ROMANO-BRITISH LEICESTERSHIRE The next most important group of remains discovered was at St. Martin's Church. In 1 86 1, while excavations were being made for the new north transept, close to the fence dividing the churchyard from Townhall Lane a sleeper wall of rubble covered on the top with dressed stone was found, upon which stood the bases of two massive Doric columns each about 2 ft. in diameter. It has been suggested that these columns, which are now in the Leicester Museum (Nos. 13, 14), formed part of a colonnade, which, judging from their size and from the space intervening between them about i o ft. would be of considerable length. The earth inside the wall contained coins, numerous fragments of pottery, and the bones of birds and animals. Mr. Fox conjectures that the columns are of the time of Constantine, and were possibly a portion of a temple. 28 In 1773 about a foot of pavement was discovered under the south aisle of St. Martin's Church, and in 1784 ' several scuttlesful ' of bones, horns, and jaw-bones of cattle were found under the tower 5 ft. from the surface, and nearly a foot in thickness, with an appearance of a lateral continuation. A few yards to the south of these, a foot from the surface, a vast quantity of very large pebbles, wedged or heaped to- gether without mortar, were discovered. Foundations well set in mortar have also been seen by the sexton when opening graves within the precincts of the church. 89 An arched cellar under an old house in Townhall Lane was discovered in 1845 which was supposed to be Roman, but it is more likely to have been later work in which Roman material was used. 30 In 1902, opposite St. Martin's Church, 14 ft. below the surface, two pieces of tesselated pavement were dis- covered, which were unfortunately de- stroyed. The larger was 3 ft. by 4 ft. in size, the pattern being worked out in white, red, and blue tesserae. It resembled a pavement found at the corner of High Street and High Cross Street in igoi. 31 In the Leicester Museum (No. AA.) is a portion of a small figure in a niche which came from this street. Only the head and the arm and hand holding a spear are preserved. CHMHCCL. Seal* of fttr. o 10 to 30 PLAN SHOWING ROMAN WALLS UNDER THE NEW TOWER OF ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, LEICESTER 32 16 Arch. Journ. i, 39O,xlvi, 59 ; Assoc. Arch. Sue. vi, 274 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xix, 1 13-14 ; ibid, (new ser.), vii, 159. To demonstrate the similarity of the mouldings with those of the time of Constantine, Mr. Fox shows a section of a base of a pier in the Basilica of Constantine at Rome, which is reproduced on the accompanying plate. " Bickerstafte in Nichols, Hist. Leic. i, 8, 12. 30 Arch. Journ. i, 390. " Mr. Freer, Assoc. Arch. Soc. xxvi, 462. s> Guide to Leic. Mus.; Fox, op. cit. 189
