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In the same field, Caer Gwyrfil ( Milwyr, i.e., soldiers' field), there was formerly a large sepulchral mound, full of bones, that was carted away a few years before 1878 as compost for the fields.'

The Manchester and Milford Railway passes through a part of the station, and, as it was being made in 1865, a good many fragments of pottery are said to have been discovered; one large perfect vessel was found, but was taken away by the sub-contractor to adorn his London house. Although I have made such inquiries as I could about it, I have never been able to trace it.

Except a small silver coin found in 1886 (which stranger took possession of and carried away), the finding of fragments of brick now and then, and when ploughing for potatoes (when the ground is ploughed much deeper than usual) the turning up large stones, I have been unable to ascertain that anything of importance has been discovered until the spring of

1887.

Adjoining Caer Castell to the east, but at a much lower level in the flat towards the river, is a field, at the lower end of which are the traces of at least three buildings, and it is in one of these the one to the east, nearest the garden of the farmhouse-that the excavations were made, in the spring of 1887, by Mr. Lloyd Williams. He has kindly supplied me with the following account of his proceedings:

"Operations were begun on an oval-shaped mound, situated in a marshy field below the farm-buildings. Mr. Jones, of Llanio Vawr, mentioned that this mound had been pointed out to him, by a party of the Cambrian archæologists who visited Llanio during the Lampeter Meeting of 1878, as the probable position of a bath in some way connected with the Roman camp on Caer Castell. Several cuttings were made across

1 Arch. Camb., 4th Ser., vol. ix, p. 353.

the narrower end, in the hope of coming to a wall, but nothing was turned up, with the exception of some loose stones and broken bricks, among the latter of which, however, was found a small portion of what appears to have been an earthenware vessel. Further search in another direction resulted in the discovery of a wall about three feet thick, and by following this a cross-wall was reached extending at right angles either way. By working along the walls a room was eventually traced out; oyster-shells and pieces of iron, T-shaped, used probably to fix the tiling, were found along this part, and here and there bones, some of which are pronounced to be human remains. It was decided, on discovering this room, that for the present the work should be confined to clearing out the space within its four walls. This occupied several days, and the materials found inside give indications of there having been a great downfall of masonry, etc., at some time or other. Most of the brickwork within two feet of the surface was completely shattered, and it was difficult at first to establish any conjecture as to the nature of the building; but a careful removal of the soil leaves little doubt that it formed part of a heating arrangement or hypocaust, constructed, as far as can be made out, somewhat as follows: the lowest portion of the ground floor is laid in large bricks; over this a pavement of rough stones, placed on end and embedded in clay, on which are supported short pillars about seven inches high. The pillars, formed of flat bricks, are almost a foot apart, running in parallel lines about nine deep. In the space between the pillars were broken portions of flue-tiles, that is, square brick troughs of baked clay with holes, in some cases one, in others two, on opposite sides. A few of them are preserved in good condition. Large quantities of soot were also distinctly traceable. The large slabs which abound in the débris, and which show signs of great exposure to heat, must have rested on the pillars, and the masses of concrete lying about in all directions were probably laid over all.”

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Mr. Lloyd Williams, in a letter to me, adds:

"The pillars are nine deep, and about one foot apart; but I am uncertain about the number of parallel rows, and I am inclined to think there must have been a passage at one end, most probably the one due west in the drawing. The sketch gives a good idea of the apartment as it stands, so I send it, and will get its accuracy more fully tested.

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"In addition to what I mentioned, a small piece of polished marble was discovered, and some stone resembling Bath, showing signs of workmanship. have with me the best specimens of what may be picked up in plenty on the spot; but what I have is, perhaps, in a better state of preservation."

What I found on examining the spot about six weeks after the excavations were finished was a room 18 by 20 feet (inside measure). At about 18 inches from the surface there was a wall of rough stones (slate flags they would be called now); it is the local stone of the district. This wall came to within a few inches of the surface at some points, but was nowhere more than 18 inches below it. The wall would have been about 3 feet high. In the west side there were two openings at each end about 5 feet wide, the one on the north being level with the floor. That on the south was not excavated to the floor. There was also I was un

a similar opening in the north-east corner. able to measure the thickness of the walls (except at the north-east corner, where the wall was 4 feet thick), as the soil that had been excavated was thrown out too close to the walls. The south side wall was carried on for some little distance (10 feet or so) beyond the south wall of the room; but the excavation had not been sufficiently carried out to show if there was another room to the south, or why the wall was so carried on. The floor of the room is formed of large red bricks or flooring-tiles; those I measured were 20 by 17 inches, and some were very light, and others exceptionally heavy. On some of them there was a

circular pattern. I did not find any fitted so as to see if the circle was made into any pattern on the floor. Some of these tiles were in situ. On this floor were placed bricks about 16 to 18 inches apart, which carried a row of slate slabs similar to those that formed the walls, but not so thick; on this came a layer of concrete about 8 to 10 inches thick, comprised of fragments of brick and lime. Both these

materials must have come from a distance, as now all the lime required for agricultural purposes is brought by railway, and before the railways were made it had to be brought by ponies or in carts from the Black Mountain, on the other side of Carmarthenshire, a distance of over thirty miles. There is no brick nor soil for making brick in the neighbourhood; the nearest brick-works now in use are some distance away, below Llanbyther. On the top of the concrete came the flue-tiles made of clay. I did not, unfortunately, see them in situ, so cannot say how they were placed. Then came a layer of mortar, a mixture of lime and the river-sand, probably from the Teifi, and on that a tiled floor. I must state that I did not see the room when it was excavated, and I have taken my description from the remains I found at my visit. Some of the stone flags are still fixed in the concrete, and the flue-pipes have marks of concrete on the one side and mortar on the other, and some of the tiles have mortar on them. The bricks are standing on the tiles, and are said to be in the same place as found. On the west side there are still some remains of the tiles, bricks, stone flags, and concrete in situ. The walls of the room, which would be below the tiled floor, are very rough, and are made of the local flag-stones and mortar. It would seem that

the stone-flags were let into them, as at places they are broken off, with the ends still remaining in the walls.

1 See similar design on tile found in London. (Wright, The Celt, the Roman, and the Saron, p. 156.)

5TH SER., VOL. V.

22

The tiles forming the lower floor have previously been mentioned. They are red clay tiles with two marks, one, the most usual, the circle already described. A fragment of one of them has a double circle. Most of these tiles remain in situ; only a few appear to have been removed. On fragments of some that are lying about is a hook-shaped mark; but this is far less common than the circular mark.

On the next sized tiles, those that rested on the flooring-tiles and carried the bricks, I could find no mark at all. They were slightly depressed towards the centre, and in the hollow the mortar seems to have been placed. The bricks had several patterns, of which the circle before mentioned was by far the most common. One had the circle and a line crossing it, making a rude cross. Some of the others had a mark like a §; but the greater part of these had no mark upon them.

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The flue-tiles were of various sizes, and of two distinct kinds; one made of red and the other of a yellowish clay; but neither of these kinds of clay are to be found within some miles of the place. The tiles were generally of a uniform width of about 5 inches inside, but some were narrowed to about 2 inches at the one end. I only saw one piece of a flue in anything like its original state, and this was about 2 feet long.2

Some few of the tiles had some rough marks on them, a sort of rough cross-pattern; this was, however, the exception; most of them had nothing.s

1 See a similar one in The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, p. 155. 2 Subsequently taken away by Mr. Rogers of Abermeurig.

3 Wright, in The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, pp. 155, 156, gives figures of tiles from Dover (Dubris) which are of the same shape, and similar to these tiles. A flanged tile figured on p. 156 has the circular mark referred to above. This tile came from London. He adds that tiles from South Wales have the inscription, LEG II AVG (Legio 2a Augusta). None with this mark have as yet been found at Llanio. The cross-work and the cross are figured, pp. 154, 155, as being marked on the facing of the stone of Hadrian's

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