ROMAN VILLA AT HARPHAM, EAST YORKS. 175 



drift deposits in the neighbourhood. The apex of each foil 

 is filled i with small cubes of red burnt clay, probably the 

 waste from tiles. Then follows a ring of yellow limestone 

 (Magnesian Limestone) two tessera? in width. Three circles 

 of small chalk tesserae follow next, then the ring of dark 

 blue tessera? forming the bases of the quatrefoil, inside which 

 are white and blue cubes. A plan of this centre piece is 

 shewn in Plate XV. 



The remainder of the pavement is entirely composed of 

 cubes of chalk and sandstone. The chalk is of somewhat 

 hard type, and has obviously been carefully selected from 

 beach boulders such as occur on the shore at Bridlington. 

 This is proved by the fact that some cubes exhibit the unques- 

 tionable borings and stains made by Clionce ; and others are 

 formed from the rounded edges of water-worn chalk pebbles. 

 Such pebbles would be most suitable for the purpose, as 

 they had already undergone a process of natural selection 

 by the action of the waves. The sandstone is of the 

 same material as that employed in the roofing tiles of the 

 building, quantities of which were obtained amongst the 

 debris of the villa. These tiles were on an average ^-inch to 

 f-inch in thickness, and they were unquestionably derived 

 from the West Riding. Nothing of the kind occurs in situ 

 anywhere near Harpham. 



The design in the large central square is in four parts, 

 each section being divided into an elaborate key pattern ; all 

 the four, however, are connected one with another in such a 

 way that, beginning at the centre, and following one of the 

 white chalk lines, the entire design is covered before the 

 outlet is reached leading into the outer border of the square. 

 As will be seen from the plan, the entire design (with the 

 exception of the small quatrefoil in the centre) is made 

 up of broad and narrow bands of chalk and sandstone 

 respectively, at right angles to each other. The sandstone 

 bands are two tesserae broad, the chalk bands being three. 



The pavement rested upon a foundation of concrete 

 largely composed of sand mixed with fine chalk gravel. This 

 was placed upon large angular pieces of chalk. 



About fifteen yards to the north of this pavement is that 

 shewn in Plate XVI. fig. i, which is so near the surface that it 

 has been much damaged by the plough. It is 27J feet long by 

 1 to 4 feet broad, and is in an easterly and westerly direction. 

 The pavement is made up of red and white bricks, and is 

 ornamented in a castellated design in red and white, each 

 portion being 9J inches across. This corridor is particularly 



