206 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — 1915. 



rampart and the first ditch revealed an unexpected layer of clay and 

 gravel beneath the superincumbent stones; this was dug through, 2 feet 

 thick, and beneath it, in each section, another and an earlier ditch 

 cut in the rock, 5 feet deep and 7 feet wide, was brought to light. 

 This ditch again was filled nearly to its brim with dry rubble stones, 

 beneath which there was 1 to 3 inches of silting on the bottom of the 

 ditch. These rubble stones must represent the ruins of a former 

 rampart above of corresponding age; and the probable foundations of 

 such a rampart were seen in the westernmost cutting. 



In one of the cuttings made in 1913 to the S.S.E., which had 

 revealed previously hidden first and second ditches cut in the earth, 

 some curious features were then noted beneath the second rampart; 

 these called for further investigation when timber could be obtained to 

 make the deep excavation safe. This year the cutting was dug deeper, 

 with the result that below the artificially laid clay of the second rampart 

 another and an older wide ditch, partly cut in rock, was here also 

 brought to light ; this ditch was likewise found to be half filled with dry 

 fallen rubble mixed with a few larger wall-facing stones, again showing 

 the existence and the destruction of a stone rampart behind it of 

 approximately similar age. Unfortunately, no datable relics were 

 found in any of these earlier ditches or in connection with the earlier 

 wall-facings. 



To sum up the work done in 1914. In addition to the finding of 

 many relics and the gaining of further information about the occupation 

 of the stronghold in the fourth century a.d., many important fresh 

 discoveries have been made, which give glimpses of the structure of 

 a previously destroyed hill-fort or hill-forts. To follow up these dis- 

 coveries under huge masses of difficult and shifting stony debris, and to 

 link up the facts already obtained to one another, much labour will 

 have to be incurred. But the investigators are looking forward to 

 continuing the work after the cessation of the War. Detailed records 

 of excavations made in 1914 have been preserved, as before, in the 

 form of plans, sections, and photographs. 



II. 



Excavations at Wroxeter, on the Site of the Roman town of Uriconium, 

 1912-1914. By J. P. Bushe-Fox, F.S.A. 



The Society of Antiquaries, in conjunction with the Shropshire 

 Archaeological Society, carried on extensive excavations at Wroxeter 

 during the years 1912, 1913, and 1914. 



Wroxeter, the ancient Viroconium or Uriconium, is situated on the 

 east bank of the Severn, between five and six miles south-east of 

 Shrewsbury. The lines of its walls can still be traced enclosing an area 

 of about 170 acres, and the town must have been an important centre 

 in Eoman-Britain, as it stood at the junction of two of the main roads, 

 viz., the Watling Street from London and the south-east and the road 

 from the legionary fortress of Caerleon in South Wales. There were 

 also other roads running from it into Wales and to Chester. The 

 town is referred to by the Eavenna geographer as Viroconium Corno- 



