A section of the soil consisted of—
"1. Gravel similar to Thames ballast at a depth of 17 feet towards the north, inclining to 22 feet towards the south end.
"2. Above this, peat of unequal thickness, varying from 7 to 9 feet.
"3. Modern remains of London earth, composed of the accumulated rubbish of the city."
Regarding the remains of piles, the author makes the following important observations:—
"Upon looking over the ground, my attention was at once attracted by a number of piles, the decayed tops of which appeared above the unexcavated portions of the peat, dotted here and there over the whole of the space cleared. I noted down the positions of all that were above ground at the time; and as the excavations continued during the last two months, I have marked from time to time the positions of all the others as they became exposed to view.
"Commencing on the south, a row of them ran north and south on the west side, to the right of these a curved row, as if forming part of a ring. Higher up and running obliquely across the ground was a row of piles, having a plank about an inch and a half thick and a foot broad placed along the south face, as if binding the piles together. To the left of these another row of piles ran east and west; to the north-east again were several circular clusters of piles; these were not in rings but grouped in clusters, and the piles were from eight to sixteen inches apart. To the left of this another row of piles and a plank two inches thick ran north and south. There were two other rows north of this and several detached piles, but no doubt several towards the north end had been removed before I arrived.
"The piles averaged six to eight inches square; others of smaller size measured four inches by three; and one or two were as much as a foot square. They appeared to be roughly cut, as if with an axe, and pointed square; there was no trace of iron shoeing on any of them, nor was there any appearance of metal fastenings in its planks; they may have been tied to the piles, but if so, the binding material had decayed. The grain of the wood was still visible in some of them, and they appear to be of oak. The planks averaged from one to two inches thick. The points of the piles were inserted from one to two feet in the gravel, and were, for the most part, well preserved, but all the tops had rotted off at about two feet above the gravel, which I conclude must have been the surface of the ground, or of the water at the time these structures were in existence."
The relics were exclusively found in the peat or middle layer (which varied from 7 to 9 feet in thickness), but "interspersed at different levels from top to bottom throughout it." According to the author the vast majority of them belonged to the Roman era. He says: "Amongst them are quantities of broken red Samian pottery, mostly plain, but some of it depicting men and animals in relief; one specimen is stamped with the name of Macrinus. All this pottery, in the opinion of Mr. Franks, to whom I showed it, is of foreign manufacture. Other samples are of the kind supposed to have been manufactured in the Upchurch Marshes in Kent, and upon the site of St. Paul's Churchyard. Bronze and copper pins, iron knives, iron and bronze stylus, tweezers, iron shears, a piece of polished metal mirror, so bright that you may see your face in it (this Dr. Percy has pronounced to be of iron pyrites, white sulphuret of iron without alloy), an iron double-edged hatchet, an iron implement, apparently for dressing leather, a piece of bronze vessel, and other bronze and iron implements, which, thanks to the preserving properties of the peat, are all in excellent preservation. Amongst these were also a quantity of leather soles of shoes or sandals, some apparently much worn, and others, being thickly studded with hobnails, may be recognised as the caliga of the Roman legions; also a piece of a tile with the letters P · PR · BR · stamped upon it. Specimens of these are on the table. The coins found are those of Nerva, Vespasian, Trajan, Adrian, and Antoninus Pius....