292 



On the Materials of Roman Querns. 



6. Pudding-stones. From the Conglomerates of the Old-red- 

 sandstone. 



7. Red and Grey Stones. From the Old-red-sandstones. 



8. Sandstone. From Primary rocks. 



From these sources they were distributed throughout the 

 country, and as they were articles of general use, the traffic in 

 them must have been considerable. 



1. Sarsen-stone Querns. The stone from which these were 

 made is an exceeding hard sandstone, of which the " grey- wethers " 

 and the huge blocks of the Avebury Circles are examples. This 

 rock though found bouldered into Gloucestershire, northwards, is 

 yet a peculiar feature in the geology of Wiltshire, and one well 

 worthy of greater attention from the geologist than it has yet 

 received. 



I have only found one example of a quern made of this stone ; 1 

 it was found on the farm of the Agricultural College at Ciren- 

 cester, having been turned up by the plough in an arable field, in 

 which I had previously observed evidence of Roman occupation, 

 besides finding the remains of a Roman Villa in another field on 

 the same farm. Both sites are a little removed from the Acman 

 Street, about one-and-a-half miles from Corinium. 



2. Hone-stone. The Upper-green-sandstone is a hard, sharp, 

 gritstone, much used even in the present day for scythe rubbers, 

 and rough hones. 



My friend Mr. Cunnington tells me that he has obtained several 

 querns made from this rock, and I fancy that I detected some two 

 or three among the remains of Wroxeter ; but as far as I know, 

 Corinium has not yielded a single example of this kind. This is 

 rather curious, considering its proximity to Wiltshire, where the 

 Upper-green-sand abounds. Still the principal supply of querns 

 would appear to have been brought to Corinium from the west side 

 of the Severn, for other products as iron ore, for smelting with 

 the wood of the Cotteswold, red oxide of iron for coloring, and 

 probably zinc and pottery were brought from the Forest-of-Dean. 



3. 4, and 5. The Sandstone and Gritstone Querns from these 

 1 This specimen is now in the possession of Mr. Cunnington, Devizes. 



