Christian antiquities -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities
The churches of West Mersea, in Essex, and Wroxeter, in Salop, are
believed to stand on sites of Roman villas; a little contributory
testimony is afforded by the fact that the shaft of the font, in each
case, is fashioned from the drum of a Roman column[16]. In the case of
Wroxeter, however, the only tessellated pavement recorded by Professor
Haverfield was found a little to the north of the church. The conditions
are supposed to have been similar at Haydon and Chollerton, in
Northumberland, and at Great Salkeld, in Cumberland; in all of these
instances the fonts are said to be hollowed out of Roman altars[17].
During the rebuilding of St Swithin’s Church, Lincoln (A.D. 1880-88), a
Roman altar (Fig. 1) was discovered beneath the tower. The old fabric
belonged to the Decorated period, while the altar dates from the second
century of the Roman occupation. There is thus an intervening space of
more than a thousand years, and this gap cannot yet be actually bridged
over. At the deserted church of Widford, in Oxfordshire, portions of a
Roman tessellated pavement were found in the chancel[18].
Professor Seebohm, who closely studied the district around Hitchin, and
discovered strong proofs of unbroken occupation of village sites, gives
some interesting examples which bear on our subject. He thinks that the
church of Much Wymondley, near that town, stands within a Roman holding,
probably that of a retired veteran[19]. A Roman cemetery was discovered
hard by, and to the east of the church is a double “tumulus,” which
Professor Seebohm conjectured to be a “toot-hill,” or a terminal
mound[20]. These toot-hills will be again mentioned; meanwhile, we are
bound to notice that more recent investigators claim this particular
hillock as an early castle-mound. Nevertheless, it is stated that the
mound and its associated bailey-court have been
[Illustration:
FIG. 2. Pavement of red and white tesserae, in the south aisle of
the choir, St Saviour’s Cathedral, Southwark. Found in the adjacent
graveyard. (For a catalogue of the relics discovered under and near
the building, see _Victoria Hist. of London_, 1909, I. p. 140.)
]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account