XVI—Recent Discoveries in Romsey Abbey Church

The remains of walls found in October and November, 1900, during the process of laying down a wood block floor in the nave and crossing of Romsey Abbey, are shown on the accompanying plan (Plate XLL). Those on the south side of the nave may be dealt with first, as they have no bearing on the structural history of the church, and the record of them is chiefly of value because they are now buried beneath 6 inches of concrete and a wood block floor, and will probably not be seen again for many years. They are of two dates, the wall running east and west being the older. This is 19 inches thick, of flint and stone rubble, and was traced from the eastern angle of the first nave pier to within 2 feet of the fourth, where it ends without a return. It is plastered on the north or inner face with a coat of rough yellowish plaster, continuous with a floor of the same character, 16 inches below the present pavement level, which is at the original level of that of the existing Norman nave. This plaster floor rests, as to its western part, on a layer of flints on the undisturbed soil, and extends along the whole length of the wall from east to west, and northwards as far as the digging went, that is, nearly to the south edge of the paving of the central alley of the nave.