Vol 55

14 Barney SloaneFig 3. 'Knlaid'graveslnh /mm Weslminster Abbeyunreconstructed before being crushed up inthe year of the foundation of IJ^MAS for roadrnetalHng and foundation material for theengine house there {Daily Neius, 17 December1855). Its wasteful fate considerably focusedenergies to found our Society.Secular finds were also considered. SidneySmirke reported on the removal of some'modern' ashlar to restore the old masonry atWestminster Hall: within cavities in the wall hewas surprised to see an immense quantity of smallbones and other detrittis which he supposed hadbeen dragged in by mice and rats living off theleavings of great feasts. Among this detritus wasa fine decorated medieval leather knife sheath(Trans London Middlesex Archaeol Sac 1, 119).Hugo recovered 14th-century horse furniturefrom the Fleet Ditch {Proc Sor Anliq London?>, 136) during the extensive reorganisationof the valley of the River Fleet to permit theconstruction of Farringdon Road, the railway,and the Fleet Sewer. Works here were to go onfor more than a decade, and stretched fromCJerkenwell down to the Citv waterfront.Post-medievalLittle of post-medieval date was reportedupon at this lime, although there were somenotable exceptions. Hugo proved himself anarchaeologist unrestricted b\' period or fashicjn,reporting the excavation of a Russo-(ireektriptych from a grave in llie churciiyard of ChristchurchSpitalfields {Trans London MiddlesexArehneol Sor 1, 133; Arrh journ 12, 186-7), andreminded members of the Royal ArchaeologicalInstitute of a discoveiy of a remarkable silverreliquary found suspended by a chain of silverfrom the neck of a skeleton in St Dunstan FleetStreet in 1831. W Pettit-Griffith presented someTudor terracotta pieces from buildings in StJohn Clerkenwell, and a piece ol plaster ceilingornament from nearby Berkeley House (TransLondon Middlesex Arehaeol Soc 1, 133). Meanwhile,stone cannon balls had been recovered from themoat of the Tower of London, and an armorialset of helmet and gauntlets from West Diavtonchurch, Middlesex (Trans London Middlesex ArchaeolSod, 143-4).