| 170 | L O N | |
" To this height the workmanship was
" after the Roman manner, and these
" were the remains of the ancient wall.
" In this it was very observable, that the
" mortar was so very firm and hard, that
" the stone itself as easily broke. It was
" thus far, from the foundation upwards,
" nine feet in thickness. The above
" broad thin bricks were all of Roman
" make, and of the very sort we learn
" from Pliny, that were in common use
" among the Romans. Measuring some
" of these (says Mr. Woodward) I found
" them seventeen inches and four tenths
" in thickness, and eleven inches and six
" tenths in breadth.
" The old wall, on its being repaired,
" was carried up of the same thickness to
" eight or nine feet in height; or if high-
" er, there was no more of that work
" now standing. All this was apparently
" additional, and of a make later than
" the other part underneath it, which
" was levelled and brought to a plane for
" the raising of this new work upon it.
" The outside, or that towards the sub-
" urbs, was faced with a coarse sort of
" stone, not compiled with any great
" care or skill, nor disposed into a regular
" method; but on the inside there ap-
" peared more marks of workmanship
|
| | " and |
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| L O N | 171 |
" and art. At the bottom were five
" layers composed of flint and free stone;
" though they were not so in all parts,
" yet in some the squares were near
" equal, about five inches diameter, and
" ranged in a quincunx order. Over
" these were a layer of brick, then of
" hewn free stone, and so alternately
" brick and stone to the top. These
" bricks, of which there were four courses,
" were of the shape of those now in use,
" but much larger, being near eleven
" inches in length, five in breadth, and
" somewhat above two and a half in thick-
" ness. There was not one of the Ro-
" man bricks above mentioned in all this
" part, nor was the mortar here near so
" hard, as in that below; but from the
" description may be easily collected, that
" this part when first made, with so va-
" rious and orderly a disposition of the
" materials, flint, stone, and brick, could
" not but carry a very handsome aspect.
" Whether this was done at the expence
" of the Barons in the reign of King
" John; or of the citizens in the reign
" of King Henry III. or of King Richard
" II. or at what other time, I cannot
" take upon me to ascertain, from ac-
" counts so defective and obscure as are
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| | " those |
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