A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



angle ; a piece about 400 ft. long and in parts 7 ft. to 8 ft. high along the 

 course of the wall on the south side in the Verulam Woods and some five 

 small pieces in the west wall in the same woods ; a piece 58 ft. long and of 

 varying height in a field to the north of Blue House Hill Lane ; and 

 Gorhambury block on the west side of Gorhambury Drive 125 ft. long 

 and I oft. high. The foundations of a bastion are said to have been found 

 in the Verulam Woods on the southern section of the wall, but otherwise 

 no evidence of bastions has been discovered. 



There were apparently four city gates. The principal of these pro- 

 bably was that by which Watling Street entered the town from the south, 

 at the north-east end of the Verulam Woods where the causeway over the 

 fosse is clearly marked. The road from the south-west entered the town by 

 a gateway between the footpath from King Harry Lane to St. Michael's 

 Church and Blue House Hill, where again the causeway to the gate can be 

 seen in the meadow here." The gate by which Watling Street left the 

 town in its north-westerly direction is not exactly known, but it was 

 apparently on the site of the present road to Gorhambury at Gorham block. 

 The site of the gateway by which the road to Colchester on the north-east 

 left the town is also uncertain, but it was probably near the point where 

 St. Michael's Street crosses the line of the Roman wall. Dr. Stukeley in 

 his plan of Verulamium gives a fifth gate at the south angle of the wall and 

 Mr. Grover follows him in his plan,°° but an examination of the site seems 

 to show nothing to indicate this. 



Within the town no Roman masonry remains above ground and little 

 systematic excavation has been undertaken to disclose what lies below the 

 surface. Sufficient, however, has come to light to suggest that like other 

 Roman towns it was laid out with streets about 18 ft. wide intersecting 

 each other at right angles." The principal buildings of which at present 

 we have evidence lie in the middle of the town. Of these that which may 

 perhaps with some confidence be called the forum is in the garden and 

 glebe of St. Michael's vicarage. To the north-west a little way along the 

 Gorhambury Drive on the south side stood the theatre. Fragments of the 

 foundations of other buildings and tessellated pavements have from time to 

 time been discovered, but have been planned or described in a manner that 

 is of little service to the archaeological student. 



The partial excavation of the forum of Verulamium (Pl.iv) was undertaken 

 by the writer of this article and the Rev. C. V. Bicknell at intervals between 

 1898 and 1902.'* The site had evidently been built upon before the forum 

 was erected, as it was found that part of the wall of a masonry building at a 

 lower level was cut through by the corridor on the south-west side, showing 



*• Dr. Stukeley notes in his plan of 1721 that the gate was 'formerly visible,' and Mr. Grover states 

 on his plan that the gate v^as visible in 1700 {Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvi, 48 and plan). Excavations 

 were made in 1895 by the author on the spot shown in Mr. Grover's plan, and it was found that the wall 

 had here been grubbed up and it appeared that the gateway was westward where there were indications of 

 the causeway over the ditch. 



^' Vetusta Monum. i ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvi, 44—5, plan. 



"' Mr. J. W. Grover in his plan of the Roman town shows the intersections of the street at acute 

 angles {Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvi, 45), but the excavation on the site of the forum indicated the usual 

 plan of intersection at right angles. 



'*' For the fuller account of these excavations aee Reports by W. Page in Trans. St. Albans Arch. Soc. 

 1899-1902. 



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