178 BUKIAL OF THE REMAINS Chap. IV. 



was carried away, we may agree with 

 Elie de Beaumont, who, in discussing this 

 subject, says, " pour une voiture de materiaux 

 " qui en sort, on y en fait entrer cent." * Nor 

 should we overlook the effects of fires, the 

 demolition of old buildings_, and the removal 

 of rubbish to the nearest vacant space. 



Abinger, Surrey. Late in the autumn of 

 1876, the ground in an old farm-yard at this 

 place was dug to a depth of 2 to 2 J feet, and 

 the workmen found various ancient remains. 

 This led Mr. T. H. Farrer of Abinger Hall to 

 have an adjoining ploughed field searched. 

 On a trench being dug, a layer of concrete, 

 still partly covered with tesserae (small red 

 tiles), and surrounded on two sides by broken- 

 down walls, was soon discovered. It is 

 believed \ that this room formed part of the 

 atrium or reception-room of a Roman villa. 

 The walls of two or three other small rooms 

 were afterwards discovered. Many fragments 

 of pottery, other objects, and coins of several 



* * Lemons de Ge'ologie pratique,' 1845, p. 142. 



f A short account of this discovery was published in ' The 

 Times ' of January 2, 1878 ; and a fuller account in ' The 

 Builder,' January 5, 1878. 



