3G On Roman 'Remains found at Ilolbury, near Bean. 



was occupied four days in the month of March in last year, and which 

 resulted in the discovery of at least a cart-load of broken pottery, 

 the whole of which I have preserved in my parochial museum at 

 "West Dean. Judging from the number of bases and sp on, there 

 must have been fragments of more than a thousand separate vessels, 

 a fair proportion of entire and uninjured ones being found among 

 them. The question at once arose, to what were we to attribute 

 this vast collection ? The quantity of the debris, the occurrence of 

 unbroken amongst the broken vessels, the absence of all accompany- 

 ing relics of human habitation, not a single bone, oyster shell, or 

 other similar article (with the exception of a few coins and a small 

 bronze object, to be hereafter described,) being discovered amongst 

 the fragments, seemed to point to a manufactory rather than a 

 dwelling. On the other hand, the nature of the soil — a deep bed 

 of yellow sand — affording no possible material for the purpose, the 

 situation of the spot — upon the edge of an artificial military em- 

 bankment — and the fact that all the vessels, whether fragmentary 

 or entire, bore marks of long wear and usage, gave conclusive 

 evidence, we thought, in favor of another conjecture, that the place 

 was the rubbish-hole of a great Roman Camp, and that the presence 

 of uninjured vessels amongst the broken ones might be explained, 

 perhaps, upon the supposition that they were purposely hidden, upon 

 some sudden break-up of the encampment, with a view to their 

 possible recovery at a future time. Upon this point, however, as 

 upon some others connected with this investigation, I shall be 

 grateful for such suggestions or corrections as the superior know- 

 ledge of any member of our Society may enable him to afford. 



Some of the best specimens of the pottery are before you. They 

 are of at least four kinds of clay, ranging from the coarse brown 

 unglazed jars used for culinary purposes, to the so-called Samian 

 ware ; this last, however, as is usually the case, in fragments, and 

 with the edges much abraded. Of intermediate kinds, some are of 

 a light sand-colour, unglazed, and very porous ; others of a harder 

 clay not unlike that of which blacking-bottles are made ; and others 

 again of a more fragile nature, and of a reddish colour. 



The coarser vessels consist chiefly of ollse or jars, used for cooking 



