Roman Britain in 1921 and 1922 Author(s): M. V. Taylor and R. G. Collingwood Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 11 (1921), pp. 200-244 Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/295903 . Accessed: 08/05/2014 22:56 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Roman Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 22:56:14 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROMAN BRITAIN IN 1921 AND 1922. Bv M. V. TAYLOR, M.A., and R. G. COLLINGWOOD, M.A., F.S.A. (Plat:-s xix-xxiv.) I. Sites explored: England, p. 20I, Wales, p. 224, Scotland, p. 230. II. Inscriptions, p. 233. III. Publications, p. 239. Some months ago the Committee responsible for the administration of the fund bequeathed to the University of Oxford by the late Professor Haverfield, for the endowment of Romano-British studies, issued an appeal in the public press for information. as to all discoveries connected with Roman Britain, to be sent to the first of the two authors of this paper at the Haverfield Library, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. This information the Committee intended not only to file for reference, but also to publish in the form of a series of annual reports similar in principle to those contributed by Professor Haverfield to the papers of the British Academy. The present paper is the first of these, and covers the period from June, I92I, to December, I922. Subsequent papers will, it is hoped, cover one year each. The writers desire to thank all who have contributed information, and to express the hope that in the future an increasing number of students will not only use the Haverfield Library as a reference library for all matters relating to Roman Britain, but will also communicate to it notes of discoveries and, where possible, copies of papers or other publi- cations. Thanks are due to the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, the Cambrian Archaeological Society, Dr. Mortimer Wheeler, Mr. F. Lambert, Mr. Heywood Sumner, the Western Daily Press, the Illustrated London News, and Mr. W. Dennis Moss for illustrations. It may not be out of place to call attention here to two general works on Roman Britain which are at present in preparation and may be assisted by the contribution of material. One is a general map of Roman Britain on the scale of one million (about sixteen miles to the inch), which is being prepared by Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, F.S.A., for publication by the Ordnance Survey. The other is a new corpus of Roman inscriptions in Britain, material for which is being collected by the second-named of the present writers. Any reader having in his possession unpublished information of value concerning Romano-British topography, especially the course of roads, or photo- graphs, squeezes or originals of inscriptions whether on stone or other materials, could assist in the preparation of these works by forwarding the material to Miss M. V. Taylor at the Haverfield Library. This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 22:56:14 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROMAN BRITAIN IN I92I AND I922. 20I I. SITES EXPLORED. Hadrian's Wall. Mr. F. G. Simpson, in September, I92I, carried out an excavation at Chesters to ascertain the relative dates of the Wall and the two forts. In I900 Haverfield proved that an early ditch, in line with the Wall ditch, cut the great fort in two, and suggested the explanation that an early and small fort lying wholly south of the Wall had been at a late date-perhaps in the time of Severus- replaced by a larger fort lying astride of the Wall. By careful digging at the point where the Wall crosses the east and west ditches of the fort Mr. Simpson has now shown that the enlarged fort existed before the Wall: that is to say, that before Hadrian built the Wall his own original small fort had already undergone enlargement as for a milliary cohort. Mr. Simpson puts forward the theory, on the strength of this and other similar cases, that Hadrian's original frontier consisted of small forts connected by the Vallum; that these forts were enlarged on its being found that the frontier was undermanned; that the enlarged forts were then united by a con- tinuous Wall; and that all these works were carried out within a space of ten years or less. At Burgh-by-Sands the Cumberland and Westmorland Society carried out a small 'dig' in the spring of I922. The site of the fort here had long been a matter of dispute, and since I903, when a sewer was laid down the main road of the village and no Roman remains whatever were found, its very existence was seriously questioned. Half an acre of ground north of this road has just been enclosed. for use as an extension of the churchyard, and the opportunity was taken of trenching this half-acre. The result was the immediate discovery of the east rampart of the fort and of an east gate lying, exactly as at Chesters, just north of Hadrian's Wall and on the edge of the modern road, which roughly represents the via principalis. Walls and pavements belonging to barrack-buildings were also found, the finds dating from the second to the fourth century. It was observed that the road at this point ran in a small cutting, the making of which had stripped off the Roman stratum, so that the modern road-surface lies below any Roman remains. The failure to find anv relics in I903 is thus satisfactorily explained, and the fort is not only located but proved to be a large structure lying astride of the Wall like Chesters. Cumberland. During the preparation of foundations for a new Wesleyan Hall in Fisher Street, Carlisle, in I922, it was found necessary to dig a series of pits to receive concrete supports, and in these pits Roman relics were found between 7 and 20 feet down. At I4 feet foundations This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 22:56:14 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 202 ROMAN BRITAIN IN I92I AND I922. of an apsidalshape, associatedwith numerousoak piles, came to light, above which was a stratified roadway with three distinct levels of cobble paving. There was a good deal of pottery, including a Samian sherd, with the stamp of the potter MINVS, and a number of flat dishes of a type which appears to have been made at Scalesceugh, a site 5 miles south of Carlisle,where tiles of the Ninth Legion were manufactured. A fine example of a ' Brough' fibula in silver,.with bronze pin, was found 20 ft. down, close to the rock. Durham. In December, I921, a hoard of about 250 Roman coins was ploughed up near the well-knownfort at Pierce Bridge. The coins are said to range from A.D. 254 to A.D. 379; which indicates concealment about the time when Maximus enlisted the British army in his fatal adventure-fatal aliketo himself and to the security of Britain. rorkshire. Digging on the site of the fort at Ilkley was brought to a close in I92I. This concluding season's work produced a number of interesting results. The garrisonwas identified by brick-stampsas the Second Cohort of Lingones, the regiment whose commanding officer dedicated the well-known altar (C.I.L. vii, 208) to Verbeia, the goddess (presumably)of the Wharfe. The coin-series,together with the pottery, suggests that the first occupation may date back to Agricola,and that the fort was held in the reignsof Trajan, Hadrian and Pius; it may have lain empty for the second half of the second century, but in that case was rebuilt by Severus,or at a date not far removed from his, and occupied till the time of Carausius. Here the coin-seriesends abruptly,and the fort must have been abandoned about 290 or soon after, to be reoccupiedfor a very short time round about 370. Now the Notitia places the Second Cohort of Lingones at Congavata,which must be in West Cumberland and is perhaps Mawbray, the little-known fort north of Maryport; and a lost inscription mentioning the cohort (C.I.L. vii, 359) came from Moresby, a few miles further south. We have, therefore, a case of a regiment first quarteredat Ilkley and then, at what date we cannot yet say but probablynot so late as the reign of Carausius,moved to the Cumberlandcoast and remaining there till late in the Roman occupation. The history of the Fourth Cohort of Gauls is analogous. The plan of the ' Commandant'sHouse ' was completed, and the general conclusions of the previous year's work borne out.