Smith informs me that the discovery of the villa was, of course, accidental, and the excavations were not carefully conducted by any one likely to note the position of the articles found. If such be the fact, there is a probability that these shoes may have belonged to a much later date than the other relics discovered, and which they in all likelihood overlaid.
It is necessary to mention, however, that at Cirencester (the Roman Corinium, the Corimon of Ptolemy, and the Duro-Cornovium of the Antonine itinerary) various important Roman remains have been found, such as altars, querns, coins of all dates, from Claudius (A.D. 42) to Valentinian (A.D. 424), Samian and common pottery, bronze fiblæe, articles of bone, ivory, and glass, and great numbers of iron nails. Many of the latter have the peculiar head of the Roman horse-shoe nail, and others have the modern head fitted for the stamped and fullered shoe.
In the museum of this town are several shoes, two or three of which closely resemble those found at Chedworth, but none of the undulating-border type. These are said to have been found with the Roman remains, but there appears to hang some doubts as to the truth of this.[1]
The ruins of Pevensey Castle, in Sussex, furnishes us with another example of the early type. This castle, one of the most remarkable in the country, has been garrisoned and fortified by the Romans, Saxons, and Normans—the
- ↑ In the Catalogue of the Museum, it is stated that 'some of the iron objects are not Roman, but mediæval, and to one or two a still more recent date must be assigned.'
