Page:VCH London 1.djvu/167

 ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON Lombard Street. — In 1785 considerable remains of a pavement of coarse red tesserae came to light at a depth of 10 to 15 ft., bedded in coarse mortar ; the site was at the west end of the street, nearly opposite St. Mary Woolnoth church (Plan C, 87). Remains of walls and pave- ments were also reported as having been found all along the length of the street down to Birchin Lane (q.v.), as if from a series of houses (Plan C, 79-85). Porous tiles, pottery, glass, keys, coins of gold, silver, and copper, from Claudius to Constantine, oyster-shells, &c., were found in great quantities throughout the distance [Jrch. viii, 116, pis. 5—12, with plan ; Gent. Mag.{ijSs), ii, 845,(1807), i,4i5 ; Allen, Hist, of London, i, 26, with plate; Morgan, Rom. Brit. Mosaic Pavements, IJJ ; Soc. Ant. MS. Min. xxi, 169; see above, p. 81 and fig. 30.] A Roman urn containing ashes, two copper coins (one of Tetricus), and a gold coin of Galba found in making a sewer in 1786 [Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. xxi, 72, 79, 92]. In 1839 a tessellated pavement was observed at a depth of 8 ft. under the present street (Plan C, 77), Roman remains extending beneath it, which implies that it is of late date [I //us. Rom. Lond. 59]. In 1866 a bone needle-case, a two-handled jar of grey ware with perforated bottom, and a 'very rare terra-cotta cup' were reported [Journ. Brit. Jrch. Assoc, xxii, 304, 316 ; xxxiii, 226]. An alahastron of terra-cotta representing a seated panther, with mouth and handle on back, of a Greek type, was found in the same year at the south-east corner of the street, and may possibly be identical with the last-named [Ibid, xxx, 205]. In 1868 were found a flue- tile, a glass bottle, and fragments of pottery, all showing traces of fire ; also a pavement 17 or 1 8 ft. below the -street level, above which were dupondii 'of the Fabia Gens' [sic), Nero, and Antoninus Pius (the latter dating a.d. 144, with figure of Britannia) [yourn. Brit. Archi. Assoc. xxiv, 178, 294]. In 1873 indications of Roman buildings were traced in Plough Court (Plan C, 66), including walls of ragstone and tile, and Gaulish pottery [Price, Rom. Antiq. Nat. Safe Dep. 26 ; potters' names given]. Pottery in British Museum (bowl of form 29 with stamp of Sabinus, fragment with Viducos, ol/a with lattice patterns, fragment of painted red Romano-British ware, &c.). In the Guildhall, numerous specimens of Gaulish red ware, mortaria and plain wares, lamps and glass ; the pottery includes a large bowl of the first half of the first century with stamp OF AQVITANI Clat. 5 1 3], a small patera with stamp s.m.f,^" a bowl with overhanging rim, and a ' flower vase ' with ' frilled ' ornamentation. In Mr. Hilton Price's collection, two Gaulish bowls, one with the stamp cassivs fe. J. E. Price says that in one part of the street so vca.wY fibu/ae have been found that the site is supposed to have been occupied by a jeweller _Journ. Brit. Archi. Assoc, xxx, 186; Arch. Rev. i, 355]. See also St. Mary Woolnoth, Three Kings' Court. London Bridge (finds in the Thames at) (Plan C, 25, D, i). — A bronze coin of M. Aurelius found in 1756 in repairing one of the piers of old London Bridge [Soc. Antiq. MS. Min. viii, 4a]. Numerous finds made in the bed of the river in 1824-7 '" excavating for the new bridge, as also on the site of the old one, and at other times in this part of the Thames. In March 1824 a series of coins was found in the bed of the river, extending from Augustus and Drusus to Severus Alexander and later Emperors _Arcl}. xxv, 600]. In 1826 a bronze vase in the form of a head with horns forming the handle, described as 'a head, of Bacchus enclosed in a torse of ivy but with Nubian features,' was found in the clay of the river bed [Hartridge, Co//. News Cuttings, Old London, ii, 279]. In 1 825 was found a small bronze statuette of Har- pocrates, plated with silver (Fig. 48), which is thus described by Roach Smith : ' The attitude of this little figure is natural and full of grace, and the modelling well expresses the fleshy rotundity of early youth. A delicately-wrought gold chain crosses the figure in front and passes through a string loop at the back, together with a gold ring ' [apparently for attach- ment to some larger object] ... 'In this instance Harpocrates is winged but chained, to restrain his flight ; upon his head he wears a crescent ; and at his feet are two dogs and a tortoise, emblems of watchfulness and taciturnity.' It is now in the British Museum I//us. Rom. Lond. 73, pi. 22 ; Allen, Hist, of London, i, pi. opp. p. 32]. At the same time were found a series of coins mostly of Antoninus Pius, but one with plon {see p. 40), and a leaden horse now in the British Museum [Gent. Mag. (1827), ii, 69; Rom. Brit. Rem. i, 212]. In 1833 small bronze coins of Victorinus, 'filed down to serve as weights,' are reported [Gent. Mag. (1833), i, 61 ; cf. Soc. Antiq. MS. Min., xxxvi, 275] ; the weights are given as 2 to 12 grains. In 1834-37 a series of very interesting bronzes was found in the river at this point, all of which are now in the British Museum. The finest and most important is the splendid head of Hadrian (Fig. 49), found in 1834, near the third arch of the new bridge opposite " These inititils are often found on genuine Arretine ware, but this vase is certainly Gaulish. 109