A detached fragment of masonry, near Newgate Street, must have belonged to the Roman gateway which, as archæologists now agree, once stood upon this site. West of this was a portion of the mediæval gateway, which we now discover to have been injured, not destroyed, in the Great Fire of London. Remains of a broad ditch were also discovered, together with fragments of Roman pottery and other relics. Among them was part of a small mediæval statue held to represent St. Christopher and the infant Christ, which has been pieced together and is now in the Guildhall Museum.

Reference to the Roman wall reminds one that originally the wall of London on this side, after joining Ludgate to the south, ran straight down from there to the Thames. In the year 1276 the Friars-Preachers of the Dominican Order, commonly known as the Black Friars, who had found the original establishment of the order in Holborn too small for their requirements, secured a piece of land to the south and south-west of Ludgate. It was not, however, until 1278 that the necessary license was obtained from the Bishop and Chapter of London to erect a new church and buildings. As to their site, Stow says that "Gregory Rokesley, mayor, and the barons of London granted and gave

REMAINS OF ROMAN WALL, NEWGATE,

1903

When in 1903-1904 Newgate Prison was destroyed and the site excavated, a piece of the Roman wall of London about 68 feet long came to light. This is a sketch of the south end of it; the whole has since been destroyed.