THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 



Newtown we have an example of the " Pied Piper ' 

 legend, and in the Island town of Francheville this 

 itinerant musician seems to have created quite as 

 much dismay and destruction among its peaceable but 

 money-loving inhabitants as he did on the occasion of 

 his visit to Hamelin. At this place the children are 

 said to have been fed down into the Solent a detail 

 which I believe usually takes a local turn in examples 

 of this legend. The study of the legends of Hamp- 

 shire, and especially those having a distinctly local 

 bearing, is one which is of much interest, and which 

 would make an attractive object for investigation at 

 meetings of the Field Club. 



WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. 



From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance 

 Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir 

 Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 

 34' 50" N. ; long. 1 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. 

 Observer Mr. J. T. Cook. 



t Black bulb in vacuo. 



THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, September 6, 1890. 



WEATHER IN AUGUST. 



This month has again been attended by anything 

 but genial summer weather, though we had six days 

 without rain, from the 3rd to the 8th, and from the 

 4th to the 7th there were four days of " consecutive 

 fine sunshine." On the gth we had the very heavy 

 rainfall of 1-2^ inches, and this following 1*25 inches 

 on the iyth July, is most unusual. There i-> no other 

 record since June 6, 1884, of an inch in twenty-four 

 hours in any of the summer months. From the 22iid 



to the 28th rain fell every day. The total fall for the 

 month has been 3-24, and the average of the preceding 

 ten years 1*97 inches. Since January i the quantity 

 has been 20-38, and the average of the same time is 

 17-97 inches. Rain lell on fourteen days. 



The barometer has shown but slight variation, the 

 highest being 30-29, and the lowest 29-47 inches. 

 It was 30 inches and over on twelve days, rather 

 under the average, which is generally taken to be 

 30 inches. 



The temperature has been cold throughout the 

 summer, May, the last spring month, was 76 deg., 

 June 77 deg., July, usually the hottest month, 76 

 deg., and August 76 deg. It was 70 deg. and over 

 on seventeen days. The highest minimum at night 

 was 58 deg., and it was under 50 deg. on fourteen, and 

 under 40 deg. on two nights. The lowest was 35 deg. 



Fordingbridge. 



T. WESTLAKE. 



DISCOVERIES AT SILCHESTER. 



The explorations which are being carried out on 

 the site of the Roman city of Silchester, a few miles 

 distant from the Aldermaston or Mortimer Stations 

 of the Great Western Railway, under the personal 

 direction of Mr. G. E. Fox, Mr. W. H. St. John 

 Hope, Mr. Mills Stevenson, and Mr. W. K. Forster, 

 of the Society of Antiquaries, are being attended with 

 most satisfactory results from an antiquarian point of 

 view. Until the present work nothing was known 

 of the great western gate of the city except its site, 

 but the present excavations have disclosed most 

 interesting remains of this gate, under which passed 

 the traffic along the main road through the Roman 

 city. The roadway at the west gate was spanned by 

 two arches. Among the massive fragments of the 

 masonry uncovered is the impost of the gate, from 

 which two arches sprang, and the mouldings on one 

 side may be noted cut away in order to allow the 

 doors to shut against it. There are found to be two 

 guard-rooms on each side of the gate, those on the 

 south being most perfect. The wall here has a 

 thickness of i2ft., which decreases as it rises from the 

 ground level, and it is backed by a great mound of 

 earth. One point for investigation is whether or not 

 this mound is of earlier Celtic origin. A paving of 

 flints forms apparently a pathway to the top of the 

 mound. At the west gate a fragment of a fine 

 Corinthian capital has been found. As it has no 

 connexion with the structure it was apparently 

 brought there for some purpose during the occupation 

 of the city. The remains of the west gate are 

 admirable specimens of masonry, large blocks of 

 Oolite and other stones having been employed. 

 Among the objects found on the site is a large strip 

 of iron pierced with nail holes, which evidently 

 bound the bottom of a door of the gate and furnishes 

 an idea of its massive thickness. A portion of an iron 



