Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.126

Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.126




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	list, 3rd qtr 19th century


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	Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.126 but exhibits an average width of about eleven feet. The north jamb of this gateway is crowned with a rudely-moulded capital, above which is the springer of an arch. Underneath the threshold is a regularly-built drain, which has brought the waste water from the station; several other sewers have been observed between the south-west and north-east angles of the station, the inclination of the ground being towards the north. A succession of grooved stones, covered with flags, lie in the threshold of the south gateway; by this channel clean water has probably been brought into the station from the mossy ground, on the south-east of it. This ground is above the level of the station, and, before being drained, yielded water in abundance. In those parts where the station is naturally strongest a single fosse has environed the walls; in those which are less strong the moat has been double; but at the south-east angle, which is the weakest point, it has been quadruple. A portion of this four-fold entrenchment has been levelled, for the purposes of cultivation. Last year (1851) the field was in wheat; after the crop had been cut it was pleasing to observe, in the comparative rankness and strength of the stubble on the "made ground," the precise lines of the ditches. The stations on the line of the Wall were for the most part abandoned after the Romans quitted Britain. Some of them, especially those to the north, were probably given up anterior to that event. In the course of time they fell into ruins, over which earth and herbage gradually accumulated, and up to the present day many of them have remained unmolested, with the exception of parts of the outer walls and more exposed portions of the buildings within, which have served for building materials through many centuries. Still the foundations were untouched. In the south of England, on the contrary, where the population was denser, and the land of greater value for agricultural purposes, the interior of the Roman stations and castles have been almost denuded of the remains of buildings. It is therefore in those of the north that we may expect the more interesting results from well-directed excavations, such as those now being made at Bremenium and one or two other places. It is to be hoped that what has been brought to light will induce the Duke of Northumberland to proceed with the researches which form so interesting a part of the new edition of Mr. Bruce's volume, as an abstract will demonstrate. On entering the station the spectator is struck with the mass of buildings it contains. They are not, Mr. Bruce decides, of the same character or age. Some, from their superior masonry, indicate that they belong to the original plan; others are referable to later periods. Two distinct layers of flag-stones, both much worn, with a mass of rubbish between them, are to be noticed in some of the houses and streets. The chief street, twenty feet wide, runs through the station from east to west. Another street, to the south, runs in the direction of those points of the rampart where the second lateral gateways are supposed to be; this is eight feet wide. Precisely in the centre of the camp is a square plot of building (A, in the following plan), which subsequent investigation may prove to be the praetorium. The portal (E) leading into it from the via principalis has been crowned by an arch; many of the wedge shaped stones which composed it were found upon the ground. Advancing a few feet inwards, we meet with what appears to be a second portal, the basement course of two strong pillars of masonry (P.P.) remaining in position; these too may have been spanned by an arch, or they may have been surmounted by statues of Victory. The latter supposition is suggested by the discovery, already referred to, of a nearly complete figure of the favourite goddess of the Romans, and a small fragment of a second, within the eastern gateway of BORCOVICUS. In the chamber which is entered after passing these pediments the most striking object is an underground tank (F) about eight feet square, and six feet deep. The masonry of its walls bears the character of the second, rather than of the first period. Two narrow apertures on its south side near the top seem intended for the admission of water, and a shallow trough and gutter on the edge of one of the opposite corners, having apparently been intended to carry off the superfluous liquid. There is now lying at the bottom of it the stone lintel of a doorway, upwards of six feet long; before being precipitated into the tank, it would seem to have long lain upon the ground of the station, for it is much worn, as if by the sharpening of knives upon it. Proceeding in a straight line onwards, and at the southern extremity of this range of buildings, another underground receptacle (G) is seen. It

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	gazetteer links
	-- Hadrian's Wall
	-- Bremenium

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