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May 2013 Excavations at Baldock in 1932.

BY ERIK S. APPLEBAUM.

HE Roman settlement at Baldock differed widely from that at Verulamium in both size and T character, not less so did the excavations themselves; this season's operations under the auspices of the Letchworth Natural History and Antiquarian Society could hardly be regarded as more than a preliminary examination for the benefit of future work. It is not proposed therefore to describe the excava- tion in great detail, but to deal with Roman Baldock as a whole in the light of recent work, leaving a detailed report to a later date. The significance of the geographical position of Baldock is fully dealt with by the writer in B.A.A.J., Part I, 1933. There is not the least doubt that here was a road centre of local importance, being as it was the meeting place of routes from Braughing, Sandy, Welwyn, Dunstable and the Cambridge region. Its position on the Icknield Way, passing down the chalk ridge on the one hand, and where the above roads converge to negotiate a gap in that ridge on the other, conspire to ensure the importance of the site in a purely geographical sense. On the other hand, recent work has enabled us to re-orientate our view of the character and culture of the place, in accordance with what has been so far excavated. Till recently the existence of the settlement was known chiefly from its cemetery and the large collec- tion of grave-groups it has yielded.1 But grave-groups, however, valuable, provide few hints as to the epochs in the life of the place, and may not even give a reliable impression of the status and wealth of the inhabitants. In conjunction their evidence may be invaluable, but a cemetery alone is only the half, a story of death; it must be supplemented with a story of life. It was not therefore unfortunate that the Letchworth Society had, in the course of their researches prior to 1931 in Walls Field, come across evidences of settled

1 See for incomplete publication, Arch. Jnl., 88. EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932. 245 occupation; a well, cobbled pavements, a drainage ditch and a large midden (see op. cit., p. 255), besides a masonry building of some solidity that has not found its way into print. At the same time several people, including both members of the Society and residents at Baldock, industriously undertook the collection of all the evidence relating the settlement as distinct from the cemetery, and it soon became evident that a community of some size was involved.2 The bulk of the remains come from the area bounded on the north by the Royston Road, on the west by the Clothall Road, or Pesthouse Lane (also known as the Stane Street, which represents roughly the Roman route from Sandy to Braughing), and on the south by the Wallington Road, which branches from the last men- tioned to the east. The latter forms the southern boundary of Walls Field. Walls Field lies at the south- western end of a natural hollow, and a hill rises across the Saxon baulk which forms the north-east boundary of the field, to the Royston Road. The Roman cemetery lies at the extreme south-western end of the hollow, but finds showed that the whole of this hollow in a north- westerly direction as far as the Royston Road was inhabited, and this was supplemented by further valuable finds made during unskilled investigations in Mr. Newbery's field, at the north-western end of the hollow between Clothall Road and California, prior to the present excavations. On the west edge of the Clothall Road various finds of pottery and cobbling occurred; others on the north side of the Royston Road in the form of cremation groups; a well and much pottery were found to the north of California, and various odd finds were made to the west of the Clothall Road, including pottery from near the Full-Fashioned Hosiery Works, and pits, coins and other remains all down Pinnock's Lane. This is not an exhaustive list,3 but it serves to show that the settlement covered a considerable area. It was necessary to ascertain the nature of the habitations and life of the community, at any rate to some extent, and also so far as possible its vicissitudes.

2 The collection of this information was the work of Messrs. Crawshaw, Lane, Tucker and Westell. 3 See Appendix for full list and Fig. 8 for map. 246ST . ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Site A. Researches were commenced, by kind permission of Mr. May, to the north-west of the baulk bordering Walls Field, 400 yards east of California. Here no satisfactory evidence was forthcoming, though pottery indicated some sort of habitation in the first and early second centuries, when perhaps there were very crude squattings here. Operations were therefore transferred to Mr. Newbery's field, with the kind permission of the owner, where on the ground of recent discoveries and its proximity to the angle of the crossing place of the chief Roman routes, it was hoped that buildings would be found. The excavators were not disappointed. Site B. At the extreme south-west corner of the field two inhumations were found. The first, a skeleton some 5 ft. 1 in. in height, lay in a shallow grave with the head to the east; its lower limbs had been somewhat disturbed by later Roman occupation above, but between the feet occurred the greater part of a handleless screw- neck flagon of uncommon type, not earlier than the end of the second century (Fig. 1). Mrs. Dingwall, of University College, reports that the body was that of a woman between thirty and forty years of age, her skull was dolichocephalic, and her build distinctly Mediterranean. The second inhumation, which was that of a man 6 feet in height, possessing bones of great massiveness, was buried in an oval grave in the chalk, in a partially contracted position suggestive of sleep. His head was to the west. He was dolichocephalic and of British early Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon race. No burial articles were found with him, but general considerations and associated sherds render it possible that he died in the second century. The occupation over these burials did not seem to go beyond the third century, but no structural vestiges were noticed. Further up towards the centre of the field habitation was well evidenced. Site C. It is convenient to take the remains in their chronological order. A roughly rectangular area was completely cleared at a distance of 185 feet east4 of

4 In this description by " north " north-east is meant, as this was the axis of the field, and so, for the sake of convenience, with the other points of the compass. EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932 247 the south-east corner of the field—this is called Area 1 —other trenches were taken to east, west and south of it, and it will serve to give the relative positions of the other finds. Some distance to the east of Area 1 a road of large cobbles, perhaps 8 feet wide, had in Flavian days, and perhaps before, run east to west. To the north of the road a habitation floor originating at a similar date, composed of flint paving, was bordered on the east by a flint wall, most of which had been destroyed in the late first or early second century. To the east of this again, a drainage ditch with sloping sides and flat bottom, 3 ft. 6 in. across the top and a foot deep, in the natural chalk into which it had been dug, ran north to south. It contained pottery, datable circa A.D. 1-40, and must have originated in Belgic days. A short distance to its east a rough path of flints in sand seems to have run parallel with it, and may have met the east- west Flavian road at right angles, a slight suggestion of an early attempt at planning which needs further substantiation. A short distance south of Area 1 a circular hut-pit, which unfortunately could not be entirely excavated, was occupied in Belgic days, and certainly in the first half of the first century A.D. It appeared to have been burnt, probably in Claudian times, and then reoccupied, but definitely after the beginning of the occupation, ? A.D. 50, when the Iceni and their neighbours revolted (Tac. Ann. xii, 31.) About A.D. 605 a habitation floor containing a rubbish pit was laid over it, to be superseded in the early days of the second century (circa A.D. 120) by a yard of considerable extent, variously composed of flint cobbles and rammed chalk. At this period the rubbish pit was enlarged. The yard covered the southern two-thirds of Area 1, and existed for at least 30 feet to the east; it also ran as far as the first century floor on the west, but it had ceased to be paved before this was reached, becoming mere rammed chalk. Not long afterwards the Flavian road to the south, having already been twice repaired in a rough manner, was succeeded by a good surface of chalk-lumps cambered and probably some 9 feet in width (Fig 2).

5 Whether the hut went out of use as a result of the Boudiccan revolt cannot be proved, as burning was not here evident. 248 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

A corresponding surface appeared over the yard to the south of Area 1, being banked by a wall on the north edge, and sealing the rubbish pit, the connection between the two surfaces being clear. Pottery enabled them to be dated to A.D. 130-140.6 To the north of the yard in Area 1 a building, part of the south wall of which was found, composed of flints and mud in a well-marked footing trench in the chalk, had already been built about A.D. 120. When the yard was put down its eastern part seems to have been rebuilt in wood, perhaps as a lean-to shed with a door on the yard, a north-south partition dividing it from the rest of the building. Perhaps twenty years later (circa A.D. 140) the building was completely recon- structed in timber, and joined up with a new large rectangular building with flint footings that lay directly to the west of Area 1, and appeared to have a wooden verandah indicated by post-holes and a sleeper-trench on the south-west edge of the same area (Fig. 3). Its west wall stood over the east edge of the first century drainage ditch, and it seems that it was built at an angle to the second century road. The building, apart from its wooden annexe to the north of Area 1, continued to be occupied into the fourth century. It is no coincidence that the major part of the building activity so far detected is confined to the last third of the first and first half of the second century. It is fully in accord with the tenour of the terra sigillata from the district and the evidence of the burial groups from Walls Field (see B.A.A.J., Part I, 1933).7 At Veru- lamium too there were few masonry buildings before the second century, and it was then that the first respectable mosaics began to be put down. The period of the greatest activity there is from A.D. 120-180 (J.R.S., XXII, 206). It is notable that the house north of Area 1, the yard, and the house to the west, were laid down one after the other between A.D. 120 and 140,

6 The writer wishes to acknowledge the valuable work of Miss H. K. Bryant in the elucidation of the superimposed pits—by no means an easy task, well performed. 7 The well at California, at the top of the field of the present excavations, was open in the second century. A habitation site immediately opposite this field (west side of Clothall Road) yielded an early second century amphora. Occupation in the building in Walls Field seems to have been from the late first century on. BALDOCK.

FIG. 2. SECTION OF ROADS TO WEST OF AREA I. SITE C. The measure (length 2 ft.) rests on the Flavian surface; the right-hand trowel on the Antonine repair; the intermediate trowels mark inter- mediate relayings. BALDOCK.

FIG. I. FLAGON FOUND WITH FEMALE SKELETON AT SITE B. (Grey, with traces of black slip.)

BALDOCK.

FIG. 3. SITE C, AREA I. THE YARD. In the foreground the measure is in a post-hole of the verandah of the Antonine house; the nearest trowel in a sleeper-trench of the verandah. The shovel is in a large fourth-century post- hole dug in the relevelling over the yard (Period V) and the cane in the sleeper-trench of the building to the north (Period IV) BALDOCK.

FIG. 4. SKELETON FOUND IN DITCH, WALL'S FIELD. The measure is 20 ins. long. The bracelet can be seen on the left arm. The left-hand trowel is in the footing, the right-hand trowel in the floor over the ditch-filling.

EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932 249

when probably the walls of Verulamium were rising. Equally eloquent, within the limits of the small area investigated, was the absence of change between this period and the later fourth century, except for the laying down of a floor between 300 and 370 to the east of Area 1.8 At a date not far removed from that year, however, the yard in Area 1 was relevelled and roughly repaved with flints, and a timber building of undefined form built on it (Fig. 3). Stratified coins left no doubt that this event took place between 360 and 380, and a date after 364 was strongly hinted at. At the same time the floor of the mid-second century house to the west was levelled up as though a rehabilitation had taken place. Evidence is not lacking in the district for the wide- spreadness of the disaster of 367 (see B.A.A.J., loc. cit.) when the defence of the province collapsed, her armies were routed and the countryside overrun and looted by numerous invaders. It is probable that Verulamium held out, protected by her formidable walls, and natural enough that an open agricultural settlement such as Baldock should have suffered. On the other hand, the layer over the yard was not noticeably a destruction layer, burning not being in great evidence; though a roof-tile, and parts of a shears, whetstone and sickles, thrown down by the user as though a hasty escape had become necessary, may not be without significance. Whatever the general effect on the settlement, therefore, of the 367 disaster, at this spot habitation continued. Considering the limitedness of the excavation, the remains spoke with greater certainty than might have been expected on the fifth century occupation of the place. A trench taken out east from the east side of Area 1, just south of the dwelling in its north quarter, revealed a crude clay footing crossing the trench in a north-south direction and returning along the south edge of the trench to the east. It sealed an earlier flint footing of uncertain date, and a coin of Valens (375-378). In it was fourth century pottery and a radiate minim, a type of coin in use in the later fourth and fifth centuries. On the surface of the early second century

8 Coins from Baldock show a gap, A.D. 160-250, as noticed at other sites (e.g. Richborough, II., 107), but this may be purely economic in origin. 250 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. road to the west of Area 1 a coin of Honorius (393-395), much worn and clipped, had been dropped. Evidently the road was still in use in the fifth century. But the evidence is sparse and awaits amplification; there is some evidence for the reoccupation of hill forts in this region in the late Roman era, no doubt by fleeing Romano-Britons (see B.A.A., loc. sit.), and late pottery and a coin of Valentinian II (392) are known from Weston, on the high ground above Baldock, where an earlier Belgic settlement existed. It may be that some of the inhabitants retired to this more defensible position at this date. On the other hand, coins of Theodosius I (395) at Willian, not far away in the middle of the Baldock gap, and other late coins from Baldock itself, as well as the extraordinary absence of Anglo-Saxon pagan remains in the immediate vicinity, render occupa- tion even as late as the sixth century no impossibility here. Pottery of the usual Romano-British type was found in ample abundance on the site, but Samian ware, particularly decorated sherds, was remarkably scarce, a possible indication of the poverty of the dwellings. Not as much evidence was obtained as had been hoped concerning the Belgic occupation of the place, but slight evidence was nevertheless forthcoming. Walls Field. In December a strip of land, some 17 feet from north-east to south-west, and about 250 feet long, became available for excavation in Walls Field, along the south-west edge of the cemetery area dug in 1925. A spell of work was undertaken here by the courtesy of Mr. Hart, and it was rendered possible by the generosity of Messrs. Flemming and Brunt. The finds were of interest, but the results remain incomplete, since they could not be investigated beyond a limited distance to the south-west or north-east. At a distance of 92 ft. 10 in. from the north fence of the paddock east of Homelands, a stretch of rammed chalk lumps, evidently yarding, was found. One hundred and thirty-one feet north-west from the fence this was interrupted by a shallow ditch running east- west, 5ft. 5 in. wide and 2 ft. 10 in. deep, filled with sandy clay and flints, and sealed by flints, on which pottery and oyster shells were found. Whether or not EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932 251 this was a crude path could not be ascertained, but the ditch contained no silt, nor any pottery at the bottom. Sixteen feet to the north-west of this ditch another occurred, running on a north-east south-west axis, 6 ft. in width and 2 ft. 6 in. deep. Its sides sloped to a flat bottom from 11 in. to 1 ft. 7 in. wide. This contained no silt or pottery, but had been filled when the ditch was made to the depth of a foot with a packing of sandy clay and flints, on which apparently there had been habitation. To the west of the trench dug in the course of excavation two floors of clay and cobbles had been laid above the original packing, the upper having in it a large shallow post-hole. The lower was occupied in the late first or early second century. To the east the floor had been made up once only with clay and cobbles, and here also perhaps contained a post-hole. At the west edge of this make-up the original floor was delimited by a flint footing meeting the north-west edge of the ditch at right angles. Another similar footing, founded on a slight step in the south side of the ditch, projected a short distance into the area of excavation from the north-east. A spill of chalk lumps against the south edge of the ditch as far as the original floor, suggested that at this period a light slanting roof had been supported on the edge of the ditch by a low footing, which had fallen into the ditch before the floor was relaid. An oval post-hole just below the original floor level on the west was so sunk in the side of the ditch as to receive a slanting beam, which may have been an additional support to the opposite side of the roof. In the later floors the use of vertical post-holes appear to have superseded this mode of construction. In the first packing of the ditch a skeleton was found, buried along the ditch with the head to the north-east after the packing was put in (Fig. 4). A slight hollow had been made in the natural chalk for the body, but the feet were well above the chalk level, and the skull protruded through the packing against the south-east end of the partition, which must have passed right over it. With the skeleton parts of a second century pot were found, and on the left lower arm a bronze bangle sprung with a gap for slipping on. The 252 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. right hand was gripped below the groin. On the packing sigillata was found, dateable A.D. 70-80. All the circum- stances suggest a deliberate burial later than the floors, but apparently before the footing was put down. It is regrettable that the exploration of the ditch could not be extended in either direction; it certainly went on, and if, as seems the case, it was a ditch deliberately dug for habitations down the whole of its length, it constitutes, as far as I am aware, a new type of dwelling in Roman Britain. Squatters' dwellings occur in the legionary ditch at Colchester, but here the ditch preceded the dwellings; the device at Baldock must be an essentially British one. There was no reason to think that the footings in the ditch belonged to a building later than it: no occupation was noted for some distance to the north or south, nor occupation layers over the ditch connected with such a building. The occupation layers in the ditch itself were well marked.'' In any event this type of burial casts a most interesting light on the nature of Romano-British civilization at Baldock. At 9 ft. 5 in. to the north-east of the ditch just described two superimposed inhumations were found, the later having been buried in a rectangular grave across the south end of a similar grave pointing E.N.E. This may show that the first grave had had no visible monument over it. With the earlier skeleton was a complete late fourth century colour-coated bulbous beaker. Both burials had been extensively disturbed in recent times. The next discovery, 37 feet to the north-east of the last, was that of a ditch running north-east south-west, 8 feet in width and 2 feet deep. Its flat bottom was about 1 ft. 5 in. wide, and covered by a layer of refuse of Roman date. The north-western slope of the ditch was covered by a 4-inch layer of rammed chalk lumps which lay directly over the chalk and continued on the level to the north-west for a distance of 11 ft. 6 in., where it ended with a straight edge against the chalk. This was evidently a road of some importance, running

9 In expressing this view I take the opportunity of thanking Dr Wheeler with whom I have discussed the matter. EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932 253 north-east south-west. Its south-east edge, a foot above the bottom of the ditch, was revetted by a flint wall remaining to a height of 1 ft. 7 in. and over a foot in width, which had been put down over the layer of refuse (Fig. 5). Evidently the ditch had been in being before the road was made, and had been utilized either as a kerb or drain when the road was constructed. At a later date, after the ditch had silted up, a layer of chalk rubble was laid across its top, a crude repair increasing the width of the thoroughfare to over 20 feet. This road and ditch may well have formed the north- western limit of the cemetery; its line was a few feet north of the north-west edge of the area dug in 1925- On the other hand the complete lack of cremations in the area dug in 1932 and the presence of dwellings and yarding suggest that it was already outside the south- east limit of the enclosure, if such existed. It is to be noted that walled cemeteries existed in the same district at Shefford (Beds) and Litlington (Cambs). Our conceptions therefore of Roman Baldock have become considerably more concrete. It was a road- centre, and hence perhaps a market; its area was not inconsiderable, and there are hints of attempts at regular planning. It had a public cemetery, which suggests some form of communal organization, and among those who lived there were people with Latin names who could read and write Latin cursive.10 The presence of a skeleton of Mediterranean character (the small inhumation at Site B) suggests that there were at Baldock settlers from southern Europe, even perhaps Italy, but this must remain uncertain. The finding of a cobbled floor and parts of an amphora with other pottery on the west edge of the Clothall road opposite Mr. Newbery's field, and not far south of the Roman crossing, offers the attractive but unproved hypothesis of a conveniently situated tavern. (I cannot help thinking this may be the explanation of the find of two amphorae at Knebworth on the Roman road from Welwyn to Baldock.) A building of some solidity existed in Walls Field, but it does not seem to have possessed wall plaster, tesselated pavements, or the

10 The Baldock tabella defixionis, Arch. Jnl., 88, p. 290, fig. 8. 254 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. other more Roman amenities. That roof-tiles were used we know; but the writer has so far seen nothing to suggest the presence of a higher Romanization in architecture. The buildings at Site C must have consisted of wattle and daub, timber, or timber super- structures mounted on flint footings, no doubt often thatched. No more eloquent witness can be quoted to demonstrate the half-Romanization of this community than the apparently deliberate burial of a person in the floor of a decidedly primitive and interesting hut- dwelling, dating from the first century, on the west edge of Walls Field cemetery.11 This is quite in accord with the way interments are distributed about the settlement apparently without reference to habitation (e.g. second century cremation group from near Site B found by previous searchers), a thing that would have been a contravention of custom in a more highly Romanized community. Not irrelevent in this respect was the British tin coin found in a deposit on Site C, not earlier than circa A.D. 120.12 The burials in the cemetery do not seem to go beyond the end of the third century; but inhumations seem common outside its limits, illustrating perhaps a gradual de-Romanization following the peak years of the second century. The partially contracted position of the large skeleton from Site B would seem to indicate a survival of pre-Roman custom. For the rest, Roman pottery, coins and implements were in full use, and no doubt these folk, however poor, saved their best pottery in order to afford their kindred a respectable burial. I have seen an Italian hill village that had hardly emerged from the medieval, flaunting a war memorial that would have done credit to many a large town. The moral is the same. Poor or rich, the character of the place was essentially agricultural; the scythe and shears found on the yard in Area 1 no doubt symbolize the two chief occupations of the community, namely, wheat-growing and sheep-rearing (cf. the wheat- ear on Catuvellaunian coins, and Eumenius, etc., on British wool). Other finds included the head of a spud or hoe, while the presence of the pig. the Irish short- horn, and the dog, were well attested. 11 Burials in ditches are common at the Romano-British villages of Cran- bourne Chase. 12 Fig. 6. Cp, British coins of second century date at Hengistbury Head. EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932. 255

Thus we have been able to sketch for the first time the outlines of a picture of Roman Baldock : it is that of an agricultural community whose Romanization was superficial and whose underlying character was essen- tially native—perhaps we ought to say Belgic. It is to be hoped that the future will allow this picture to be filled in in greater detail, and, if necessary, corrected. (The writer wishes to record his thanks to the follow- ing for help of one sort of another in connection with the work in 1932 :—Miss Bryant and Mrs. Upson, Messrs. Lane, Flemming, Brunt, Crawshaw, Briar, Page, Newbery, May, Hart, Hancock, Edwards, Nicholls, Jowett, and many others too numerous to mention. Mr. Flemming is to be thanked for the photographs here reproduced. Mr. Mattingly of the British Museum kindly examined our coins.)

APPENDIX. It has become desirable since some little time to summarise the increasing number of finds at Baldock, as distinct from those in Walls Field, and so indicate as far as possible the extent and importance of the settlement. The Walls Field cemetery and some of the other remains there are dealt with by Mr. Westell in Archaeological Journal, 88, and in British Archaeological Journal, June, 1933, by the writer. They are here mentioned for the sake of completeness. The only other finds outside Walls Field to have been recorded in print are numbered 1 in the list, which serves as a reference to the numbered sites in the accompanying map (Fig. 8).

1. Station master's house, Baldock; Jug c. A.D., 200 (in Letch- worth Museum). At Baldock; Coin of Constantine, Dr. 36, with stamp TASCILLIM A.D. II. (V.C.H., IV, p. 149.) 2. Walls Field; Cemetery, Burials I—late A.D. 111. (Arch Jnl., 88, etc.) 3. Walls Field; Superimposed dwellings of timber and flint, Pottery A.D. I-III, Coin of Carausius. 4. Walls Field; Drainage ditch, Belgic and Roman pottery, A.D. I and II. 256 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

5. Walls Field; Two cobbled floors, one connected by a flint path with (6). (See Arch. Jnl., 88, p. 251.) 6. Walls Field; Rubbish pit, Fragment of Tiberian sigillata, Dr. 29, of Dr. 37-Trajan-Hadrian ; coarse- ware A.D. I-IV, chiefly A.D. III and IV. For other finds see Arch. Jnl., 88, p. 249, and East Herts Soc. VII, 258 ff. 7. Walls Field; Samian Curle 15 with handles, Antonine. 8. London Road (Full-Fashioned Hosiery Works); Bowl A.D. I, Beaker A.D. II, Bronze brooch A.D. I, many coins unrecorded. High Street, opposite; Coins of Trajan, Julian II and Constans. 9. Coins from all parts of Walls Field. These are mostly 3rd and 4th century, but specimens of Nero and Vespasian may be mentioned, also 5 barbarous imitations and a minim. 10. From the baulk on the north-east side of Walls Field; An urn of Belgic character, with outspread month and neck cordons, probably A.D. 1-50. 11. Homelands, Wallington Road; Well containing pottery late A.D. I-IV. (See Arch. Jnl., 88, p. 255.) 12. Homelands; Belgic tazza, I B.C.-A.D. I (Arch. Jnl., 88, p. 259, f. 2), White butt-beaker A.D. 1-50. 13. Mr. Walker's garden, California; Pit 35 ft. deep and 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter, from which came fragments of Dr. 33, A.D. II. Much pottery near, A.D. I and II, includ- ing A.D. II Samian. Coin of Nero, reverse Temple of Janus A.D. 62. I have seen the finds. 14. Mr. Lee's house, Royston Road; Pottery, of which the following pieces are preserved by Mr. Lee, Junr., of 9, Icknield Way :— I. Smooth black globular urn with girth cordon and lattice decoration. Probably A.D. 50-100. II. Small carinated jar with bead rim, coarse light grey, handmade. La Tene III. III. Fragments of Samian and Castor, including Dr. 31. IV. Coarse tilercd bottle neck A.D. II. V. Fragment of tilered olla, ? Antonine. VI. Top of handled ewer of Castor fabric with heavily beaded lip. Probably late. Presented by Mr. Lee, Junr., to Letchworth Museum :— VII. Small jar of thin brown coarse clay, smooth reddish surface; beadrim with groove at top, which indicates Roman influence, though the general shape is typically late Belgic. About A.D. 40-50. Preserved by Mr. Crawshaw, of 43, Mons Avenue, Baldock :— VIII. White butt beaker cordoned and rouletted, c. A.D. 50 IX. Small grey urn with black burnished surface, A.D. 50-100. X. Tall slender buff jug, neck missing. XI. Dr. 31, Lezoux or East Gallic manufacture. Stamp apparently MARCALUVII, perhaps Marcellini of Rheinabern. (On 18/31 at Guildhall with N retro.) XII. Fragment of Dv. 37, lion running right, Antonine. BALDOCK.

FIG. 5. ROAD AT THE NORTH-WEST EDGE (?) OF THE CEMETERY, WALL'S FIELD. The trowel shows the south-east lip of the ditch; the measure (20 ins.) is leaning against the revetting wall. The left-hand measure lies on the surface of the later road. The cane marks the north-west edge of the road.

BALDOCK.

FIG. 6. BRITISH TIN COIN FOUND IN THE BUILDING TO THE NORTH OF AREA I, SITE C, IN A DEPOSIT NOT EARLIER THAN 130 A.D, (Evans, Plate H, type 8.)

FIG. 7. ROMAN BALDOCK. (SEE Appendix.)

EXCAVATIONS AT BALDOCK IN 1932. 257

In January, 1933, during building operations immediately west of site (14) a ditch 8 feet wide running east-west was noted by the writer, and an inhumation lying north-south, accompanied by a beaker of 2nd or 3rd century date, found to the west. 15. Coins. 16. Brooch, 1st century. 17. Coins. (Clarkes Lane.) 18. From the north side of Pinnocks Lane; bone pin, iron imple- ments, bronze spoon, tweezers, an iron fork and pottery, at a depth of 3 feet. Bones and pottery from all down the lane, also pits. Coins included one of Magnus Maximus and one of Decentius (Cohen 14), found with a skeleton. (The latter reported by Mr. Henwood.) 19. Coins and pottery. (Clothall Road.) 20. Coins and pottery. (Clothall Road.) Coins have been found all along the line of Clothall Road, including two of Vespasian. 21. Prospect Terrace; Cobbled pavement reported by Mr. Page. 22. Five piece burial group found by Mr. Widger in field of present excavations (B and C), early A.D. II. Iron shield brace and spearheads by pavement of cobbles between our sites B and C. 23. Found by Mr. Widger in Mr. Newbery's hen-runs to the north site of B, a store jar A.D. 50-80, carinated beaker A.D. 45-70, and painted bowl A.D. I-II. (The last two in the British Museum.) 24. Pottery in Mr. Baker's garden reported by Mr. Veasey. 25. Mr. Stamford reports pottery from the footings of " East- holm " on the west of Clothall Road, opposite (24). 26. Heavy cobble pavement 6 inches thick cut through in October, 1932, in making " The Graphery," south of (25). Much pottery, including the top of an amphora (Lon. Mus. Guide, Plate LV, No. 6), 2nd century. Also part of a Belgic tazza I B.C.-A.D. I. 27. Site A, present excavations. 28. Site A, present excavations. 29. Site B, present excavations. 30. Site C, present excavations. 31. Cobble pavement found at the south-west corner of Mr. Baker's garden, under Clothall Road, in 1930. It ran east-west and may be connected with (26), also with roads found on Site C. The line of the Roman road from Braughing to Sandy was evidently not exactly represented by Clothall Road, as trenching for pipes to the north of (31) in 1932 failed to reveal it. A bank running down the west side of the road opposite Walls Field may be the Roman thoroughfare, but a trench through it at the Site (26) in 1932 failed to reveal paving. 32. Various coins from the allotments to the south of the Wal- lington Road, including one of Allectus. 33. Pits or depressions noted in ploughing by Mr. Hart. 258 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The following coins, not hitherto recorded, were collected from the locality by Mr. Doughty, who allowed me to take them to Mr. Mattingly for diagnosis. I am also indebted to Mr. Mattingly for examining the coins found on Site C.

I. Constantine the Great (312-5). COMIT : AVGGNN. London. II. Constantine the Great (312-5). MARTI ET CON- SERVATORI. Treves. III. Constantine the Great, c. 324. IV. Valens (364-78). VICTORIA ET SECURITAS Rp. Aries. V. Valens, similar, Lyons. VI. Valentinian (364-75). VII. Gratian (368-78). VICTORIA ET SECURITAS Rp. VIII. Arcadius or Honorius (c. 390-5). IX. Arcadius (395-408).