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West Coast Times, Issue 1326, 22 December 1869, Page 4

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■valley. All the arches are well ventilated, and^ will, be used- as. cellars, to the warehouses .to b| bu|lt by the sjde of ;the viaduct". A~subway IHftirigtfby seven wide' runs in front of the" cellars, beneath the main road at either side. The foundations for the masonry were in every case taken down to the London clay, and bedded-fti four feet solid concrete. In reference to the necelsary JbxcjnjatiDns a, contemporary (the City Press) says :—: — "In some cases the clay; was .easily reached ; in others more than 30ft; had to be excavated before it was got at. Thiswas mostly where the bed of the Old Bourne river and Fleet ditch had left its deposits, and made the "whole soil soft and spongy. About twenty feet below the present v surface -of Farringdon-sfa^ the top p£a^Btrong abu'tmenVwall was reached. This was, no doubt, one of the abutment walls of the Old Bourne-bridge, and the supposition seems to be almost established by the fact that a quantity of.Djles and old strut timbers which had apparently orice formed part of § ..bridge .being found close by it. These pine logs, though they must have lain some centuries in the earth, were as sound' and gewjd as on the day .they were cut. Passing the corner.of St. Sepulchre's churchyard; a few bones had to be remoyedj but at- Sib churchyard ; 'the soil was absolutely thick with them, so thick, indeed, that it is estiinated_.that the remains of nearly 2000 persons were exhumed sad sent away for reinterment at Ilford cemetery. In the great mass of cases these were,r,mere .bone's, but there were frequent instances where the bodies were perfect and unchanged, though the coffins had decayed. In one case, that of a man, the clothes were quite perfect ; in another, that of a lady, who had been buried considerably over a century, the lace on the graye clothes was perfect, and only slightly,changed in color. In both these, as in many other cases, the bodies were absolutely perfect in every feature, and were simply dry and like tanned leather. The soiL. however, as it was disturbed, emitted,so obnoxious an effluvium that the most powerful disinfectants had to he used. At the corner of Hatton-garden, and only about five . feet below the pavement, was found die skeleton of a very tall man who was buried jn massive link iron fetters like those wbjch hang over the doors of Newgate. These were very rusty, but firmly rivetted on to the skeleton. It was' most probabfy the skeleton c«f some murderer, who, according to ancient custom, .was hanged and buried in chains on the spot where his crime was committed."

At one point the London, Chatham, and Dover railway ruins beneath the viaduct, which is carried over the line by an iron bridge. The principal feature of the entire work is.the bridge which crosses Farring-don-street. It is in three spans, its total length being 117 ft and its width 80 feet. The bridge crosses the road diagonally. The span of the centre archway is 66ft, and. the arches at either side cover the pathway for foot passengers. The bridge consists, of six cast-iron ornamental ribs,, the outer ribs being elaborately ornamented. Six hexagonal granite columns. on either side support the archways. They are five feet in diameter, the columns being of red granite, polished, with moulding, and capital of black polished granite.. The balustrades bounding" the footways above, and also the lamps which they bear, are of elaborate de-ign, and the effect of the entire, when completed, will doubtless be very striking. It is intended that the four outer capitals of the granite columns shall be surmounted with bronze statues. • Flights of steps at either 'side, lift wide, give access to the viaduct from Farringdpn-street. The designs from which the viaduct has been constructed were those of Mr William Haywood.