly at right angles, (direction E. by N.) no building or termination was brought to light. A considerable quantity of the same kind of stones were found dispersed around, all of them appearing to have been worn by use, and to have undergone the action of water, which oozed freely from the ground as it was moved. The pottery and other relics were found in part upon, or near, this pitching, but principally in a line of black mould adjacent to it (on the eastern side), which seemed to afford clear indication of former occupation of the site, and it was accordingly searched with care. The diggings were not discontinued until this ceased, and remains were no longer found ; but the investigation, although it produced some interesting remains, which are sent for examination, afforded no sufficient ground for conjecture as to what had been the precise nature of the Roman occupation here indicated. The pitching was left undisturbed for the benefit of future antiquaries ; the pottery and other relics are in the possession of Lady Croke ; and, as the ordinary timber of the wood consists of oak, the spot examined was marked by a spruce fir and three elm trees, planted by the proprietor for the purpose of indicating it. " The ' Samian ' ware here found appeared of superior quality to that discovered on the opposite hill at Woodperry,^ and at the villa at Wheatley, examined by Dr. Buckland ; " nor do the remains found at Ileadington Wick and Elsfield, at Drunshill, or on the hill above Islip, the old Common,^ offer anything which can be compared with it." Henry Norris, Esq., of South Petherton, Somerset, sent a detailed notice of discoveries of Roman coins in Somersetshire, at various periods, which is reserved for a future occasion. W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., gave an account of excavations prosecuted under his directions in Wales, and he exhibited several iron arrow heads, knives of different sizes, one of them with the wooden handle still attached to it ; also a portion of a curious comb, of bone, and other objects found during the autumn of 1850, in excavating within the ruins of Castell y Bere, in the county Merioneth. This castle is supposed to have been erected by one of the Norman Earls of Chester when he held Griffith ap Cynan, the Welsh Prince, a prisoner at Chester, and there is good reason to believe that it has never been occupied, excepting perhaps a portion of it, during the Wars of the Roses, since the close of the reign of Edward I., who passed a week at the castle in 1284, and in that year granted a charter to the ville of Bere. Nothing could be more unpromising than the appearance of the ruin, prior to the commencement of the excavations. A few frag- ments of walling, and traces of foundations, with one or two rude arches, were all that was visible amongst the thick brushwood with which the castle rock and area of the building are covered ; not a fragment of moulding, ' See Arcliscol. Journal, vol. iii., p. 1 IG. - Ibid., vol. ii., p. 350. ' See Hussoy's Roman Roads.