Beddgelert Road.

GENTLEMEN,

Correspondence.

DISCOVERIES AT SEGONTIUM.

To the Editors of the Archeologia Cambrensis.

PERFEDDGOED, near BANGOR, MARCH 5th, 1846.

You did me the honour to insert in your first number a letter, wherein I sought to describe the recent interesting discoveries made at Llanbeblig, (the Roman SEGONTIUM,) near the town of Caernarvon. I now propose, with your permission, to resume my narrative at the point where it had been discontinued.

It will be, perhaps, in the recollection of your readers that a singular stone shaft had been discovered and excavated, on the south side of the new vicarial residence. When my letter to you was written and posted, the workmen had not reached the bottom of the shaft, nor did I myself see the lowest bottom of it; but it was seen by the Rev. John Jones, the rector of Llanllyfni, and described by him in the letter which succeeds mine. It is to this learned gentleman, who is, however, not more learned than kind and obliging, that we are indebted for the account of the coins, appended by mistake to Mr. James Foster's communication. Mr. Jones was under the impression that this stone shaft had been a granary for the use of the Roman garrison; but whether it had originally been constructed to that end, or otherwise, it had undoubtedly been used at a subsequent period as a cloaca, or cess-pool, as its contents most clearly evinced. Mr. Jones likewise suggested that "the substance found at the bottom of it, and having the appearance of tallow, was probably corn in a state of decomposition." Now, with no small diffidence, I arrive at a different conclusion. The whity matter was not all greasy- -a great portion looked as if it had taken the consistency of lime; nor was the greasy substance at the bottom only, but also very high up in the shaft; in it were embedded many of the articles before enumerated, and between it and the lowest greasy substance much inky soil interposed. To say nothing of the improbability of corn being found in such a position, it seems to me very unlikely that, even if it were grain, articles of refuse would be thrown in with it- but very likely that they would be thrown in with animal matter, of which I conceive this deposit to be composed. Moreover, this greasy substance, being wetted and subjected to a strong heat, after the method adopted at Pompeii, emits no odour whatsoever; though were it corn, it would be as likely, one would suppose, to give out its characteristic smell at Caernarvon as at Pompeii.

About the time this shaft was discovered, the foundation walls and floor of an apartment, undermined with flues, as described in my last letter, were brought to light on the opposite, or north side of the new vicarage. The whole amount, then, of the discoveries made up to this time were — first, the coins; secondly, the cloaca, and its contents; thirdly, the walls and floor of an apartment. Discovery was now at a stand-still, and likely so to continue, when you, gentlemen, kindly made a representation which obtained for us from the British Archæological Institute the very liberal grant of £5, to be employed in excavating the ground. Accordingly application was made to Mr. Thomas, the vicar, for permission, which he obligingly gave, to dig in his field; it being understood that any coins, or other curiosities of a portable weight, should be deposited in the Caernarvon Museum, for the advantage of the public at large. In addition to this sum of £5, £2 were ARCHEOL. CAMB. VOL. I.]

S

subscribed by a gentleman favourable to our views, and with this sum of £7 in hand, and the promise of £1 additional from you, and another from our worthy friend Mr. Dearden, we engaged three respectable workmen, and commenced operations. These prefatory remarks seem, for the most part, called for, to render the subject intelligible to the mass of your readers, and to conduct them fairly, as it were, to the starting point of my narrative. The whole area of the vicarial ground may comprise, perhaps, two acres. About two thirds of it, and the most elevated portion, are table, on which the house stands, and it is included on three sides by a Roman wall, which abruptly terminates the level on the east and south sides, at a small distance from the vicarage. On the west side it trends at a sharp declination to the more distant portion of the Roman wall. It seems probable that this, the highest point of Segontium-commanding the whole of its fortifications (of which fortifications you, gentlemen, can well estimate the original strength and great extent) itself strongly fortified, was the most important portion of the whole, perhaps the governor's residence; and we determined therefore to commence about the centre of the inclination on the west, or Caernarvon, side. Here we opened a trench about twelve feet long by four or five feet wide and about six feet deep; but though the earth was thickly commingled with minute fragments of Samian ware, we found nothing worthy of note or preservation saving a piece of the above ware representing a figure of Cupid, in basrelief. Our next excavations were made at the spot where the apartment with flues had been exposed to view, and here our anticipations were more than realised. We have discovered the remains of a Roman villa, or baths. Of these a tolerably correct idea may be formed by the study of the accompanying plan, for which I am indebted to Mr. James Foster, of the National School, who has shown much intelligence, and afforded us such substantial assistance that I scarcely know how we could have operated successfully without him. I shall take the liberty of marking his plan with letters of reference. The room A, first discovered, is that of which mention has already been made. Judging from the number of its flues, denoted by the dotted lines in the plan, this would seem to have been the caldarium, or sweating room. The greater portion of it was destroyed by the workmen employed on the new vicarage for the sake of the stones on which it rested, but a small portion, sufficient to show the construction of the flues, still stands at the south-west corner. The next room, B, has also flues at the sides, as indicated in the plan. Next to this apartment is the hypocaust, C. That this had been a furnace no one who inspects it can for a moment doubt. At the point D there is a narrow passage for ashes, slanting downwards. E is a wall of large round stones, crossing the furnace at that part. F represents a large oval stone fixed in the wall, having a central perforation into which, perhaps, a metallic pillar had originally been fixed. G is a wall of well constructed bricks, with a portion of a flue passing underneath it in the direction H. I is a small room, probably that of the attendant slave, adjoining the hypocaust. The apartment J contained much dark and sooty matter, together with a quantity of bones, principally those of the ox. At the side of the hypocaust K there are the remains of steps leading to an upper room. The ground L, between the buildings and the road, remains unexcavated, as also does the ground MM on the east side, distant about forty or fifty yards from the before mentioned Roman wall. Objections were made to our proceeding further in the latter direction, by reason of the injury which, it is supposed, would be done to the field; so we set our men to work at a heap of stones near a hedge of the adjoining ground, held by Robert Jones, Esq, surgeon, and said to have been

At

the entrance of a passage opened some years ago, and which a workman pretended to have explored to the distance of twenty yards. The excavation has been carried through the hedge into the adjoining field, and there is now exposed to view a beautiful portion of a Roman house; but as the work is still in progress, I must reserve my description of it for a future occasion. I will only observe that here, as in the other building, there was in one apartment much dark and sooty matter, and the bones of animals; so that if the building were villas and not baths, these apartments were probably the kitchens. I would confine myself as much as possible to a detail of facts, from which your readers will draw their own inferences; here and there, however, hazarding a speculation, as I conceive myself entitled to do. the same time, I cannot be otherwise than sensible that, as an inexperienced chronicler of such events, I have a large amount of indulgence to bespeak. To return, then, to our first discovered villa. The height of the walls at the highest part, N, may be about a yard, at the lowest about a foot or eighteen inches, and they are constructed of red sand-stone, brought, probably, from Brynsiencyn, in Anglesey, or from Treborth, near Bangor, where red sandstone formations are observable. A few feet from the large room, in the direction O, stands the new vicarage, and on the other side of it, and between it and the Roman wall, was the granary or cloaca. Of the various articles discovered in the two houses, the coins are by far the most worthy of observation. These, in number, exceed fifty, of various sizes, metals, and periods, and some of them are in a high state of preservation, and very valuable. I send you a correct account of six beautiful specimens, deciphered by Robert Jones, Esq., surgeon, of Caernarvon, and Mr. J. Foster, by the aid of Mr. Akerman's work on the coins of the Romans relating to Britain. I should in justice observe, that from the former gentleman's acumen and good judment, we have derived no small advantage in these researches, and he has kindly taken upon himself the trouble of overlooking and paying the workmen. The next article worthy of notice is a brazen bowl, resembling an ordinary sugar bowl, its diameter at the mouth being four inches and a half, and its height two inches. The bottom on which it stands is a small flat circle about the size of a half-crown piece. This article is in perfect preservation. There is also a bell-shaped plug, one inch high, and part of a small chain, which may have been attached to it; also a piece of solid iron, thin at one extremity, and hooked, which may have been a handle appended to the chain. There are also two glazed counters, or markers, formed apparently of chalk or pipeclay, and the halves of three querns or hand mills. Add to these sundry small rings, and a number of large iron nails, also a portion of a small metallic pipe much corroded, and I believe partially fused, together with a large thin metal button with a broken shank, and my catalogue of the upper house will be tolerably complete. The lower house, now excavating, has likewise furnished its quota of interesting relics. Here were found some of the best specimens of the coins. Here, too, were found two red tiles, sixteen inches long, nine inches and three quarters broad, and half an inch thick. One of these bears the impress of a shoe or sandal, studded with thirty-three large round-headed nails; another bears the stamp of two tiny feet, once the property, doubtless, of some Roman toddler of tender years. There are other tiles, eight inches square, together with many fragments of large tiles bearing fanciful linear devices. There is also a portion of the neck and body of a glass vase, of a light blue colour, half an inch thick, which, in a perfect state, must have been very pretty. In both the houses small fragments of painted stucco afford evidence of former decora