The Roman Villa at Box. 



237 



one of its corners. It had a wide ornamental border of no remarkable beauty, 

 but what I particularly recollect (the few moments I had opportunity of 

 seeing it) was that there were evident effects of repeated fires having been 

 made apparently about the middle of the square ; for the tesserse toward the 

 centre were burnt from their original colours to a brick red, and the redness 

 diminished in intensity as it approached the border, near which the colours 

 were again all perfect. This pavement must have been discovered when the 

 old building was erected, for it appeared to run under its foundation, and if 

 so the remainder must have been then destroyed. The portion of it lately 

 found, however, was considered worthy of preservation, and has been, it is 

 hoped, safely secured from injury by means of large flag-stones carefully 

 placed over it." 



This letter was followed in 1833 by a further notice in the same 

 magazine (p. 357) from the hand of the Eev. George Mullins, Rector 

 of Ditteridge, who lived at Box, in the house now called " The 

 Wilderness " : — 



" In the supplement to the first part of your vol. ci., p. 596, a correspondent 

 in speaking of the antiquities of the village of Box, mentions the existence of 

 some Koman remains in my garden. The discovery which he alludes to was 

 that of a tesselated pavement found there a few years ago. I believe that 

 until that discovery no site of Koman remains could be pointed out in the 

 village, although tradition spoke of their existence. I have now to announce 

 a further and more important discovery, which has taken place within the 

 present year. In excavating some earth at the distance of forty-three yards 

 north from the pavement before alluded to, evident traces of another, but 

 in a state of destruction, presented themselves ; and in a line leading from 

 this immediately to the former I found seven stone pillars, of rough work- 

 manship, and near them an altar-like erection, consisting of several stones, 

 and a piece of stone of a semi-circular shape, about a foot across and eight 

 inches thick, partially excavated on each side as if for the purpose of holding 

 something. This stone bears evident traces of fire. Distant twenty-eight 

 yards to the west are the mutilated remains of a tesselated pavement of 

 blue stones, ornamented with two red borders, the tesserae nearly an inch 

 square, and the blue stones entirely decomposed. This pavement in its 

 original state must have been at least 10 or 12 feet square. The remains of 

 a wall on the south side were covered with several flues, made of whole 

 bricks, supported by iron cramps ; and underneath the bed on which the 

 pavement was laid, made of coarse gravel and mortar, were large flags, 

 supported by pillars of stone forming a regular hypocaust. The discovery of 

 this pavement induced me to make an opening at a point where I might 

 conjecture from the direction of the hypocaust where remains would be found ; 

 at a depth of 4 feet below the surface of the earth 1 discovered a third 

 tesselated pavement, very nearly perfect, apparently forming a passage 

 from some other part of the building. It is 9 feet wide and 28 feet long, and 

 turns at a right angle 6 feet, where it is broken up ; but it evidently extended 

 much further in both directions. In one corner is a curious stone cut in 



