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Show 198 BliHIAL OF 'l'HE REMAINS CHAP. IV. encountered some remains.* But subsequently the tops of some stone walls were detected in parts of the wood, projecting a little above the surface of the ground~ Most of the coins found here belonged to Constans (who died 350 A.D.) and the Constantine family. My sons Francis and _ Horace visited the place in November 1877, for the sake of ascertaining what part worms may have played in the burial of these extensive remains. But the circumstances were not favourable for this object, as the ruins are surrounded on three sides by rather steep banks, down which earth is washed during rainy weather. Moreover most of the old rooms have been covered with roofs, for the protection of the elegant tesselated pavements. A few facts may, however, be given on the thickness of the soil over these ruins. Close outside the northern rooms there is a broken wall, the summit of which was covered by 5 * Several accounts of these ruins have been published; the be~St is by Mr. James Farrer in 'Proc. Soc. of Antiquaries of Scotland,' vol. vi., Part II., 1867, p. 278. Also J. W. Grover, 'Journal of tl1e British Arch. Assoc.' Juno 1866. Pr o fcs~o r Duckman hns likewise published a pamphlet, 'Notes on the Roman Villa at Chedworth,' 2nd edit. 1873: Cirencester. CHAP. IV. OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. 199 inches of black mould; and in a hole dug on the outer side of this wall, where the ground had never before been disturbed, black mould, full of stones, 26 inches in thickness, was found, resting on the undisturbed sub-soil of yellow clay. At a depth of 22 inches fi:·om the surface a pig's jaw and a fragment of a tile were found. When the excavations were first made, son1e large trees grew over the ruins; and the stump of one has been . left directly over a party-wall near the bath room, · for the sake of showing the thickness of the superincumbent soil, which was here 38 inches. In one small room, which, after being cleared out, had not been roofed over, my sons observed the hole of a worm passing through the rotten concrete, and a living worrn was found within the concrete. In another open room worm-castings were seen on the floor, over which some earth had by this means been deposited, and here grass now grew. Brading, Isle of Wigltt.-.A. fine Roman villa was discovered here in 1880 ; and by the end of October no less than 18 chambers had been more or less cleared. A coin dated |