A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE Nichols 88 describes a coloured tesselated pavement found in 1794 at the Grey Friars, on the south side of St. Martin's Churchyard, at a depth of 6 ft. below the surface. No design, he says, could be seen on it. Near to St. Martin's Church, on the site of Wyggeston's Hospital, a small column was found in 1875, which is now in the Leicester Museum (No. 15). Mr. Fox mentions that this 'looks very like the column of a colonnade of the upper storey of some buildings which had a hand-rail from shaft to shaft. The hole for the tenon of the rail cut as small as possible so as not to weaken the shaft and the little bracket worked on the shaft under it to carry the greater width of the rail are noteworthy.' 8 * A portion of a coarse tesselated pavement was discovered in Southgate Street in 1866, with the fragment of a column, thought to be No. 20 in the Museum. Lower down the street, near to Bakehouse Lane, fragments of painted wall-plaster were found at a depth of 1 8 ft. below the present surface. 86 In 1871, 3ft. or 4ft. below the surface, several square feet of concrete, from which tesserae had evidently been removed, were discovered on the south side of Silver Street, and a little later an extensive portion of tesselated pavement in good condition was revealed within 2 ft. of the present street level ; it was described as being of the guilloche pattern, within a square border all of black, white, and red tesserae. The peculiarity of the find was its nearness to the present surface, most of the Roman discoveries in Leicester being from 8 ft. to 1 2 ft. below the street level. Near to this discovery, in the same street, on the site of the new Opera House and about 1 2 ft. below the present level, a tesselated pavement was found in 1876 about 20 ft. by 14 ft. in size. The tesserae were of a rough make, and strewn about on the floor were several pieces of pottery, fragments of Samian ware, and a few coins much corroded. Other remains of the foundations of this building had been uncovered some years before. Relics have frequently been discovered between this spot and St. Martin's Church. 86 During 1889 some excavations made for new buildings between High Street and Silver Street disclosed the existence of a Roman wall running due east and west for a considerable distance, but it was unfortunately destroyed before it could be properly inspected. 37 Later (in 1902) a wall was again found under High Street, which was thought to be part of that discovered in 1 86 1 in St. Martin's and Townhall Lane. 88 Turning now to the remains of buildings in the northern part of the Roman town, if the evidence of Carte can be relied upon, it would appear that High Cross Street very closely followed the line of one of the main Roman streets. He mentions that during excavations for waterworks in 1685, a wall of stone and Roman tiles was discovered, which extended from Redcross Street to the elm trees near the North Gate and followed the line of the street, 6 ft. or 7 ft. from the houses on the west side, ' many loads of stone' being carted away from it. In 1716, 'at the second house beyond Blue Boar Lane,' a little out in the street in front of the house, a similar wall was found, standing upright to within 3 ft. of the surface. The height of " Hist. Leic. , 619. " Arch. Journ. xlvi, 49. " Leic. Arch. Sue. ii, 22 ; Fox, Arch. Journ. xlvi, 62. 36 Assoc. Arch. Sof. xiii, p. cii ; Leic. Arch. Sue. iv, 106 ; v, 49, 55. 37 Assoc. Arch. Soc. xx, p. Ix (Rep.) ; Leic. Arch. Soc. vii, 207. M Assoc. Arch. Sac. xxvi, 461. 190
