is famous. It has been from time immemorial the property of the corporation, and the annual banquet at the election of the mayor, in which the bivalves figure largely, is known as the Oyster Feast."

The last noteworthy occurrence was an earthquake, which happened on April 22nd, 1884, and did great damage, though no lives were lost. The top of the spire of the Congregational Church came down with a crash, and several other churches were injured. A Mansion-house Fund was started, and reached nearly £9,000, which was judiciously distributed in the town and adjacent district. This is the second earthquake which has visited Colchester, one having taken place on Sept. 8th, 1692.

Colchester: Its historic Buildings and

How

Famous Den.

BY JOSEPH W. SPURGEON.

OW much of its charm history would lose if there were no ancient buildings or relics remaining, to confirm and vivify the facts of the past and link them on to the present!

The history of this town, however, does not lack such mementos, for modern Colchester is rich in relics of its bygone days. Of these the most important are the Roman remains. The walls of the town are more perfect than any others in England. They are constructed of alternate layers of stones and bricks, about four courses to each layer, bonded together with the splendid cement, harder than stone, which the Romans knew so well how to make. The stones are of a soft chalky species found in the neighbourhood, called septaria, much less durable than the red flat Roman bricks, which, after the wear and tear of eighteen hundred years, seem as good as ever. The best

preserved portions of the walls are at the northeast and north-west corners; the south wall has suffered most, perhaps because it was not strengthened like the others by a rise of the ground within, and because it has had to bear the brunt of most of the attacks on the town. The average present height of the walls is ten feet ; the thickness varies from seven to ten feet. It is evident that they were originally some ten feet higher, but the upper part was not so thick as the lower, and has nearly all disappeared. The enclosed space is a parallelogram, measuring about 1000 yards from east to west, and about 500 from north to south, the area being 108 acres. Crossing this space were two principal streets, one in each direction, intersecting at right angles near the western end of the town. At the ends of these streets were four gates, of which only the western one now exists. It consists of an arch eleven feet wide, and parts of two smaller ones; a bastion divided into two apartments protects it on its southern side.* Though probably the chief entrance in Roman times, it appears to have been since then entirely disused,

* This and Newport Gate at Lincoln are the only remaining Roman town-gates in England.

to which circumstance it owes its preservation, the other three gates having disappeared before the growth of modern traffic. In addition to these principal entrances there were at least five posterns, two on the north, two on the south, and one on the west; four of these are still in use, though they are now only breaches through the wall.

Of Roman buildings other than the walls there are no remains excepting tessellated pavements— of which nearly forty have been discovered--but evidences of them appear on every hand in the shape of Roman bricks, which have been largely used by the medieval builders, the ruins of Camulodunum affording them an abundant supply of excellent material. The number of Roman ornaments, domestic utensils, cinerary urns, coins, etc., which have been exhumed is very large; many of them are rare, and some unique, as, for instance, the" Colchester Urn," a piece of Caistor or Durobrivæan ware, ornamented with figures of gladiators and animals; several fine glass vessels, especially one of white glass with embossed figures representing the Olympic races; the effigy of a centurion named Marcus Favonius, carved in high relief, with an epitaph, on a stone

memorial slab found above his grave; an altar with a dedicatory inscription to the Matres Sulevæ; a remarkable sculpture of a Sphinx feasting on human victims; a huge vase, over four feet high, found in the Castle grounds; and a beautiful bronze image of Jupiter Conservator.

THE SAXON ARCH HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, COLCHESTER.

The less remarkable "finds," though all of great value and interest, are too numerous to mention.

The relics of the Saxon period are almost as meagre as the history, and only one is worth mentioning, viz., the tower of Holy Trinity Church, which undoubtedly dates from Saxon