252 



The Roman Villa at Box. 



It retained a small portion of the walls in the north-east angle 

 above the floor-level. 



A fragment of pavement of small red, blue, and white tesserae 

 existed towards its west end with a considerable piece of a buff 

 border. 



At its east end was a drain constructed with wide stone bottom 

 having a channel 12 inches wide and 4 inches deep worked in it. 

 The drain returned at slightly more than a right-angle, 3 feet from 

 the north wall of the chamber, in an easterly direction. 



In this chamber was found in 1898 a small perfectly plain altar 

 measuring 22 J inches high by about 10 inches square. All traces 

 of an inscription, if such ever existed, had been weathered or 

 cut away. 1 



Chamber XVI. was a small lobby about 8 feet by 9 feet, from 

 north to south. It retained its north wall above floor-level showing 

 it had no connection with chamber XXI., unless the doorway had 

 a raised sill. 



The floor has left a fragment of its border of cream tesserae, 

 against the north wall, which was 7 inches higher than that in 

 chamber XV. 



Chamber XVII. was apparently approached from the last, and 

 formed a passage leading to that part of the villa opened in 1881, 

 of which more later. 



Chamber XVIII. was about 20|- feet long by 11 feet wide. It 

 had a wall 4 feet thick on the north side. 



The floor was covered with small tesserae which had apparently 

 been removed at some time, the mortar bed upon which they 

 rested being quite perfect and retained a few odd tesserae in situ. 



To the south of this chamber, judging by the dimensions given 

 by Mr. Mullins in 1833, must have been the pavement discovered 

 in 1831, "in making some additions to a very old building the 

 workman in sinking for a foundation struck upon the mutilated 



1 This altar has been presented by Mr. Hardy to the Devizes Museum. 



