250 



The Roman Villa at Box. 



formed of stones having a sunk channelled bottom, about 6 inches 

 across by 4 inches deep, covered with flat stones and pieces of tile. 



A considerable quantity of wall plaster painted yellow was found 

 in this room. 



Beneath the walls running north and south, of this and the last 

 chamber described, are large blocks of foundation, like buttresses, 

 but set irregularly against the north wall of the chambers, for 

 what purpose it is impossible to say. 



Chamber VIII. a. occupies the space between chamber VIII. 

 and the court, and from the evidence of the drain, already described, 

 leading from this chamber, it is supposed to have been used for 

 necessary convenience. 



Chamber IX. was a passage 4J feet wide connecting the court 

 with the passage on the north side the buildings. It retained its 

 east wall, over 12 inches in height, and a portion of the west wall 

 remained above the floor-level. In the latter were probably 

 openings leading to chambers VIII. and VIII. a. 



The pavement remained tolerably perfect and was composed of 

 large tesserae in alternate squares of buff oolite and chocolate- 

 coloured Pennant, 13 inches wide, within a buff border. It showed 

 signs of fire in places. 



Chamber X. was 20 feet from east to west, and formed the angle 

 between the chambers on the north and east sides of the court, 

 but was considerably altered in later Eoman times. 



It apparently was without a hypocaust originally, but one was 

 inserted with a stoke-hole at the north-east angle at the time of 

 the later enlargement. In this hypocaust the pilse are of different 

 shape from the others, being roughly -hewn blocks of stone with 

 slightly hollowed sides, of which twenty- three remained in position. 

 A flue tile set horizontally remained in the south-west angle. 



Part of this hypocaust was opened in 1833, when Mr. Mullins 

 " found seven stone pillars of rough workmanship and near them 

 an altar-like erection consisting of several stones and a piece of 

 stone of semi-circular shape about 1 foot across and 8 inches thick 



