174 HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB. 



Museum by Mr. St. Quintin. Before anything- was removed, 

 however, careful plans of two of the pavements were made 

 by Mr. Eastwood, on behalf of Mr. H. O. Piercy, Mr. St. 

 Quintin's agent ; the third was sketched by the writer. 



Unfortunately, it was found that the concrete underlying 

 the tesserae had disintegrated somewhat, being of a very 

 sandy character, and had to some extent fallen in amongst 

 the large angular lumps of chalk which formed the founda- 

 tion. Some of these chalk fragments even protruded through 

 the tesserae, rendering the removal of the tiles exceedingly 

 difficult. The most important parts, however, were removed 

 intact, the remainder being brought away in as large 

 fragments as was possible. Taking all into consideration, 

 the pavements were wonderfully perfect, the plough, and 

 holes driven for stakes for sheep-nets being the cause of the 

 principal irregularities. The great number of visitors present 

 during the process of the excavations was responsible for 

 only a very small section of the tesserae being removed. 

 Below the concrete the original subsoil was met with, there 

 being no trace of heating appliances below the floor. 



The most important of the three pavements discovered is 

 that shewn on the plan (Plate XIV.), which represents the 

 tessellated floor of a square room, on the outsides of which 

 quantities of mortar, large blocks of chalk, &c, evidently 

 the foundations of the walls, were met with. The pavement 

 had sunk in places, giving the surface an uneven appearance. 

 The large central square, consisting of a somewhat labyrin- 

 thine design, was not in very good condition, the tesserae 

 being exceedingly loose. The broad borders surrounding 

 this square, however, were in much better state of preserva- 

 tion, and large slabs were brought away intact. The extreme 

 limits of the room measured about 18 feet each way. The 

 pavement itself was slightly damaged on the edges, 

 but was roughly i6| feet by 17J feet. The centre piece is a 

 small square, with 16J inch sides. This consists of smaller 

 tesserae, and is naturally of much finer work. The tesserae 

 of which it is composed average a little over J-inch square, 

 those of the remainder of the pavement being ^-inch to 

 f-inch square. 



This centre piece consists of four lanceolate pieces forming 

 a quatrefoil, joined in the centre in a ring. The outline of 

 the quatrefoil, as well as the squares enclosing it, is 

 composed of very dark blue tesserae made from nodules, 

 such as occur in the Speeton Clay or the Lias at Whitby. 

 Nodules of this character also occur in some quantity in the 



