houses, number 53, a well-preserved and high-quality Roman mosaic floor was uncovered during enlargement of the cellar. The floor was preserved and the owner allowed public access to view the mosaic on request. Although number 53 was demolished the Great Central undertook to preserve the Roman floor within the structure of the southern northbound platform that was built around it. The mosaic was encased in a brick vault topped by a glass ceiling let into the platform so it could be viewed from above. A locked doorway at street level provided access to the vault and a local shopkeeper was entrusted with the key to continue to provide access to the public upon request. The main station entrance was on Great Central Street where a large ornate terracotta-lined archway crowned by an ornate clocktower led through to the entrance hall and cab waiting area; the station frontage itself had a red brick and terracotta facade, to the left of which was the entrance to the parcels office. A second entrance was in Jarvis Street where a subway 20 ft below the platforms led through to the main booking hall, a light and airy space topped by a glazed roof. Stairs led up to the platforms, whilst a hydraulic lift was used to transport luggage from the booking hall. Decline Upon nationalisation of the railways in 1947 the Great Central passed from the control of the London & North Eastern Railway into the newly created Eastern Region of British Railways, and then to the London Midland Region in 1958. The line was regarded by its new operators as an unnecessary duplication of existing North-South routes, and services began gradually to be run down. The Leicester Central engine shed played host to increasingly old and worn-out locomotives; in 1958 the engine stud was made up of 11 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0s, 3 LMS Stanier Class 4 2-6-4s, 2 BR Class 5 4-6-0s and 1 0-6-0 diesel shunter. The publication of the Beeching Report in 1963 saw the Great Central identified as an unremunerative line earning less than £5,000 per week in revenue and it was proposed to withdraw passenger services from the line as far as Banbury. So began "several years of deliberate neglect and decline and retrenchment" designed to reduce the former busy trunk route into a state whereby closure could be easily achieved. It was announced that as from