478 



tainly did bury in them. He was inclined to think from the form 

 of the pillar that it was a Roman interment, for it had much of the 

 form of a Roman altar which seemed to have been erected for the 

 purpose of pouring libations upon, which would lead to the suppo- 

 sition that it was a person of note and dignity. The nails found 

 were the ordinary shoe nails. 



The Secretary had examined the coflEin, and from the form of 

 the skull did not think it Roman, but probably a second interment 

 of a later date. 



Mr. Shaw imagined that the burial was not a Christian one, from 

 the fact of the coffin lying north and south. 



Saxon Remains at Bathford. 



Mr. Skrine announced that in taking down a portion of Bathford 

 Church for restoration they had discovered an ancient figure, 

 which the architect pronounced to be Saxon. It was a curious 

 fact that the church was dedicated to St. Swithin, to which saint 

 there were not more than fifty churches dedicated in England, and 

 in all probability they were aU built in the tenth century. The 

 architect said this was tenth century work, which showed that the 

 church must have been built very soon after Edgar was crowned 

 in Bath. The figure, which is much mutilated, was most likely 

 intended for St. Swithin himself, as it is the figure of a bishop in 

 the act of blessing, and Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester at that 

 time, was the person who removed St. Swithin's bones to the shrine 

 in the new cathedral of Winchester, and he was a monk of the Abbey 

 of Bath about the time when the Manor of Forde was granted to 

 the Abbey, A.D. 957. It was natural, therefore, that he should 

 take an interest in the erection of the church and couple it with 

 St. Swithin's name. The discoveiy of this one piece of Saxon work 

 was interesting, because there were very few pieces of Saxon 

 sculpture to be found, for what was called Saxon generally turned 

 out to be Norman. A piscina, which may be Saxon also, had been 

 found, and fragments of pillars of the old Norman work, showing 

 that the church was restored in the time of John de ViUula. They 

 could not veiy well be used in the church, and it was proposed to 

 arrange them in niches in a wall which was goiug to be made in 

 the churchyard. 



