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it. That its tipper portion had undergone many changes and 

 repairs, and much re-building, in the course of eight or ten 

 centuries, is of course probable ; but we are now dealing with 

 a part of it which, for a very long period, has been below the 

 level of the streets, covered up from the action of the weather, 

 and therefore preserved from wear and tear. 



Roman Gloucester shows a level, in many parts, of more than 

 8 feet below the present streets. The same difference, I believe, 

 holds good at Cirencester, Wroxeter, and many other Roman 

 Stations in Britain. Where a town has been repeatedly besieged 

 or burned, the rise of ground has been more rapid. In some parts 

 of London, Lincoln, and York, for example, it is more than double 

 as much as here. In Rome itself, going back to a more remote 

 date, the rise is more than 50 feet; and in Jerusalem, the 

 accumulation of 40 centuries, is marked by an increment of 

 over 200 feet. It is not very easy to account for this ; yet 

 nothing is more evident than the steady upward progression of 

 our streets, at the present day. Many of the older houses in 

 the lower part of the city, are now entered by a step down from 

 the street, instead of up : and at the Blue Coat School, where 

 the date of the re-building (1807) serves as a mark, we see the 

 new flags that have just been placed in front, stand an inch or 

 more above the old ones (some of which could not be removed, 

 on account of the iron railings let into them,) notwithstanding 

 that the city surveyor has kept this new part almost down to the 

 level of the carriage way — to " humour " the difference. Had 

 he not done so, the real rise would be seen to amount to several 

 inches, in this interval of less than three quarters of a century. 

 It is worthy of remark, that this increment varies in different 

 parts of Gloucester. In Aldate St. near the North Gate, it 

 has been excessive ; the sudden fall in passing down the last 50 

 yards, and especially at the site of the gateway, is the result of 

 this. If I may hazard a guess ivhy this rise should have been 

 more on the north side than on the others, I would suggest that 

 from its leading in from the Cirencestek road (the approach 

 from which is circuitous), it was the Gate at which a besieging 

 force from that town would first arrive. If the Saxons took the 



