248 Collections for a History of West Bean. 



the dormitory of the slaves, 1 1ft. m width ; adjoining which, on the 

 north-east, was a smaller room, lift, square, the inner angle of its 

 walls supported by a block of freestone, 2ft. by Hft. Ranging 

 with this was a row of piers, 10ft. apart, upon which rested, I 

 suppose, the wooden supports of a lean-to roof, sloping towards the 

 south. The western pier was a block of freestone similar in all 

 respects to that beneath the angle of the adjoining wall. The re- 

 maining five constructions, of flint, were 3 ft. square, with the ex- 

 ception of the eastern one, which, having perhaps to carry the return 

 of the roof, was 5ft. square. The remainder of the area — open or 

 not to the air — was for the use of the slaves, and had a floor of hard 

 chalk. At its south-east corner was a curious construction of stone, 

 flint, and tiles, containing a sunken oven or cooking-place (marked 

 a) of baked clay, bearing evidence of intense heat, about 3ft. by 2ft., 

 a stoke-hole \\h. wide, at its side, and a small enclosure about 5ft. 

 square occupying the angle of the adjoining walls. Many bones of 

 cattle, oyster shells, and other refuse were found here, and in a 

 circular ash-pit {b), hard by, fragments of pottery and charred wood. 

 There was another hearth, or fireplace, at c. 



The eastern wall of the enclosure, prolonged towards the north, 

 we laid bare for 70ft. without finding its termination, or making 

 further discoveries. It had formed, perhaps, the boundary of a 

 courtyard or garden. 



The " Villa Fructuaria,'' the third division of a Roman dwelling 

 of importance, remains yet to be explored ; and I am conscious that 

 the investigation of the other portions has been but imperfectly 

 conducted, and that much that is of interest may have escaped my 

 notice. But enough has been disclosed to prove that these buildings 

 were of considerable consequence ; and their excavation certainly 

 deserves to be placed on record. 



Amongst the objects it has yielded were large quantities of hexa- 

 gonal roofing-stones, brought from Portland, so numerous^ indeed, 

 that I have utilized them to cover a lean-to cattle-shed in the field 

 where the villa stood ; fragments of internal wall-plastering, frescoed 

 in lines and trellis-work, the colors still bright — green, yellow, red, 

 and white ; portions of the horns of red, fallow, and_roe deer ; boars 



