There is a very interesting theology Cambridge Ph.D. on the rediscovery
of early Christian sites in Rome and how this shaped 'ecumenical
dialogue' (not really a very ecumenical age between Anglicans and Roman
Catholics)
in the 19th c. I seem to remember that it included interesting work on
the social history side of this too by looking at the travel literature
produced to keep good English protestant visitors free from the
danger of 'popery'. I am afraid that I can't remember the exact
reference but it was by W. Meyer and was submitted in the mid-1980s
at Cambridge in the Divinity Faculty. I don't think it has ever been
published. You might find some useful bibliography in that, though be
warned it is a long time since I looked at it.
Judith Maltby
Corpus Christi College
Oxford
judith.maltby@Corpus-Christi.oxford.ac.uk