and several pieces of glass and other interesting objects, to be presently described, were recovered from the lower portion of the stratum.

Amphora Floor.-There was an isolated patch of rude pavement, 11 feet long by 9 feet wide, of small hammer-dressed sandstone slabs and broken tiles, situated at 19 feet from the clay floor on this side. Underneath was a double layer, 2 feet 6 inches long by 1 foot 4 inches wide, of fragments of amphora, evenly and closely laid, separated by a thick bed of charcoal. Nothing was found to indicate the special purpose of the latter; but it may be remarked that broken amphora have been frequently employed for structural purposes in this locality.

The clay floor (I) itself though undoubtedly of Roman origin, a coin of Trajan being found upon it, at I foot 6 inches from the present surface-was concluded to be of secondary construction, from the fact that a similar floor of less area and the bases of a number of furnaces were found beneath, the latter being of primary interest and importance as traces of local industry.

Iron Smelting Hearth (II).-A brief account must be given of two iron smelting hearths, already referred to, situated on the surface of the clay floor, as shown in plan and section, plate III, No. 3 fig. 2, and plate VIII, figs. 1 and 2.

In plan the eastmost of the two hearths (plate VIII, figs. I and 2) was in the form of a foot-print or two intersecting ovals, each about 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, their conjoined length being 6 feet 4 inches. The interior surface was calcined and blanched to a depth of 3 inches, and the soft clay underneath reddened to a further depth of a foot by the intense heat. By constructing the base of the furnace with a double batter, from both sides inwards towards the axis and along the latter towards the east end, it was formed into a sloping trough or gutter, leading down to a tubular duct, I foot 10 inches in length

and 4 inches in diameter, through the wall of the clay platform at right angles, by which the molten metal was drawn off, as evidenced by its calcined. interior lining. The purpose for which the hearth was employed is proved by the discovery of a much oxidised strip of iron deeply imbedded in a crack along the middle line of the trough near the exit, where it had doubtless lain since the last charge was smelted; and by the discovery of a mass of red hæmatite ore, of several pounds weight, in the clay platform of an earlier furnace, existing partly underneath the former and partly along its edge, whence the mass had apparently fallen. The results of analysis of the iron strip by Mr. Ruddock are the following:

In his opinion this specimen was a pure variety of soft iron made from magnetic ore or red hæmatite, and purified from cast iron, as such a low percentage of carbon would have been practically impossible if made direct from the ore in this rude

furnace.

Crucible Furnace (II).-Twelve feet westward from the iron smelting hearth II, just described, on the surface of the same clay floor and at the same level (1 foot below the sod), there was a circular hearth 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, surrounding the mouth of a pit or crucible of cylindrical shape, I foot 8 inches in diameter and I foot 3 inches deep. This was of the same shape, and had evidently been employed for the same purpose as the smaller crucible in smithy hearth I, namely, for purifying

or decarbonising impure iron by means of a charcoal fire driven by an artificial blast, and producing lumps of soft malleable iron or "blooms" for hammering. The surrounding surface and interior lining of the crucible were calcined, and the clay underneath reddened by long exposure to intense. heat. The blanched appearance of the former caused it to become known as the "white hearth."

Beds of Cinder and Charcoal.-Between the clay floor and the via, in the angle of the enclosing wall, there was a layer, 9 feet wide, of the black glossy cinder produced in the purification of iron, a specimen of which was found, on analysis by Mr. Ruddock, to be essentially silicate of iron; and adjoining the layer of cinder on the east side the soil was blackened by spent charcoal over an area about 4 feet in diameter. The following are the relics of Romano-British origin with which these deposits were impregnated :-(1) a large iron nail, of inch square section, 9 inches in length, with a round head 2 inches in diameter; (2) a strip of iron inch to inch wide, inch thick, perforated at one end; (3) the figure of an animal, possibly a rude representation of the wild boar of the 20th Legion, formed of sheet lead about inch thick; (4) two small strips of sheet lead of about the same thickness; (5) a fragment of a common black smoke-tinted unglazed earthenware olla, (resembling Upchurch ware), with a hole about inch across, wastefully patched with a plug of lead weighing 2 ounces, projecting on both sides-(this leaden plug indicating, not the high value attached to the black pot, but the abundance of lead in the locality)-(6) an ordinary melon-shaped ribbed bead, of grey vitreous paste, coated with blue glaze,

inch in diameter, and 1 inch bore; (7) the broken half of a similar bead; (8) a first bronze coin of Trajan, much corroded, found at a depth of 2 feet