Page:Roman Manchester (1900) by Charles Roeder.djvu/153

 inches of the Roman soil was left intact, 9 inches in thickness. Only the eastern face was visible, the exact trend could, therefore, not be ascertained. On closer inspection, I found it to be composed of tough and firmly beaten clay, mixed with gravel, and containing bits of charcoal, red sandstone, and, in addition, various fragments of pottery, such as unglazed red-ware, a piece of bright coloured Samian-ware—all evidence of Roman presence; and further, a small bit of a black urn, recognised at once as British or native make. On examination, Mr. Arthur J. Evans, of Oxford, confirmed this. This Roman stratum rested on fine, clear, bedded sand and layers of river gravel, together 10 feet thick; then 6 feet "bastard rock," underlaid by the red, native rock.

Returning now to Hanging Bridge the men, while excavating on the western side of the Cathedral Churchyard, two years ago, found an old cobble road, 5 feet wide, at a depth of about 10 feet, called by them a "Roman road," which went from the bridge in a slope to the western tower.

The area comprised by the Irk and Hanging Ditch and its continuation into Todd Street is practically divided into two parts, intersected on its east side by Fennel Street—the ancient Vennel, which formed a narrow road stretching east to west from the northern side of the cathedral. Mr. John Owen has an entry in his MS. (vol. xxiii., p. 129, September, 1859), saying: "In excavating on the northern side of the cathedral yard at a