300 Inaugural Address by the President of the Society, 



so called because it ran across the angle of the Fore Drain, and 

 across the Dyke. Near the Mid Drain, to the west end of it, a 

 T-shaped hypocaust— a model of which was exhibited at the meeting 

 — built with flints and mortar, similar to those found at Woodcuts, 

 was discovered, and close to it an extended skeleton lay buried, with 

 the head to the east, in a grave 4ft. deep. It was surrounded by 

 several large iron nails, which had probably served to fasten a coffin 

 or shell, and a large Roman coin, which was afterwards identified 

 as Faustina, was found on the breast just under the chin. In the 

 north-west corner of the settlement, within the Boundary Drain, a 

 square enclosure was discovered, the faces being 105ft. by 115ft., 

 surrounded by a ditch 8ft. wide and 2ft. 4in. deep. Within the 

 enclosure were five graves, containing extended skeletons, in graves 

 about 4ft. 6in. deep. One of them — No. 15 — was buried 6ft. deep, 

 and had a bone comb resting on the left breast, and a small earthen- 

 ware pitcher with a handle at the feet, with several large nails 

 around it. These graves were all cut nearly in the same direction, and 

 might possibly, in this case, have been dug with a view to orientation, 

 being within a few degrees of the east-and-west line, but they were 

 nearly parallel to the sides of the enclosure, which may have given 

 them their direction. The use of this square enclosure was not 

 ascertained ; the number of graves was scarcely sufficient to warrant 

 its being set down as a cemetery. The east face of this square was 

 the only part in the whole settlement which showed any trace on 

 the surface, before excavation. The East Drain ran from the 

 Salisbury Road in a north-west direction, and on approaching the 

 Roman Road turned and ran parallel to it, crossing the Boundary 

 Drain, and running on beyond it, down hill. It contained three 

 skeletons, on the bottom of the drain, buried extended (like those 

 of Woodcuts and Rotherley) in the direction of the drain, with the 

 heads in this case to the north. This and the Cross Drain, and the 

 Roman Road Drain on the west side, suggest, from their parallelism 

 to the road, that they must have been made subsequently to it, 

 because the road approaches the settlement without a turn, having 

 run in a straight line from Sorbioduuum, and as it did not adapt 

 itself to the drains, the drains must have taken their course from it. 



