Ifalmesbury. 



15 



the town itself. Roman pedigrees lie underground. It is not 



t enough merely to pick up a coin or two, because money may have 

 been dropped anywhere. You must put the spade into the garden 

 a little deeper than usual, find a mosaic pavement or a bath, and 



j then you may claim to be the successors of Roman householders. 

 There is, it is true, the Foss road, running about two miles north 

 of the town : and as the Foss is generally supposed to have been 

 made by the Romans, it may be said that if there was a Bladon 

 here before their time, probably there was a Bladonia here during 

 their time. Not impossible ; but first of all, is it quite certain that 

 the Foss was made by the Romans ? It is doubtful, and the 

 reasons are these. First, the Roman Road-books have come down 



. to us, and in them there is no mention of the Foss. Again : in 

 one most important particular, the Foss (at least in our part of it) 

 bears very little resemblance to what we are told about roads made 



! by the Romans. We are told that such roads were most excellent, 

 made with very great care. This can hardly be said of the Foss. 



i It may be, or it may have been, better in other parts, but between 

 Easton Grey and Bath, the only parts that have ever been made 



| road at all are those which, happening to fall in with our village 

 lanes, do now and then get modern parish-repair such as it is. In 

 some parts, as for instance, at what is called the "Gib gate" 1 going 

 down towards Castle Combe, this road is so narrow, that if two 

 carts meet, one or other must go back. Along miles of it, the 

 original soil has never been taken off at all, but there is the natural 

 clay or rock, which neither pickaxe nor spade has ever disturbed. 



The Foss has one strong Roman feature, viz., that it runs quite 

 straight. That was a point of importance with them, one of their 



i chief objects being to bring up troops with rapidity from a distance. 



II They undoubtedly used the road, but it is not quite certain that 



1 they made it. If they did make it, it was probably during the last 

 days of their occupation of this county, which would explain why 



-I its name is not mentioned in their Itineraries, or Road-books. 



J The Foss does not seem to have studied the convenience of 



J] 1 Close to this turnpike gate is a public-house formerly called " Gibraltar," 

 ■ probably from having that fortress for its " Sign." 



