ROMANO-BRITISH LEICESTERSHIRE WITHERLEY. Eleven miles north-west of High Cross, the remains of a rectangular earthwork lie half on each side of Wading Street, in the parishes of Witherley (Leicestershire) and Mancetter (Warwickshire). The name of Mancetter and the mileage of the Antonine Itinerary justify the identification of the site as that of Manduessedum. The northern or Leicestershire part is called the ' Old Field,' or ' Oufort Bank,' the Warwickshire side ' Castle Bank.' The earth- work measures about 600 ft. by 450 ft., and encloses an area of nearly 7 acres, but it is not clear whether it comprises the whole or part only of the Roman settlement. Burton, in 1622, thought that it extended as far as half a mile to the west near Mancetter church, where he stated that foundations were discovered [Burton's MS. quoted by Nichols, Hist. Leic. iv, 1027]. He also mentioned coins found in different parts, a bronze of Nero (A.D. 54-68), and one of the elder Faustina (A.D. 138-41) from Oufort Bank, Witherley ; a Carausius (A.D. 287-93) also from Witherley ; and others from Mancetter and towards Atherstone. Stukeley, who visited the place in 1725, heard of 'great stones and mortar-work Roman brick, iron, and great numbers of coins, brass and silver, and some gold ' [I tin. Cur. i, 20]. More recent writers only mention coins [Dugdale, Warw. 1076 ; Horsley, Magna Brit. 420 ; Nichols, Hist. Leic. iv, 1027]. The character and extent of the permanent occupation of the site is therefore uncertain, but it was probably a village or posting-station [Haverfield in V.C.H., War-iv. i, 233-4 ; post, 'Ancient Earthworks']. WYMONDHAM. A few yards of tesselated pavement, the tesserae being J in. square, and smaller, discovered in a field adjoining Wymondham House, about 4 ft. from the surface, probably indicated the existence of a villa at this spot. Portions of pavement and pieces of painted wall-plaster have been discovered from time to time, also human bones _Assoc. Arch. Soc. viii, Ixiii ; MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxxiii, 15 ; Gent. Mag. 1797, i, 75 ; O. S. xxi, 9]. 219
