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VII.—Excavations at Gaerwent, Monmouthshire, on the Site of the 'Romano-British City of Venta Silurum, in the year 1905. By T. ASHBY, Jun., Esq., D.Litt,, F.8.A. Read 17th May, 1906. I.—THE SOUTH GATE. THE South Gate could not be excavated in 1904 at the time when Houses Nos. X-XIII were laid bare, owing to the existence of a fine walnut tree which it was then impossible to remove. Permission to cut down the tree was, however, kindly given by the trustees of the late Mr. John Lysaght, in 1905, and the uncovering of the South Gate was therefore the first piece of work undertaken in that year. The South Gate is closely similar in plan and in measurements to the North Gate,a with a single opening, and internal and external arches with a flat- roofed space between them; but it exhibits this difference, that the piers are not flush with the wall outside, but project considerably from it, while the projection inwards is not so great as in the case of the North Gate. The plans, elevations, and sections, which are here published together for comparison (figs. 1, 2), will .make this clear. The filling is far more systematic, and does not show that evidence of haste and of the use of the first materials that came to hand, which may be seen in the case of the North Gate. It is, on the contrary, well mortared a Archaeologia, lix. 87-97. VOL. LX. T Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 112 Excavations at Gaerwent, Monmouthshire. in, and well faced on the inside with small stones, like those used on the outside of the city wall.a The filling is traversed by a box drain, 1 foot 3 inches in width and 1 foot SECTION AB ELEVATION SOUTH GATE: CAERWENT SCftLt Fig. 1. 9 inches in height, roofed with large covering slabs, which runs slightly askew to the axis of the gate. It must have been left for the drainage of the accumulation a From the evidence of coins it must be attributed, at earliest, to the time of Valentinian I., one of whose coins was found 4 feet below grass level, 12 feet north of the east pier of the gate. A coin of Helena was also found here, and one of Constantine the Great, 7 feet below grass level, 5 feet north of the west pier; and on the road level, 15 feet north of this pier, a coin with the legend UEBS ROMA. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 Excavations at Gaerwent, Monmouthshire. 113 of eartha which was formed after the gate had been filled in, but it is curious that no definite drain channel leading to it could be found, though there was some darker soil in front of it. Its floor is the roadway which passed through the gate, 5 feet 8^ inches below the bottom of the impost. This roadway has a bed of stones, with iron slag and clinkers intermixed, 1 foot 5 inches thick, and then hard marly stuff with stones for 5 inches more.b Where it rests on the mound (see NORTH GATE - OVERWENT- . 2. below) it is only 1 foot 6 inches thick. It falls 7 inches in passing through the gateway, as measured through the upper drain. , Below the roadway is another drain, also a box drain, 1 foot 7 inches high and 11 inches wide, which again cannot be traced further north; and, though it tl In this accumulation (no doubt rubbish thrown in) a considerable number of small whelk, oyster, and mussel shells were found, also some charcoal, some of the earth showing traces of burning. b It was no doubt this layer that was taken to be an " earlier road level " in 1904. (Archaeo- logia, lix. 310.) T 2 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 114 Excavations at Caerwent, Monmouthshire. was right under the solid roadbed, i.e. it had not been touched when the gate was filled, a flat slab of stone was found blocking it up at the north end. The earth in it was examined, but was not found to contain anything of importance. The South Grate occupied the same position as an earlier opening in the enceinte formed by the mound. This is clear from the discovery, on the west side of the road, of the extremity of the mound sloping away in all directions. Fig. 3. External view of the South Gate. A clearing across the roadway in front of the drain produced four second brasses, one of Commodus (not very fresh), the rest illegible, and the slope of the mound was apparently reached under the road. This was also seen 4 feet 3 inches below the footing of the west pier, going under the wall, and this would correspond with the slope of the extremity of it, on the west of the road a little further north. Attempts to find it outside the gate, however, were unsuccessful. The road cannot be traced either, as the field has been brought down to well below the Roman level, the foundations of the wall being Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 Excavations at Oaerwent, Monmouthshire. 115 exposed. The soil has probably gone to fill the ditch, which we may presume to have existed on this side also. The pointing is good in the east pier at the top, but nowhere else. The rest of the pier, and the whole of the west pier, are somewhat roughly constructed. The imposts are in two parts, which, on the west pier, do not correspond perfectly with one another. The lower blocks of each pier are large, and show slight " rustication," and there appear to be traces of axle marks upon them on the inner side. F"ig. 4. Internal view of the South Gate. It must be noted that the imposts stop flush with the outer angles of the piers, and their mouldings are not continued round the outer sides, and that the angles where the piers join the wall are quite rough, especially on the west side. This is due to the fact that the city wall was an embanking wall, and did not stand free on the inside ; and the same state of things may be observed at the North Gate. The profile of the bank of red earth which comes against it may be clearly seen on each side of the gate, and is marked by a layer of black earth Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 116 Excavations at Gaerwent, Monmouthshire. above it. (Fig- 5.) It terminates somewhat abruptly in a little bank towards the road, which, like those passing out of the other gates, must have run through a kind of cutting, owing to the fact that the level within the walls was (and is) considerably higher than outside. The loose voussoirs from the inner arch were all found fairly high up, a fact which seems to indicate that this arch had collapsed comparatively recently, Section west of South Gate. Section on east of South Gate. Fig. 5. and had been much damaged when the walnut tree was put in (about 70 years ago, perhaps), for no less than 16 voussoirs were found in its roots. The outer arch, on the other hand, had probably fallen long before, with the piers which supported it." a A worn halfpenny of George III. dated 1805 was found 2 feet below grass leveJ under the tree. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Cambridge, on 01 Apr 2018 at 22:43:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900009371 Excavations at Caerwent, Monmouthshire. 117 By the west pier, 1 foot below the top of the impost, was found a small altar of sandstone 1 foot 6 inches by 8 by 7^ inches, without inscription. (Plate XVIII. fig. 1.) Two feet below the grass level, and 4 feet to the north of the pier, a sandstone block with moulding, measuring 1 foot 10 inches by 1 foot 6 inches by 6^ inches thick, was found. (Plate XVIII. fig. 4.) Some way further north, 2 feet 6 inches down, another block 1 foot 10 inches by 1 foot 6 inches by 1\ inches thick, but with a different moulding, was found. (Plate XVIII. fig. 8.) Both these may have come from the upper part of the gate, and to this would also belong the roofing tiles, mostly of old red sandstone, which have been found in the course of the excavations.

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