DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22272#0067
THE ANTONINE WALL REPORT.
4!)
the foot of the eastmost or first ridge of the hill. . The ground
immediately adjoining is flat to east and west, but has a very
apparent descending slope from south to north. The cutting is
shallow, because the vallum has long disappeared from outward
view through the operations of agriculture. One foot below the
surface, the kerbs are found. In this, as in all subsequent
measurements of the cutting of the vallum, the mode adopted is
to take the distance from the present grassy surface on the
centre of the vallum (usually the highest point of its external
convex curve) to the line of the top of the stone bottoming
below. The kerbs are here of squared freestone, averaging
13 inches long by 13 inches broad and 8 inches deep. One row of
these kerbs forms the north face of the stone base of the vallum.
The other row of kerbs forms the south face of the stone base.
Between them is the stone bottoming falling next to be described.
From the face of the north row of kerbs to the face of the
south row of the kerbs—these points being the limits of the stone
base—the distance is 14 feet. Between the kerbs, the bottoming
is of rough promiscuous stones, various in size. Among them
one doleritic block lies in situ, rising a few inches higher than
the level of the kerbs. The stone base thus composed of two
rows of squared freestone kerbs, with rough stone bottoming
between, is laid on a reddish clayey soil, full of stones. There is
almost nothing of the vallum left above the base, but in what
there is, the soil is sandy, with some intermixture of red earth
and a kind of whitish sand, along with patches of a marly
substance or whitish clay. The layering is not here prominent,
as there is so little of the earthen part of the vallum left
standing. There is, however, one deep black line, although it is
broken and fragmentary. It follows with some regularity the
uneven stone surface of the base, and rests at some points on the
stone. There is no sign of protraction of this line beyond the
kerb on either side, or of any lamination in the earth beyond the
kerbs. The berm, or broad platform between the foot of the
rampart and the side of the ditch, is, when measured from
the north kerb to the present edge of the scarp, 20 feet
wide. The fosse is filled up nearly to the brim. The
present depth of it, measured from a straight line joining the
D
4!)
the foot of the eastmost or first ridge of the hill. . The ground
immediately adjoining is flat to east and west, but has a very
apparent descending slope from south to north. The cutting is
shallow, because the vallum has long disappeared from outward
view through the operations of agriculture. One foot below the
surface, the kerbs are found. In this, as in all subsequent
measurements of the cutting of the vallum, the mode adopted is
to take the distance from the present grassy surface on the
centre of the vallum (usually the highest point of its external
convex curve) to the line of the top of the stone bottoming
below. The kerbs are here of squared freestone, averaging
13 inches long by 13 inches broad and 8 inches deep. One row of
these kerbs forms the north face of the stone base of the vallum.
The other row of kerbs forms the south face of the stone base.
Between them is the stone bottoming falling next to be described.
From the face of the north row of kerbs to the face of the
south row of the kerbs—these points being the limits of the stone
base—the distance is 14 feet. Between the kerbs, the bottoming
is of rough promiscuous stones, various in size. Among them
one doleritic block lies in situ, rising a few inches higher than
the level of the kerbs. The stone base thus composed of two
rows of squared freestone kerbs, with rough stone bottoming
between, is laid on a reddish clayey soil, full of stones. There is
almost nothing of the vallum left above the base, but in what
there is, the soil is sandy, with some intermixture of red earth
and a kind of whitish sand, along with patches of a marly
substance or whitish clay. The layering is not here prominent,
as there is so little of the earthen part of the vallum left
standing. There is, however, one deep black line, although it is
broken and fragmentary. It follows with some regularity the
uneven stone surface of the base, and rests at some points on the
stone. There is no sign of protraction of this line beyond the
kerb on either side, or of any lamination in the earth beyond the
kerbs. The berm, or broad platform between the foot of the
rampart and the side of the ditch, is, when measured from
the north kerb to the present edge of the scarp, 20 feet
wide. The fosse is filled up nearly to the brim. The
present depth of it, measured from a straight line joining the
D