485 
circular attrition. In the central hole was a piece of iron 
much corroded. 
It can scarcely be doubted that this has been an ancient 
quern or hand-mill. The earthen vessel is of imperfectly 
baked clay, shewing in its interior some marks of having 
been rounded into form at its base by a hand instrument, but 
on the exterior it is perfectly void of ornament, giving no in- 
dication of having been subjected to the potter's wheel, being 
also unsymmetrical in form. The fragment of glazed pottery 
presents on its outside several star-like marks, which have 
been impressed upon the soft clay by a hard material. The 
exterior is also glazed over with a pale green vitreous 
substance. The question here arises, have these works of 
Man been modern insertions into this ancient bed of clay, or 
were they co-eval with the deposit itself? Not being an 
antiquary I am unable to decide ; but I feel called upon to 
say that these relics have been seen by several antiquaries ; 
amongst whom I may mention Mr. James Wardell, of Leeds, 
by whose antiquarian zeal has been brought together 
one of the finest private collections of English antiquities. 
The general opinion of these parties is, that these 
relics are of Roman, or even of Anglo-Saxon date. Should 
this prove true, these works of man must have been in some 
way or other introduced to the depth of five feet in the bed 
of clay without any observable trace of disturbance of the 
bed having been left. Now although I think it probable that 
our antiquarian friends may be right, yet they have failed to 
give me any reasons which satisfy me that, of necessity, 
these works of man are not of earlier than Roman date 
in this country. The quern is said by some parties to be 
Roman, because the instrument known by this name was in 
extensive use in the Roman armies. The iron found along" 
with it is also said to stamp it as Roman, since, as it is 
alleged, implements of iron in Britain were chiefly of 
