Roman Rochester

\ y y *0/r S^ ./ ' yf_X ',v^, >S^ /'"' x' ' "x . * ° ""'//'•* \ v _ ^. ' S ^ C»lh«. V •' " ^ 'frautb d i e r- V /. ' , < ;•' \ <. \ > N , „ • >^' / X. •6.t« „ f Bol.y ^-\ 1 \ Bill. / •%. . *.\ ^V, ?m /! \ / ^ - ^ / / \ V N 1*1 / : 1 ' OUTLINES o r ROMAN ROCHESTER (DOUROBRlV'3.) /lv T H tL tVlAftSHG-S \ \ \ \ V 1 \ \ J \ • / \ X / \ \ / \ \ / \ ;.'., ESsSt Ql-.t W ^r "*' A ^ V AT <^ ^ 1 ^, J(- 1 F KtLL, rHQtO-UTHO.Q.FUKHIVM 8T HOL»OnH|C Qrthvt alexin dtaitiiam ROMAN ROCHESTER. BT GEORGE PAYNE, E.L.S., E.S.A. BEFORE proceeding to treat of Eochester under the Eomans, it will be necessary to say a few words as to its aspect in Celtic times. To understand this properly we must clear away the embankments of the Eiver Medway, and allow the tide to ebb and flow in its natural course, unchecked by any artificial impediments. All structures of masonry must be removed, as well as the bridges and great highway. At high tide we should then find the low-lying lands on the north side of the present city under water as far as Chatham intra, the waters occasionally reaching the ridge of land known as " St. Margaret's Banks," as has been the case, during an inundation, within the memory of those now living. That Eochester Common was formerly submerged by the tide was recently proved when the ground was excavated for the foundations of the piers supporting the new line to Chatham of the South-Eastern Eailway. An enormous depth of alluvium had to be cut through before a firm foundation was reached. A similar difficulty arose all along the line. On the western side of the city, before the construction of the esplanade, I am informed that the tide flowed almost up to the base of the chalk hill on which the Castle stands. The Medway between Cuxton and Eochester is of considerablewidth,but onreaching Frindsbury Hill, where it turns suddenly to the east, it is confined to very narrow limits by the present river walls. The great bend in the river at this point has been, as it will be seen, an important feature in the history of Eochester for all time. The von. XXI. B 2 ROMAN ROCHESTER. strategic advantages of this angle formed by the Medway was apparent even to the first settlers in the district, for we find that they availed themselves of the high land adjoining, and threw up a gigantic earthwork upon it, now known as " Boley Hill." This has been ascribed to the Danes, but we see in it nothing more than an adaptation to later wants of that which already existed. This statement is supported by the presence on the eastern side of the oppidum of a pre-Eoman way, commonly called the " Pilgrim Eoad," which runs by Borstal under the chalk hills to Canterbury. In conjunction with this road must be mentioned another of the same date, which may be traced on the opposite side of the Medway from Strood to Titsey in Surrey. These two roads, the Medway, and the stronghold on Boley Hill, all combined to make Eochester a place of importance from the earliest times. The various advantages the position possessed were not lost sight of by the Eoman invaders, and how they utilized them we now propose to discuss. The Eoman station mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary under the name of " Durohrivis" has by all writers been identified as the Eochester of the present day; it is therefore quite unnecessary for me to renew the argument concerning the distance from station to station in order to prove it. Before we proceed it will be necessary to refer to the three great Eoman castra on the Kentish coast, namely, Rutupice (Eichborough), Regulbium (Eeculver), and the Portus Lemanis (Lymne). From these three castra were roads converging on Durovernum (Canterbury), which must have been, from this circumstance alone, a place of great importance in Eoman times. There was also another road to Canterbury from Dubris (Dover). Both these were walled towns, and the lines of their walls have been identified by the late T. G. Godfrey-Faussett and the Eev. Canon Puckle respectively. The first resting-place on the line of march for troops moving from the Kentish castra, or from Dover, must therefore have been at Canterbury, where both cavalry and infantry could be securely quartered for the night. The following day an advance would be made along the great Eoman Way, which from Canterbury continued in a direct ROMAN ROCHESTER. 3 line to Londmium (London). Somewhere in the vicinity of Ospringe existed Durolevum, which was probably merely a Mutatio, or establishment where relays of horses and refreshment might be obtained. The next station was Durobrivis. Its distance from Cantei'bury necessitated that it should be provided with every accommodation for the safety and maintenance of troops while quartered at Durobrivis, either during their progress through the country or when ordered to remain there for a protracted period. That such provision required defences of a stronger and more permanent nature than earthen ramparts we may reasonably admit, and the statement is supported by documentary evidence. In 765 Egbert gave a portion of land to the church lying within the walls of the castle (intra moenia castelli) of Eochester. In 855 Ethelwulf gave to Dunne (his minister) a house and lands in " meridie castelli Hrobi." In a grant of Offa to Waermund, the bishop is called "Episcopum castelli quod nominatur Hroffeceaster." The word " castellum " made use of in these chai'ters must refer to the whole city, which, according to their undeniable testimony, was enclosed with walls. That these walls were erected by the Saxons cannot for one moment be admitted. Mr. Loftus Brock, F.S.A., in an able paper on the "Walls of Chester" (Journal of the British Archceological Association, vol. xliv., 41), says, " No stone wall of the Saxon period, around a town, exists; and although there are a few notices sufficient to justify the belief that the Saxons did occasionally erect stone walls, yet such works must have been few and far between, and so badly constructed as to prevent the existence of any part of them." As far as I am aware, no one has ever suggested the possibility of any portion of the walls of Eochester being of Saxon date, but most writers have stated that the walls of the time of Henry III. are supposed to stand on Eoman foundations, while the Eev. Beale Poste twice declares (Journal of the British Archceological Association, vol. iv., 36, and Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. II., 68) that, in his opinion, Eochester was not walled in Eoman times. How far the various writers were correct the sequel will shew. In their defence it is only fair to state that none of them B 2 4 ROMAN ROCHESTER. are known to have tested the date of the foundations of the walls by excavations, which was the only way to solve the mystery that has surrounded for centuries the mural defences of Eochester. At the east end of the city in rear of Leonard's shop exists a fine portion of the wall, with its facing stones remaining, and terminating in a bold rounded angle. The peculiar character of the masonry, which is quite distinct from any other to be seen in Eochester, had often attracted my attention. I subsequently shewed it to my friend Mr. Loftus Brock, and we both inclined to the opinion that it was Eoman work. On consulting the 25-inch Ordnance Map he noticed that the curved angle lined with a wall, of which the core only remained, at the western end of the Deanery garden. It was suggested that an excavation should be made between them in order to prove their connection. This I subsequently carried out by kindly permission of the Dean (Dr. Eeynolds Hole), my friend Mr. Humphery Wood, F.S.A., with his accustomed liberality, supplying the funds to enable me to prosecute the research. In the north-east corner of the Deanery garden a square plot of ground seems at some period to have been taken from it in order to supply the two houses owned by Miss Spong with gardens. These gardens are bounded therefore on the east side by the city wall, and on the south and west sides by a wall of modern construction. They are raised several feet above the level of the Deanery garden, which is explained by the interesting fact that they form part of the ancient earthen rampart against the city wall, upon the top of which a wall, about 4 feet in height, of quite recent date, has been added. In one of the title-deeds of Miss Spong's property her house is styled " the Mount House next the Bridge." The " mount" doubtless referring to the rampart, and the " bridge " to the drawbridge which once spanned the city moat at Eastgate. It was outside the western wall of Miss Spong's garden that excavations commenced among the trees at the base of the Dean's lawn, where, at 4 feet from the surface, the foundation of the first city wall of Eochester was reached. No facing stones remained, but the core, which was 2 feet high, measured about 8 feet in width. ROMAN ROCHESTER. 5 This we followed for a few yards, as far as was possible, without disturbing the lawn. It now became necessary to ascertain whether the faced wall with the rounded angle, already mentioned, actually came on through Miss Spong's garden towards the newlydiscovered portion. Miss Spong vei-y considerately allowed the excavation to take place without restriction. In the course of a day or two we laid bare the continuation of the great curve into the garden for several feet and at considerable depth, thus proving conclusively the point at issue. As the upper portion of the wall was seen to have been broken away it was not deemed necessary to further mutilate the garden by testing the extension of the foundations. Before closing it in again a trench was cut along the southern face of the curve, which revealed the junction of the mediseval wall with it. This wall runs at right angles to it, and forms the eastern boundary of the Deanery garden. Having by this time become convinced that we had discovered the Eoman wall of the city, an examination of the mortars was made of that used in the rounded angle, the foundation in the Deanery garden, and the core above ground at the western end of it, when they were found to be of the same composition, namely, brownish in colour, exceedingly hard, with an admixture of pebbles and broken flint. A continuation of the wall in the Deanery premises was now sought for in a westerly direction. Portions of it were readily detected in the stable-yard of Canon Pollock's house, where a fine piece of core may be seen forming the back of the ash-pit. This pit was cleared of its contents during our investigations, when we had the satisfaction of seeing the foundations of the wall to a depth of 8 feet from the surface, 2 feet being visible above ground. From here it is again met with in Canon Jelf's garden, where it formed the southern boundary of the cloister garth of St. Andrew's Priory, and was moreover made use of by Ernulf, who built the wall of his refectory upon it. At the present time the Eoman wall exists between Canon Jelf's and the Choir School. On the northern side it has been refaced, but on the southern some of the original Eoman facing stones remain, although 6 ROMAN ROCHESTER. naturally not so weathered as the more exposed portion on the east side of the city. In Canon Jelf's stable-yard the wall comes to an end. At this point it measures 6 feet in width and 9 feet in height, and has been refaced. In the Precinct Eoad opposite, a few yards off, I am informed by the manager of the Water Works Company that its foundation under the road was cut through with great difficulty when laying down the water-main. The line of the wall now continues along the front of the houses occupied by Mr. A. A. Arnold, myself, and Mr. Eae Martin, those of the two last named formed part of the ancient bishop's palace. It is not improbable that the palace wall was built upon the foundation of the Eoman wall, as the latter may be struck with the probe along the front of my house. In fact, when digging upon its line in the garden, the debris of its masonry comes up with the spade. In determining the course of the wall to Boley Hill Eoad, we are assisted by an important discovery that was made in 1891 during the laying in of a gas-main to Mr. Eae Martin's house, near the side entrance. The workmen came upon the massive foundations of two walls, each under the gutters on either side of the road, and parallel to ib. I was away at the time, but the surveyor of the Gas Company stated that the walls were about 5 feet thick, and described their position to me afterwards on the spot. I t will now be seen how these foundations relate to the city wall, which we have been enabled to follow almost up to the road. They indicate to me the site of the Eoman south-gate. In a paper read before the Sidcup Literary and Scientific Society, Mr. Eoach Smith says: " Some years since an opening was made in the street (i.e. Boley Hill Eoad) opposite the office of Messrs. Knight and Arnold. There, at about the depth of from 2 to 3 feet, a strong Eoman wall was laid open for a short distance, deciding that the street must be comparatively modern, and suggesting whether it may not have been part of the Eoman circumvallation. It seemed sufficiently wide, and was of the best construction." This ROMAN ROCHESTER. 7 wall seems to have been either a portion of the foundations of the gateway just described, or of some structure which stood within the gate. The theory that the street is modern cannot be accepted after the evidence we have brought forth, which commences even from pre-Eoman times. At the present time there exists between the site of the Eoman gate and the eastern wall of the Castle the enormous ditch outside the latter, the making of which doubtless involved the destruction of the Eoman wall. That the wall continued from the gate to the verge of Castle Hill is certain. Upon the plan the line shews that it cuts into the north angle of the semicircular bastion of the Castle enclosure. The site of its onward course would therefore be the path between the keep and the southern curtain wall. In line with this path Mr. J. C. Trueman informs me that during the work of laying out the Castle gardens the workmen cut through the foundations of a wall when making the entrance to the gardens on the south side. The Eoman wall at this southwest corner doubtless possessed, as at the east end of the city, a rounded angle, but not so great a curve as that of the present curtain wall of the Castle, which is clearly upon its original foundation of the natural chalk. If this latter curve is followed on the outer or river-side, the recurrence of the core of the Eoman wall will be readily detected, becoming higher and higher as we proceed, and extending for a distance of nearly fifty yards. This core has generally been regarded by most authorities as Eoman work. Mr. Eoach Smith in the paper already referred to speaks of it as follows : " What meets the eye reveals the fact that the Eoman mural enceinte must have been denuded of the facing stones in very early post-Boman times. The Norman wall is engrafted into the core of the Eoman wall." On comparing the masonry and mortar of the core with that we have described on the south side of the city, they were found to agree in every particular. An examination of the section where the wall is destroyed, shews that when the Norman castle was erected in the south-west corner of the Eoman city, they wisely made use of what remained of the rock-like core of the Eoman wall on the hill facing 8 ROMAN ROCHESTER. the river, by thickening it to their required width ; and on reaching the top of the core, their masonry overlapped it to within a few inches of the exterior face, the Norman work being then carried up as we now see it. The section referred to above not only shews the two thicknesses of wall, but also a third addition, which is probably of the thirteenth century. From this interesting section the wall and chalk cliff upon which it stood have succumbed to the ravages of time, for there is now a break of sixty yards, until the tower is reached, through which a modern entrance has been made into the Castle gardens. Some of the core of the western side of this mass of masonry rather suggests that a tower was thrust through the Eoman wall in Norman or later times. No trace of the west wall of the city exists between the tower and the north angle, which is at present covered by Gill's ship-building yard. In Stukeley's Itinerariwm Ouriosum, plate xxx., is figured a portion of wall, considered to be Eoman, standing in his day near St. Clement's Church. This church stood by the western wall opposite the " Gundulph " Hotel. I am told that the east wall of the Club House, at the foot of the bridge, is built upon the foundation of one of the walls of the church. In 1889 some workmen engaged in laying a gas-main into the yard exposed a portion of the Eoman wall about a hundred feet from the riverbank. The wall was about 7 feet thick, built of rag-stone with a double bonding course of tiles ; the mortar was very hard, and contained pounded tile. One of the men told me that debris from the wall, consisting of stones and tiles, was met with at about 60 feet from the edge of the launching wharf, when he was sinking a saw-pit some years ago. These discoveries prove that the north angle of the city wall was in Mr. Gill's ship-yard. An inspection of the various portions remaining of the northern wall of the city, in rear of the cottages along the Common, revealed the unexpected fact that these too were of Eoman construction, corresponding in every respect to the core on the south and west sides. In this wall (styled in Registrum Roffense " Cheldegate Wall"), facing the Meeting House of the Society of Friends, was the north gate of the city, formerly called Cheldegate. ROMAN ROCHESTER. 9 The road leading through it, now known by the undignified name of " Pump Lane," is the Eoman road leading to the south gate in Boley Hill Eoad. At the north-east corner of the city, in rear of St. Nicholas Schools, a fine bastion exists which was apparently inserted in the fourteenth century. On surmounting it, it will be seen that the north and east walls as they approach the bastion gradually curve inwards, indicating that prior to the erection of the tower there was a rounded angle here to correspond with that at the south-east corner. Towards the Mathematical School the first few courses, with the facing stones remaining, at the base of the fine east wall, are of Eoman date. It is therefore probable that the entire foundation of this wall, now hidden by garden ground as far as the bastion, is also Eoman. During the recent rebuilding of the Mathematical School the foundations of the north tower of the thirteenth-century east gate of Eochester were exposed to view. This, I was kindly permitted by the Corporation to further explore, resulting in the discovery of the foundations of an earlier tower beneath it. Both towers were circular, but the lower one was built 3 feet nearer the wall, suggesting that it was a tower of the Eoman gate. What remained of the Eoman tower was used as a foundation by the later builders, but where the masonry of it was destroyed they carried their foundations far down by its side. The tower of Henry III. extends under the present roadway a distance of 22 feet 9 inches from the inner edge of the pavement in front of the Mathematical School, so that the pavement on the opposite side of the way is on the site of, and represents about half the width of the ancient roadway between the towers. In all probability the Elizabethan house called Eastgate House, and the one facing it, of the same date, mark the line of the Eoman way. If lines are drawn from these houses to the gateway of the city, it will be seen how much the tenements from the corner of Crow Lane to the Eagle Inn have been allowed to overlap the original road. A similar encroachment, but on the opposite side of the way, has taken place from the Guildhall towards the bridge. When excavations 10 ROMAN ROCHESTER. were made in 1892 for the foundations of the Technical Schools, a good section of the Eoman road was exposed. It extended 11 feet nearer the Guildhall than the present road. I made a note of the section at the time, as follows : Line of present pavement. 1. Accumulated earth and debris 2. Eound and angular gravel 3. Flints, laid in b. Eound and angular gravel, rammed in 5. Chalk, rammed in 6. Eoughly prepared bed of sand, earth, and flints Natural clay. No trace of paving stones was visible upon the surface of No. 2, but probably they had been removed. After the completion of the survey of the Eoman walls of Eochester, it occurred to me to get upon the top of that portion of it which forms the eastern boundary of Miss Spong's garden. On reaching the summit by means of a ladder, I was agreeably surprised to find, in situ, the remains of a bonding course of Eoman tiles set in the same kind of mortar with which we had become so familiar. Seven tiles remained, and on either side of them the bed of mortar bore impressions of others that had become displaced. The edges of these tiles having been broken away, it was impossible to detect their existence from below, especially as they were overgrown with weeds and plants. The occurrence of these tiles at so great a height leads me to infer that the walls were repaired in late Eoman times ; a probable explanation also of the presence of bonding tiles in the foundations, already mentioned, in Gill's ship-yard. It is not improbable that most observers, when perambulating the walls of Eochester, have been thrown off the scent of their true history by not finding courses of tiles. To the casual enquirer these are considered indispensable, whereas the student is aware that there are many Eoman walled towns and castra in England, such as Aidborough, Chester, the castra to the north of it and in the Great Wall, without bonding courses of tiles. Mr. Eoach Smith, in referring to this question, says (Collectanea Antiqua, 7 feet. 14 inches. 6 inches. 1 foot. 6 inches. 15 inches. ROMAN ROCHESTER. 11 vol. vi., 43) : " We know that the numerous castra erected in Britain and Gaul towards the close of the Roman rule were all, or nearly so, constructed of great thickness and height with a facing of small squared stones, divided at irregular intervals with bonding tiles. Such, indeed, are also the materials and the style of most of the walled towns, the date of which it is not so easy to determine. But in very many instances, when the foundations of these Eoman town walls have been laid open, the superstructure has been ascertained to have been built upon the remains of earlier walls, the facing materials of which were stones of larger dimensions, without the bonding courses of tiles. These earlier walls had been overthrown or injured by siege operations, and it became necessary to repair or renovate them. I t does not follow that the small squared stones and tiles always necessarily denote a late period." The foregoing remarks might very well be applied to Eochester, and we should probably not be far wrong in placing it among the earliest walled towns. Having defined the limits of the city in Eoman times, we now proceed to give its dimensions, which are as follows : Yards. Width from south-east to north-east 150 Width from south-west to north 360 Length of High Street from Eastgate to Eoman west wall 465 From the wall to high-water mark 80 Length of north wall 475 Length of south wall 410 These measurements give an area enclosed by the walls of 231 acres. The form of the walled area will be best understood by referring to the Plan. The width of the enclosure towards the river was doubtless due to the position of Castle Hill, the south wall being built so as to include the highest portion. How the Eomans crossed the Eiver Medway next claims our attention. In a valuable paper on "Eochester Bridge" (Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XVII., 212-40), by my friend 12 ROMAN ROCHESTER. Mr. A. A. Arnold, he says: " The Saxon record as to the Bridge is contained in the Textus Roffensis, which is itself of the early part of the twelfth century. This Saxon record is of much earlier date than that compilation; and in it the liability of the several manors and places liable to contribute to the various piers and adjoining parts of the Bridge is laid down as a matter then well ascertained and proved by long usage and prescription." That the history of the Bridge may be carried back to the Eoman period we may safely assert. When the present Bridge was constructed upon the site of the ancient wooden one, the late Mr. John Ball, the contractor, met with the piles upon which the later structure had been erected, they were of elm, and many of them were found sound enough to be used again. Those which had to be removed were carted to the marsh near the gas-works, where they remain to this day. The majority are simply trees which have been denuded of their branches, and roughly trimmed with the axe, while many are pointed and shod with iron in the manner now in vogue. Their preservation is, of course, due to their having been imbedded in the mud of the river, which appears to render everything impervious to decay. I am informed that during the operations a large number of coins was found in the river-bed following the line of the piles. This is curious and important evidence in favour of a bridge having existed in Eoman times. The chief cemetery of Durobrivis has not yet been discovered. A few burials were found in the brickfields on the Strood side of the Medway which must certainly be associated with the immediate vicinity, but an extensive burying-ground may any day be brought to light on the Eochester side. Now that the line of the Eoman walls is known we are enabled to form some idea as to its whereabouts. There can be no question but that it was without the walls of the city, and not far from it. It is not often that we can fix tbe probable site of a Eoman cemetery, but from various causes one may hazard a conjecture in this instance. As the river flowed up close to the boundary of the city, on the north and ROMAN ROCHESTER. 13 west sides, it could not have been in those directions, neither was it towards the east and south-east, because that district has been built over, and if any discoveries had been made they would surely not have escaped being recorded. Hasted states (History of Kent, 8vo edition, vol. iv., 163) that when Boley Hill was levelled for the purpose of making a lawn in front of Satis House, that " many Eoman urns, paterce, lachrymatorce, and other remains of that nation were found by the workmen, most of which were given to Dr. Thorpe of this city." These objects alluded to by Hasted doubtless accompanied urn-burials in the usual way. As there is still a large portion of Boley Hill occupied by garden ground, it is probable that more interments lie undisturbed beneath the surface. Experience has taught us that the Eomans had several cemeteries in one locality in close proximity to each other, and it would not surprise us if at some future date an important cemetery is discovered on the land forming the eastern boundary of the road to Borstal. Mr. Humphery Wood has recently placed in the Local Museum a large Eoman glass cinerary vessel, shaped somewhat like a fish globe, which was found in Eochester, and purchased by him at Sotheby's Auction Eooms. This may have belonged to the discoveries made on Boley Hill. On a portion of this land, at Watts' Avenue, I explored in 1892 the fag-end of one of the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of Eochester, and it would be by no means an uncommon occurrence to find that the Saxons had appropriated the burying-place of their predecessors. With regard to other remains of Eoman date that have occasionally been found within the walls of the city, they shed but little light upon its history. Fisher (History of Rochester, p. 21) refers to coins ranging from Vespasian to Constantine found within the area of the Castle. During the restoration of the Cathedral under Sir Gilbert Scott, Mr. Irvine, who was clerk of the works, kindly informs me, in a letter dated July 9, 1888, that several fragments of pottery and Eoman stones with faced fronts were found under the south transept gable, in a ditch, and " that pits were excavated about the middle of 14 ROMAN ROCHESTER. the north wall of north nave aisle. In the deepest was found the bottom of a glass vessel ornamented with the cross, and a fragment of dark pottery with two letters scratched upon it. At a point nearly corresponding in front of south aisle wall Eoman walls were discovered. Under the stair-tower at south-west angle of west front there also exists an excavation of Eoman or very early date, and it is worth note that during excavations made some weeks ago, in this very year, the foundations of the front (if it may be dignified by the name of foundations) was proved to contain Eoman bricks. Some short distance eastward of Crow Lane and Eastgate there was a spring, which still while I was in Eochester supplied a pump in the High Street. Between the Eoman Way and spring there exists the remains of a Eoman villa. The rebuilding of a house on the south side of the Way enabled me to see parts of its walls, which had some years before been laid open in a property higher up. From this spot I procured nearly all the fragments of a Samian ware dish, which, together with every fragment found at the Cathedral, was put into the Museum Box placed in the Chapter Eoom." (These have now been deposited in the Eochester Public Library and Museum by the Dean and Chapter.) Mr. A. A. Arnold has recorded (Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XVII.) the discovery of an embossed Samian bowl and other pieces of the same ware by the eastern bank of the Medway, during the construction of the South-Eastern Eailway bridge. In Mr. Arnold's garden, that is within the palace enclosure, was found many years ago a Eoman intaglio, cut in an oval red carnelian. The figure upon the gem is that of Hercules, clad in a lion's skin, standing on a terminus or boundary post. This interesting antique is now in the Society's Collection. The singularly limited list of Eoman remains found in Eochester within the walls calls for some explanation. It is chiefly to be accounted for by the great depth of the Eoman level, which, if we may judge by the ancient way discovered at the Technical Schools, cannot be less than ROMAN ROCHESTER. 15 7 feet below the present surface. There are a large number of Elizabethan houses still remaining in the city which probably cover many objects of interest. When the foundations of these were laid down no record would have been kept of what was discovered ; but should they at any future time give place to other structures, a vigilant watch must be maintained. We may venture to assert that the great open space known as the Cathedral yard contains many vestiges of Eoman Eochester of the utmost importance. We are told (Fisher's History of Rochester, p. 5) that between the " King's Head" Hotel and Castle Lane once stood the Market. At Dover the present Market Square occupies the site of the Central Forum or Eoman Market (see Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XX., 132), and it is not improbable that a similar appropriation took place at Eochester. It is a curious coincidence that the Eochester Corn Market has for many years been held exactly opposite the site of the ancient general Market. On referring to the Plan it will be seen that the main way and the street from the north to the south gate cross each other at right angles, which accords with the position of streets in most Eoman towns in this country. It will also be observed that the great road and the north wall of the city are parallel to each other, an arrangement also common in Eoman towns. The south wall does not bear the same relation to the road, for the reason already stated at page 13. Having brought to a conclusion the various facts connected with Eoman Eochester, it should be stated that in order to prove still more conclusively the theories we have advanced respecting it, I was kindly allowed to make further explorations in the Deanery garden and elsewhere which resulted in the discovery of two more city walls beneath the soil, both to the south of the Eoman wall. Of these the Eev. G. M. Livett will treat in his paper on " Mediseval Eochester," which will be found in the present volume. To Mr. Livett I am greatly indebted for his invaluable assistance throughout the whole of these researches. He kindly gave me to the fullest extent the benefit of his acute archi16 ROMAN ROCHESTER. tectural knowledge, thus enabling me to understand more clearly than I should otherwise have done the numerous difficulties from time to time encountered. In the succeeding paper will be found illustrated a measured section of the face of the Eoman wall at Eastgate, also a sketch of the core. The wall is built on two or three courses of large flat-laid stones at the bottom of the foundations, running under the entire width; the foundation batters being broader at the base than the wall above. The core of the wall appears to have been built in sections, the stones being generally laid aslant in courses; three courses to about 2 feet. The height of each vertical division of work is 2 feet. To Mr. Eoberts, Mr. H. Wingent, and Mr. Horace Dan my best thanks are due for their kindness in taking photographs of various portions of the wall, and to Mr. Banks, the City Surveyor, for much valuable co-operation.