ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE 



well belong to the first century. There were also some foundations and 

 a quoined well which, being beneath the mound, may be of Roman 

 date. A few Roman objects seem also to have occurred in the earth of 

 the mound itself, and were doubtless scraped up with that earth when 

 the mound was built.^ The accompanying illustration (fig. 3) shows 

 some of the remains. 



(8) South of this but near it, 200 yards west of the Porcelain ■ 

 Works and near the Severn bank in Diglis, Samian and other coarser 

 pottery, two bronze coins of Domitian, a bronze armilla, fluetiles, a 

 structure taken to be a kiln, and some burnt bones which were thought 

 not to be human, were found in i860. At the same date Samian and 

 other sherds, amphorae, pelves and the like, and some bits of glass were 

 noted in the course of some repairs at the Cathedral south of the Lady 

 chapel. Samian and other fragments have also been found at St. Alban's 

 Home in the same vicinity.^ Mr. AlHes also mentions an urn with thirty 

 coins of Carausius as found near this in Upper Deal. 



(9) A little further south, Roman pottery, a coin of Marcus and 

 animals' bones were discovered at a depth of 30 feet, when the Severn 

 Navigation Canal lock was constructed at Diglis in 1843. Presumably 

 the spot had in Roman days been water or soft marsh and had since 

 silted up.^ 



(10) Finally a puzzling find was made on the south-east side of the 

 town, beside the London road and opposite Fort Royal, in 1843. This 

 was an underground chamber, roughly 10 feet square, dug out of solid 

 marl, faced or walled with bricks and tiles in alternate courses, and paved 

 with brick. The covering of the structure had fallen in long before it 

 was unearthed, and the interior was filled with tile and brick debris. The 

 walls and floor show distinct marks of heat and smoke, and the whole 

 was taken to be a hypocaust, but if one may judge from the accounts 

 which have been preserved, neither the age nor the character of the 

 remains is quite clear. A little way off a few coins of the third century 

 were found at the same time (Severus Alexander — Tetricus), and near by 

 though quite distinct a bronze coin of Domitian was found at Lark 

 Hill Crescent." 



This is not altogether a satisfactory list. We cannot feel sure that 

 all its items date from the Roman period, and even if we assume that, we 

 cannot point out in it one single recognizable trace of any definite kind 

 of building public or private. Still the number and character of the 

 certain and probable items is significant, and we seem to be justified in 

 assuming that some small country town or village occupied the site of 

 Worcester in Roman times. The comparative frequency of first and 

 second-century coins suggests further that this town or village was 



1 Allies, p. 15 ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, '• 9^ ; Dunkin's Re/iort of the British Anhaol. Assoc. 

 Meeting at Worcester, p. 35 ; remains in Worcester Museum. 



2 R. W. Binns, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, i. (i860) 148, and A Century of 

 Potting in Worcester, p. 184 ; remains in the Porcelain Works Museum and from St. Alban's Home in 

 the Worcester Museum ; Catalogue of the Museum, Archasol. Institute Meeting at Worcester, 1 862, p. 7. 



3 Allies, p. 28. * Allies, p. 23, and for the coin of Domitian, p. 5. 



207 



