Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/288

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HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING.

ruins of each occupier telling such a tale of 'mutability' as one spot has seldom told; but, as is nearly always the case, the Roman has left his mark indelibly fixed on those walls and towers that at one time stood proudly above the low shore, when the sea almost washed their base. The Roman Castrum has an area of seven acres, but the irregular form of the walls would indicate that here was a British stronghold before the arrival of the Romans. The shoe found within these ruins, and which is now in the museum of Lewes Castle, Sussex, is larger than the specimens we have yet examined, being 4½ inches long and 4¼ wide. It does not appear to have been much worn, and yet its thickness does not exceed ⅓ of an inch; it has no calkins, and both surfaces are flat. The border is undulating, and the nail-cavities and holes are like those of the Gloucester shoes. The workmanship is good, and the nail-holes, six in number, well placed (fig. 97).

fig. 97

A horse-shoe has been discovered within the interesting Roman encampment on Hod Hill, Dorsetshire. This camp appears to have been a Celtic fastness made subservient to the Roman system of castrametation, and was made a great military post by the Romans. In it weapons, implements, and personal ornaments have been found in considerable numbers, all manifesting an extraordinary predominance of iron over bronze. One of the iron manufactories or smelting-places was discovered near this camp, and from evidences attending the discovery, it was estab-