1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



209 



moiiY of independent witnesses Ijotli in France and England. One of tliem 

 descriljcs tlieui as " falling like a shower of rain from heaven upon the earth :" 

 and in another case, a bystander, havinjr noted the spot where the aerolite 

 fell, " east water upon it, which was raised in steam, with a great noise of 

 boiling." The Chronicle of Rheims describes the appearance as if all the 

 stars iu heaven were driven, like dust, before the wind. A distinct account 

 of the shooting stars of July 26th, 1293, is given by Matthew Paris. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



Monday, 30th March, 1840, \V. R. Hamilton, Esq. in the chair. George 

 Gutch, Esq. Fellow, presented 10 guineas for the pm-chase of books. 



The following papers were read : — 



On Garden Walls, by J. B. Watson, Fellow. 

 ^ A paper from Mr. Jenkins " on Talatyre Stone." 



I have the pleasure of offering to your notice a stone quarry in North 

 Wales, whose produce is now importing into London, two cargoes having 

 already arrived ; and, unless I am much mistaken, the introduction of this 

 stone to the British architects will prove a valuable boon. The quarries are 

 situated on the coast of Flintshire, within a mile of the point of Air, at the 

 mouth of the estuary of the Dee, and adjoining the grounds of Talacre Hall, 

 the seat of Sir Edward Mostyn, Bart. 



The uiineralogical character of this stone is that of silicious sand-stone, 

 with an argillo-silicious cement. It is of great density, a cubic foot weigh- 

 ing ISOJ^ lbs., is worked with great case, and being remarkably free from 

 hard untractable veins and soft places, is capable of a veiy smooth surface, 

 a tine arris, and the most delicate calling. The closeness of its texture and 

 fineness of its grain, render it very desirable for external work in a large city, 

 as it prevents the soot from adhering to it, and thus clogging up the moidd- 

 ings and carvings, reducing them to an undistingiiishal)le mass of blackness, 

 a fault justly complained of in the Bath and Portland stones. 



For landings and steps, the Talacre stone far excels the very best kinds of 

 Yorkshire stone, as it is superior in strength, and not liable to scale in the 

 unsightly manner that so frequently destroys the appearance of the finest 

 pavements of Yorkshire stone, as may he seen near the Post Office, and in 

 the Temple ; and as the quarries are now in the ])Ossession of a London com- 

 pany (the Talacre Coal and Iron Company,) an abundant supply of large 

 sized stone may be expected. 



Its colour is very uniform, and, to my taste, has a beautiful tone, which 

 eminently fits it for interior finishings, especially in the Gothic style. 



Its durability may be seen in the shrine of St. Winifred's well, at Holy- 

 well, in Flintshire, which was constructed of this stone in the loth century, 

 and, though exposed to the humidity of the air, incident to the neighbour- 

 hood of mountains and an arm of the sea, as well as to the clouds of sulphu- 

 rous smoke from the numerous works on the stream issuing from that cele- 

 brated spring, yet still preserves its rich and delicate earrings in a very per- 

 fect state. Many other ancient buildings in the neighbourhood have been 

 constructed or ornamented with this stone, as the ancient mansion in the 

 village of Llanasa, with its curious carved porch, erected in 161'2, the carv- 

 ings aiul ashlar of which are still veiy ]»erfect, the quoins of Kliyddlan and 

 Denbigh Castles, built the latter end of the 13tli century; and among 

 modern buildings, Talacre Hall, the seat of Sir Edward Mostyn, Bart., the 

 masonry of which is the admiration of all. I luay mention that the chimney 

 pieces of tliis mansion, in the Gothic style, are carved in this stone, and have 

 a very beautiful ert'ect. 



The following is the result of an experiment made on the comparative 

 strength of the Talacre stone with best Yorkshire. 



\ piece of Talacre stone, 2 ft. (>\ in. long, 3:; in. wide, and 2 



in. thick, bore, for several minutes, a weight of 4 2 1 



Best Yorkshire of the same size broke immediately with a 



pressure of 4 Oil 



1 may add that, from the proximity of the quarries to the new harbour of 

 Port Talacre, this stone can be brought to London at a price little, if at all, 

 exceeding that of Yorkshire stone. 



Mr. Donaldson read a paper ** On varion^t extraordinary tombs, recenthf 

 Ijroni/Jtt to liglit at ttie ancient city of Ctere, and described in a work of mncli 

 learning and research, forwarded to the So icty by its author, the (Javaliere 

 Caniiut, an Honorary and Correspondiny Member. 



About half way on the road between Rome and Civita Vecchia, is the vil- 

 lage of Cervetri, or Cerveteri, the site of the ancient C;ere, where some ju- 

 dicious excavations have brought to light a tomb, which seems at once to 

 prove the affinity of the ancient inhabitants of these parts witli the Greeks, 

 and aifords a confirmation of the supposition of their common origin, derived 

 from other discoveries of an analogous nature. Ir.mieiliately contiguous to 

 Cervetri is a platform of considerable extent, on which was doubtless the 

 ancient Cxre, surrounded once, it is presumed, OTth walls. Within a short 

 distance of the precinct marked by the supposed line of wall are a number of 

 tombs, one of which is that now about to be explained. It evidently bears 

 the proofs of two distinct epochs of construction, as the original edifice, 

 which forms the centre, consisted of a solitary chamber in the body of a 

 circular mass surmounted by a mound of earth. This was subsequently en- 



larged by auother ring of solid masonry, containing various cells, also sm-- 

 mounted by a larger mound of earth. This addition so ctfectually closed 

 from observation the iimer chamljcr, that it has remained, until the present 

 period, nndcspoilcd of its precious relics ; while tlie outer chandlers have been 

 robbed of every object that they once contained, from their entrances being 

 immediately exposed to riew. The original tomb consists of a circular mass 

 about 82 feet in diameter, having apparently an outer ring of solid masonry, 

 and a central pillar of construction, which ran up to the top, and served to 

 support the mound of earth, which formed the conical part of the tumulus ; 

 and probably it was surmounted externally l)y a ])edestal, on the top of 

 which was a statue, or some object allusive to the deceased. The sepulchral 

 chambers consisted of an outer gallery, about 30 feet long, and 5 ft. 8 in. 

 wide, and 11 ft. 2 in. high, at tlie fiu-ther cud of wdiich were two oval-formed 

 chambers, about 11 ft. G in. long, by 9 ft. wide, on the right and left, rudely 

 worked out of the solid mass. At the extremity of the outer gallery is a wall 

 with a small aperture in it, opening into another gallery about two-thirds the 

 length of the first one, or 20 feet, and 4 ft. 3 in. wide. The walls of the 

 galleries seem to be formed of a rude solid perpendicular construction, about 

 5 feet high, above which are three overhanging com'ses, with horizontal 

 joints, or beds, forming an incUned roof on each side, .\nothcr u))pcrmo3t 

 course is perpendicular, and leaves a kind of sq\iare channel, about 18 inches 

 wide and 1.) inches high, running the whole length. The walls of the oval 

 chambers seem to be worked out of the rude solid mass, and do imt present 

 the appearance of any regular courses of stone. There were smaller cham- 

 bers in the peripheiT of the outer construction, formed in a similar manner, 

 and when it was deemed desirable, at a subsequent period, to procure greater 

 accommodation for the family, it seems to have been efiectcd by enlarging 

 the circumference and extencling the smaller chambers. But it is remarkable 

 that the large gallery or chamber in the original mass was not earned out, 

 as though there was the wish to hold it sacred as the deposit of the chief of 

 the family, and to secure it from intrusion by closing up its entrance. It 

 will be seen that the construction of the walls of the galleries is similar to 

 that of the subterraneo\is chamber at Mycena;, commonly called the Treasury 

 of Atreus, or Tomb of .Vgamemnon, and illustrated in the supplementary 

 Tolmne to Stnarfs Athens. The courses are horizontal, and gathering over 

 each other gradually towards the apex of the roof, and cut away so as to 

 give the inner face a concave appearance. B\it another remarkable instance 

 of this peculiar construction of ancient art, exists at Rome in the Mamertine 

 Prison, the lower cell of which was once evidently built in the same manner, 

 the upper part having subsequently been cut ofi', and the arch smTuounting 

 it constructed as a regular arch with concentric courses. Mr. Donaldson 

 then described the various objects which were found in tliis tomb. In the 

 first gallery next the door was a brazier placed on an iron tripod, and close 

 to it a bronze censer for perfumes, and next to that another brazier. Further 

 in was a four-wheeled car, upon which was borne the corpse laid on the 

 bronze bed ; and there remained many fragments of the wood of which it 

 was formed, and of the bronze with which it was ornamented. Near the 

 entrance to the right hand oval chamber was a bronze bedstead, on wliicli 

 lav the body of the defunct, evidenced from the bones on the floor and traces 

 of stains produced by the decomposition of the flesh. There were two small 

 iron altars, one at the head and the other at the foot of the bedstead, and 

 aljout two dozen small earthenware figures on the floor round the three outer 

 sides of the bedstead, several shields, a bundle of arrows ; and these, with 

 some cuirasses, which once hung on the walls, prove this to have been the 

 sepulcliral chamber of a warrior. In the channel in the roof were suspended 

 from nails some bronze vases and dishes. The inner gallery seems to have 

 been appropriated as the sepulchral chamber of a female. When first dis- 

 covered, it was found to be encumbered with the ruins of one of the side 

 walls, which bad fallen in ; but upon removing the rubbish and dirt, various 

 articles in gold and silver were found among the remains of the body, which 

 liad been deposited at the further end. A small silver bucket, and a cup 

 without handles, various bronze cups and vases, proper for scents and per- 

 fumes, were also <liscovered. The two oval chambers to the right and left 

 of the outer gillcry, were evidently of a subsequent period, and were formed 

 in a very rude and rough manner, as though added with great haste. The 

 chamber on the left contained various cups and other objects of bronze, and 

 in that to the right were found nimierous little tcrra-cotta figures similar to 

 those iu the outer gallery, near the funeral bedstead, and some earthen vases, 

 in one of which were deposited bm-nt bones and ashes, remains, doubtless, 

 of some member of the same family, and, it is to be inferred, of a period 

 somewhat subsequent to the outer chamber, as in that the body had not been 

 bm-nt, a practice of later iulroduction. Canina is of opinion, from au obser- 

 vatiou of the various bronze objects found in these tondjs, aud engraved with 

 representations of condjats and huntings of aninuds, and none of which re- 

 presented the events that occurred at Troy, that this tomb must have been 

 erected before this important period of tJreek history, a supjiosition wdiich 

 gains strength, from the peculiar form of the tireek characters of the inscrip- 

 tions. It may therefore be concluded, that this tumulus must be about 3,0U0 

 years old, and was erected during the period that the Pelasgi held possession 

 of the country. 



Jpril 27. — The MAKauis or Northampton in the Chair. 

 Signor Gasparo Fossati, architect to the Emperor of Russia, was elected au 

 Honorary and Corresponding Member. 

 Some Roman remains from Watling Street, were e.\hibited by Mr. Fowler 



2 S 



