A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



fragments of a moulded capital and base of a smaller column, and a large 

 weather-worn stone, circular moulded in one part, are also to be seen there. 

 In 1888 the remains of two walls were discovered in the churchyard of 

 St. Nicholas. One ran at right-angles north and south, about 8 ft. from the 

 buttress supporting the tower at the east end of the north aisle of the church, 

 and about 4 ft. 4 in. below the surface. The bottom of the wall was not 

 reached at 8 ft. to 1 2 ft. from the surface. The other block of masonry, 

 3 ft. 4 in. away, lay edgewise, and had apparently fallen. The coins found 

 at this time were a second brass of Licinius (A.D. 30724) and a third brass 

 of Delmatius (A.D. 335). Both wall and roof tiles were among the debris. 30 

 In 1898 an interesting discovery was made in digging some cellars in 

 St. Nicholas Street, about fifty yards from St. Nicholas' Church, of two 

 pavements. These have fortunately been preserved and remain in situ. 

 The larger appears to be a square of about 14 ft. Its great peculiarity is 

 that as far as the main divisions go it is a duplicate in design of the pavement 

 in Jewry Wall Street (plate I), being composed of nine octagonal panels 

 with, it seems, a border similar in design to that of the floor just named. 

 The centre panel, instead of geometrical ornaments as in the others, has the 

 image of a peacock, within a circle of elaborate braidwork, standing with 

 tail displayed, a rare representation of this bird. The head, neck, and legs 

 are of blue-grey tesserae, the tail is red, dark brown, and yellow, with blue- 

 grey eyes. The other panels, as mentioned, are filled with bold geometrical 

 forms which are coarser than those of the Jewry Wall Street example. Both 

 floors may well be the work of the same hand (plate III.) The smaller pave- 

 ment near this elaborate one has a simple diagonal pattern in white on a grey 

 ground with white and grey borders, beyond which are traces of red tesserae. 

 Another portion has a grey ground diapered with white crosses and apparently 

 with bounding lines of brick tesserae. All these fragments are perhaps part 

 of the pavement of a corridor. 21 At the same time were found some Roman 

 coins, principally bronze, in bad condition, with small pieces of tiles, and 

 potsherds of various wares, mixed with bones, oyster shells, and various 

 other refuse. Part of a silver denarius of Severus Alexander (A.D. 227235) 

 and a small brass of Victorinus (A.D. 265-7) were a ^ so found on the same 

 site. 33 



Nichols 33 mentions 'a plain Roman pavement' found at the Recruiting 

 Sergeant Inn, St. Nicholas Street, at a depth of 8 ft. from the surface, ' of a 

 lightish close grain, friable, and by the side of it a thick wall built with very 

 hard stone like that of the Jewry wall, and in a direct line with it.' About 

 forty yards off in the same direction this wall was apparently used for the foun- 

 dation of a house by the churchyard side on the south-west of the church. 

 Another wall ran towards the west at right-angles with the first. 84 In 1839 a 

 pavement was found in the street leading from St. Nicholas Street to Talbot 

 Lane, 26 and further foundations of buildings were said to have been discovered 

 near the church. 28 In 1889 a fragment of tesselated floor was found, but 

 was covered up before it could be inspected. 27 



" Leic. Arch. Soc. vii, 17. " Ibid, viii, 375 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Soc. (new ser.), iv, 289. 



" Leic. Arch. Soc. viii, 375 ; Assoc. Arch. Soc. xxiv, xcix ; Haverfield, Antij. xxxiv, 234. 



" Hist. Leic. i, 12. * Nichols, Hist. Leic. i, 12. 



K O. S. xxxi ; Fox, Arch. Journ. xlvi, 62. ** Leic. Arch. Soc. ii, 207. 



" Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. vii, 285 (1900). 



188 



