Page:Roman Manchester (1900) by Charles Roeder.djvu/73

 large profusion was discovered by me on the gravel at a depth of 14 feet to 15 feet, at Eltoft Street it occurs at a depth of 6 feet, which demonstrates again the undulating nature of Deansgate at the time of the Romans. The posterior levelling up of the whole district has wiped these features off and makes us forget what it really once was.

The river Tib (now culvered over) formed a conspicuous Roman boundary, and carried a great volume of water in its pristine state, running, as it did, in many small curves, it often overleapt its boundaries and over-flooded its banks. It is found now in Chepstow Street, on the premises of Messrs. Wadkin and King, as recent excavations have shown (August, 1897), 9 feet 4 inches below the surface. Its banks are there covered with 7 feet 6 inches of rubbish; its activity is shown by a layer of 2 feet of black and greenish clay, teeming with decayed leaves, roots, and branches, followed by 5 feet green and drab clay, which rests on the usual river gravel and boulder clay.

One of the most interesting discoveries in connection with the station was accidentally made in 1771 on levelling the bank of the Medlock for the construction of a new coal wharf. The foundations, which were then disclosed, were situated within the irregular semi-circular projection below the level of the station, 25 yards distant from the edge of the water and directly opposite the small bridge on the opposite side of the river corresponding to the site of the present coal wharf in Castlefield Street. The bridge is marked on Green and Laurent's old maps, and we have no difficulty in locating these Roman structures.

Thompson Watkin has alluded to them in a very superficial and unsatisfactory manner, notwithstanding