93 



On Stone Roof Tiles of Roman Date. By Professor James 

 BucKMAN, F.a.S., F.L.S., &c. 



Dttbing my excavations at ancient Goriniwm, I not unfrequently 

 met with. Stone Eoof Tiles, in which the flat-headed clouted 

 nails by which they were attached were occasionally found. 



These stone tiles, as might have been expected, were made of 

 materials found not far from the spot: thus, at Cirencester, 

 those most commonly met vdth were made from the thinner 

 slabs of the Forest Marble, which is a very heavy and coarse 

 material for roofing, though it is employed for this purpose at 

 the present time. 



Another rock which furnished roof tiles is that of the fissile 

 beds at the bottom of the Great Oolite, which, from having been 

 used at Stonesfield, Oxon, for roofing, from time immemorial, is 

 called Stonesfield Slate. The Forest Marble and Stonesfield 

 Slate occTU' in the Cirencester district, so that it is easy to 

 understand why these should have been used for roof tiles in 

 that district, notwithstanding they were so heavy and coarse. 

 The tiles made from these — as may be seen from specimens in 

 the Corinium Museiun — are usually lozenge-shaped, so that when 

 placed in position they present a series of scallops, as seen 

 in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and of which Figs. 2 and 3 afford examples 

 of a modem arrangement of stone roof tiles, in imitation of the 

 antique method. During my residence at Bradford Abbas, I 



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