Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great BritainStukeley, William
History
Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great Britain
Stukeley, William
Great Britain -- Antiquities -- Early works to 1800; Great Britain -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
notice of: it is a vast semicircle of stones of very large dimensions,
and, by what I could perceive, laid without mortar, connected only by
their cuniform shape. This magnificent arch is sixteen foot diameter,
the stones four foot thick at bottom: from the injuries of time, but
worse of hands, it is somewhat luxated, yet seems to have a joint in
the middle, not a key-stone: on both sides, towards the upper part,
are laid horizontal stones of great dimensions, some ten or twelve
foot long, to take off the side pressure, very judiciously adapted.
This arch rises from an impost of large mouldings, some part of which,
especially on the left-hand side, are still discoverable: below on
both sides was a postern, or foot passage, made of like stones; but
against that on the left side is a house built, and when I went down
into the cellar I found a chimney set before it. The ground here in
the street has been very much raised, and the top of the wall is of a
later workmanship: it is indeed a most venerable piece of antiquity,
and what a lover of architecture would be hugely delighted withall.
They that look upon a gate among the vestiges of the _forum_ of Nerva
at Rome, will think they see the counterpart of this; but, of the two,
this has the most grandeur in aspect: the drawing supplies any further
harangue about it. From this gate eastward, some part of the old Roman
wall is to be seen by a pasture, made of stone and very strong mortar:
thereabout too are some arches under ground. The west gate toward the
gallows was pulled down, not beyond memory: that on the south side,
which I spoke of, still shows one jamb from between the houses, and
two or three stones of the same make as the former, just above the
springing of the arch: if you go up stairs in the adjoining house
within the city, you may see the postern on the east side, which is big
enough for a bed to stand in. I doubt not but there is, or was, another
answerable on the other side; but this street is much contracted from
its original breadth by the subsequent populousness of the place; and
the ground here, being upon the edge of the hill, is much worn down,
as the first is heaped up, from the condition of former ages. But by
Newport gate before described, is another large and curious remnant of
Roman workmanship: this is called the Mint wall, and stands in a garden
in the north-west quarter of the city: it is still sixteen foot high,
above forty foot long, and turned again with an angle: on the left-hand
side behind it are houses built and marks of arches. What it was
originally cannot now be affirmed; the composition of it is thus: upon
squared stone of the common sort, but a little decayed through age, is
laid a triple course of Roman brick, which rises one foot in height;
the bricks seem to be a Roman foot long, and our seven inches broad:
above this three courses of stone, which rise about a foot more; then
three layers of brick, as before; upon that twelve courses of stone,
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