investigator who wishes to track out the Roman Wall. Such a traveller
might profitably visit first the Museum at Newcastle, where many
memorials are preserved. There might be included the Castle Keep and
Chapel, with its richly-moulded Norman arches and the Black Gate,
with the collection of Roman inscribed and sculptured stones from the
eastern fortresses on the Wall between Bowness and Wallsend. The
numerous carved altars are especially noticeable. From Newcastle the
road can be taken alongside the Wall to Chollerford, by way of Denton
Burn, Wallbottle, Heddon on the Wall, Vindobala, Harlow Hill,
Wallhouses, Halton Shields Hunnum, Stagshaw Bank, and so, by a steep
descent, into Chollerford. If the train be taken, it is expedient to
break the journey at Prudhoe to view the ruins of the Castle, built
in the reign of Henry II. The curious old bridge over a ravine is one
of the oldest in the North. From Prudhoe to Corbridge is twenty
minutes or so by rail. The buried city of Corstopitum lies to the
west of Corbridge. There can be traced the Forum, streets, granaries,
baths, and fountain. The excavations conducted during 1908 and the
two following years are deeply interesting. There are Roman altars
and monuments to be seen at Hexham. Close to Chollerford are the
remains of the remarkable Roman bridge over the Tyne. Cilurnum
(Chesters), the largest station on the Wall, lies on the river bank.
In the Museum by the gates are deposited sculptured stones, vases,
etc., discovered hereabouts. Journeying from Brunton to Limestone
Bank, one finds the fosses and vallum exceptionally perfect. On the
whole there are said to have been about 23 important stations on the
Wall, named as follows:--Segedunum (Wallsend), Pons Aelii
(Newcastle), Condercum (Benwell Hill), Vindobala (Rutchester), Hunnum
(Halton Chester), Cilurnum (Chesters), Procolitia (Carrawburgh),
Borcovicus (House-steads), Vindolana (Chesterholm), Aesica (Great
Chesters), Magna (Carvoran), Amboglanna (Birdoswald), Petriana,
Aballaba, Congovata, Axelodunum, Gabrosentum, Tunocelum, Glannibanta,
Alionis, Bremetenracum, Olenacum, and Virosidum. It is noteworthy
that not a trace of the original names survives in the local
nomenclature of to-day, though the exact position of most of the
stations has been made out from other indications.
It will be seen that one Wall extended from Wallsend on the Tyne to
Bowness on the Solway Firth, a distance of 73 miles. It would have
been about 12 feet high and 6 feet thick, in parts 9-1/2 feet thick.
Probably about 10 years were expended in the building. About 10,000
men would be required adequately to garrison its stations. It is
difficult to believe that it was constructed _de novo_, or all at one
time. Probably a line of stations, suggested by the lie of the
country, existed here before Roman times, which line was extended and
consolidated by successive Roman generals and emperors.
The Wall now bears the name of Hadrian, Emperor from 117 to 138, but
other names associated with it are Agricola (37-93), Severus
(193-211), Theodosius (346-395) and Stilicho (_d._ 408).
To complete, or, rather round off, our account, a few words ought to
be added as to the Northern Wall. The Wall of Antoninus, or Graham's
Dyke (perhaps from C. _greim_--a place of strength, and that which is
_dug_--a rampart) extends across the island from the Firth of Clyde
to the Firth of Forth--a distance of about 36 miles. It consisted of
an immense ditch, behind which was raised a rampart of intermingled
stone and earth, surmounted by a parapet, behind which ran a level
platform for the accommodation of the defenders. South of the whole
ran the military way--a regular causeway about 20 feet wide.
Commencing in the west on a height called Chapel Hill, near the
village of Old Kilpatrick, in Dumbartonshire, it ran eastwards,
passing in succession Kirkintilloch, Crory, Castlecary, and Falkirk,
terminating at Bridgeness, a rocky promontory that projects into the
Firth of Forth, south of Borrowstonness in Linlithgowshire. A writer
of the life of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) states that
Lollius Urbicus, a legate of that sovereign, erected, after several
victories over the Britons, "another rampart of turf" to check their
incursions, but what has been said with reference to the builders of
Hadrian's Wall may be repeated with reference to that of Antonine.[1]
[Footnote 1: Appendix C.]
DORCHESTER (Dorsetshire).--130 miles S.W. from London. On the right
bank of the Frome. Dorcestre (Dwr--a portion of the name of the
Durotriges, or dwellers upon the _dwr_ or water).
Dorchester was a Romano-British town of considerable size, probably
successor to the British tribal centre of the Durotriges. The walls
can be traced in part, and many mosaics and other remains of houses
have been found. Near Dorchester may be seen at Maumbury Rings
remains of an amphitheatre. Maiden Castle, 2 miles S.W. of the town,
is a vast earthwork, considered to have been a stronghold of the
Durotriges.[2] Many other such remains are traceable in the vicinity.
[Footnote 2: Mai-den = _Mai Dun_ = the stronghold of the plain. It is
clearly originally the work of men of the latest Stone Age--men who
lived their lives in round barrows, and who raised this entrenchment
with merely their primitive picks or "celts" as tools, for a defence
against their finally successful invaders, the Durotriges. In their
turn, the latter used the forts against the Romans--unless, as is
more probable, they submitted without fighting.]
DORCHESTER (Oxfordshire).--Situated at the junction of the Thames and
the Thame.
There is a Roman station near the present village, and (across the
Thames) the double isolated mound known as Wittenham Hills (Sinodum),
on the summit of which are strong early earthworks. In 655, this
place was the seat of a bishopric, the largest in England, including
the whole of Wessex and Mercia. In 1086, William the First and Bishop
Remigius removed the bishop's stool to Lincoln.
DOVER.--Roman _Dubris_, on the Dour (_dwr_--water), the principal
Cinque port, is situated close to the South Foreland, and is 72 miles
from London.
It is the eye of England, looking over to the nearest part of the
continent. It is also the gate of England, through which have come
and gone in all historic ages kings and queens and lesser folk on all
kinds of missions, relating both to war and peace. Geologically it is
knit to the French shore, by the existence both of _white_ and
_black_ rocks, _i.e._, chalk and coal. At a time when Britain was
joined to what is now Europe, when the cave bear devoured his prey in
Kent's cavern, and the monkey gambolled in the lofty trees, when the
Thames was a tributary of some great eastern stream, the Dour might
have been a considerable river, as it has worked for itself a deep
erosive valley. Even in early historic times its estuary must have
occupied a great part of the land on which stands modern Dover.
Originally wood fires were lighted on corresponding sites on the E.
and W. cliffs to guide vessels into the intermediate beach and
natural harbour during the darkness of a winter's night. Even when
the Pharos was reared, the primitive mode of illumination by means of
wood or coal was employed. The modern form of lighthouse, with glass
or metal reflectors, dates but from 1758, when the first Eddystone
lighthouse was built. A common coal fire-light was continued at St.
Bees Head, in Cumberland, as late as 1820. Architecturally, the Dover
Pharos (so called from one erected at Pharos, Alexandria, in 285
B.C.--550 ft. high--said to have been visible 42 miles away) is
interesting from the fact that the stones from which it is built are
not native, but are supposed to have been brought over as ballast in
Roman galleys. In some places it would appear that they were built up
wall-shape, liquid cement being poured into the interstices. That the
ubiquitous King Arthur built the first castle on the cliffs, 300 ft.
above the sea, is a tradition--one we should like to believe. His
name is also associated with sites on the Western Heights and Barham
Downs. It is certain that the Roman invaders early took advantage of
the position of this "key" of the island, and that amongst their five
coast castles, under the control of "the Count of the Saxon Shore,"
Dover held a position second only to Richborough. In the Watling
Street, the baths, now destroyed, the church within the Castle, the
Pharos, the Romans have left clear evidence of their occupation. St.
Mary's may be the first Christian church in Britain. To the beginning
of the eighteenth century it was used for worship; it was then
dismantled, and, after being filled with stores, at last became a
coal cellar. With the greatest difficulty it was saved from
destruction in 1860, and restored by Sir Gilbert Scott.
EXETER.--172 miles, W.S.W. from London.
Caer Isca of the Britons (Keltic, _esk_--_exe_--_uisge_--water). In
Camden's time (1551-1623), the name was written Ex-cester.
Exeter is situated on a broad ridge of land, rising steeply from the
left bank of the Exe. At the head of the ridge is the Castle,
occupying the site of a strong British earth-work. Exeter was the
Romano-British country town of Isca Damnoniorum, the most westerly
town in the government of Roman Britain. Traces of Roman walls
survive in mediaeval walls, all the gates of which, however, have
disappeared. Exeter is the nexus of a considerable number of roads.
GLOUCESTER.--114 miles W.N.W. of London. On the east bank of the
Severn.
It is doubtful if it were a British settlement. The Roman
municipality, or colonia, of Glevum, was founded by Nerva between 96
and 98. Part of the original walls of the town may still be traced.
ISLE OF WIGHT.--Called by the Romans, _Vectis_; Wight being a
corruption of this word.
This island was known in early times to the ancients, and appears to
have been used as a summer or sea-bathing resort. There are
interesting remains of Roman villas at Brading and Carisbrooke.
KENCHESTER, or Magni, or Magna, sometimes Magnis, is situated on the
Wye, about 4 miles west of the city of Hereford.
Discoveries of coins and other objects suggest that British villages
existed here. The Watling Street running from Wroxeter to Caerleon
passes near, communicating with Stoney Street, south of the Wye. The
site has yielded considerable evidence of Roman occupation.
Kenchester appears to have been a small town, in shape an irregular
hexagon, with an area of some seventeen acres, surrounded by a stone
wall pierced by four gates. The principal street, 15 ft. wide, ran
from east to west; the houses contained tesselated pavements,
hypocausts, leaden and tile drains; coins of various periods; fibulae
(some of silver), glass, pottery, and the like, abound; while two
inscriptions (one dated A.D. 283), lend a distinctive Roman
colouring. Suburbs lay outside; and there was a villa a mile to the
west at Bishopstone. The town, though small, had pretensions to
comfort and civilization; it is the only important Romano-British
site in Herefordshire. A legion was stationed here.
LANCASTER.--Castra ad alaunam--camp on the Lune, from Gaelic
_all_--white. Therefore we have _al_--white; _avn_, or _afon_--water;
which the Romans latinized into Alauna.
LEICESTER.
Before the Roman invasion, Leicester was inhabited by the Coritani.
Under the Romans it formed part of the province of Flavia
Caesariensis. Watling Street,[3] the Fosse Way and Via Devana
converge on Leicester.
[Footnote 3: This does not actually pass through Leicester, but is
twelve miles away at nearest.]
The principal Roman stations near were:
Ratae --Leicester;
Verometum --Borough Hill;
Manducosedum--Mancetter;
Benones --High Cross.
In this region Roman remains have been found at: Leicester,[4]
Rothley, Wanlip, Hasby, Bottesfold, Hinckley, Sapcote, and Melton
Mowbray. In 1771 a Roman milestone of the time of Hadrian (76-138)
was discovered at a spot two miles from Leicester. Near Blaby, over
the Soar, is a bridge locally known as the Roman Bridge.
[Footnote 4: There is to be seen _in situ_ beneath the Great Central
Station here a beautiful and almost perfect tesselated pavement.]
LINCOLN.--_Llyn_--a deep pool, and _Colonia_. The Britons called it
_Lind-coit_. The name _Linn-dun_, of which _Lindum_ is the Romanised
version, means _The hill-fort of the pool_.
The territory hereabouts was first settled by Belgae; who, however,
at the time of Caesar's invasion, had become a mixed race with the
real Britons. The country was conquered by the Romans about 70 A.D.,
and formed part of the province of Flavia Caesariensis. The tribe
which occupied Lincolnshire were the Coritani, who had Lindum and
Ratae for their tribal centres. In this territory remains of British
camps are found at Barrow, Folkingham, Ingoldsby, Revesby, and Wells.
Also traces of Roman camps are discoverable at Alkborough, Caistor,
Gainsborough, Gadney Hill, near Holbeach, Honington, near Grantham,
South Ormsby, and Yarborough. The Roman roads in this neighbourhood
are nearly perfect. There is Ermine Street on the eastern side of the
Cliff Hills and the Fosse Way, running S.W. from Lincoln. There is a
famous arch--the Newport--at Lincoln. It is one of the most perfect
specimens of Roman architecture in England. It is sunk fully eleven
feet below the present level of the street, and has two smaller
arches on each side, the one to the west being concealed by an
adjoining house. The Ermine Street passes through this gate, running
north from it for eleven or twelve miles as straight as an arrow.
Many Roman coins and ornaments have been found in the immediate
vicinity of this gate. In the Cloister garden of the Cathedral are
preserved a tesselated pavement and the sepulchral slab of a Roman
warrior.
LONDON.--Londonum, Londinium, the Augusta of the Romans. _Llyn
Din_--the Black Llyn or Lake, or perhaps from Celto-Saxon _dun_, or
_don_--a hill fort. This fort may have been situated where abouts St.
Paul's now stands, or, in a more extended form, it may have been
constituted by Tower Hill, Cornhill, and Ludgate Hill; bounded thus
by the Thames on the South, the Fleet on the West, and the Fen of
Moorfields and Finsbury (afterwards by Hounsditch and the Tower) on
the East.
It must be premised that the course of the Thames, the containing
bounds, the depth of the stream, the character of the rivulets--such
as the Lea, the Fleet, Wall-brook, West-Bourne, Tye-Bourne--presented
marked differences in early historic days from the appearance they
show to-day. The sites north and south of the line where London
Bridge now stands constituted firm ground, with a tendency to an
elevation in the north. These facts determined the position of the
British settlement. At that part of the river the Britons had, if not
a ford, at least a ferry, and finally a rough bridge--perhaps of
coracles or boats--the progenitor of the noble structure now
existing. The ferry went from what is now Dowgate to a similar
opening still existing to the west of St. Saviour's, Southwark.
A British settlement of an early date would not now be thought to
deserve the name of town. No less an authority than Julius Caesar
tells us that it was nothing more than a thick wood, fortified with a
ditch and rampart, to serve as a place of retreat from the inroads of
enemies. At that time, we may, therefore, imagine a clearing carved
out of the forest, extending probably from the site of St. Paul's
Cathedral to that of the Bank of England, the dwellings of the
Britons being spread about the higher ground looking down upon the
river, including Tower Hill. At the time of the revolt of the Iceni,
the Roman governor, Paulinus Suetonius, being unable to make a stand,
abandoned London to Boadicea, who entirely destroyed the city, after
having massacred the inhabitants. We find London holding an important
place in the Antonine Itinerary, Londinium being a starting point for
nearly half the routes described in the portion devoted to Britain.
Traditionally, Constantine the Great walled the city, at the request
of his mother Helena, who is said to have been a native of Britain.
Probably we should place the northern wall somewhere along the course
of Cornhill[5] and Leadenhall Street; the eastern in the direction of
Billiter Street and Mark Lane; the southern in the line of Upper and
Lower Thames Streets; the western on the S.W. side of Walbrook. About
the centre of each side might be placed the four main gates,
corresponding with Bridge Gate, Ludgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate.
[Footnote 5: Perhaps somewhat to the north of the modern street. A
portion is to be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles, Cripplegate.]
The vision of Geoffrey of Monmouth of a great British city, Troy
Novant, founded by Brut, a descendant of Aeneas, must be relegated to
the limbo of myths. A more probable story is that one Belinus formed
a port or haven on the site of the present Billingsgate, though it
does not follow that he built a gate of wonderful structure, still
less that he built over it--as the story goes--a prodigiously large
tower. It should be noted that "gate" may not mean a gate at all in
the modern sense of the word, but only an opening or an entrance,
even as the "Yats" leading to the harbour of Yarmouth.[6] Mayhap this
settlement constituted the headquarters of Cassivellaunus, which were
taken and sacked by Julius Caesar. At all events, Tacitus (61-117
A.D.) the first Roman author who mentions London by name, speaks of
it as an important commercial centre. It had not, up to A.D. 61, been
dignified by the name of a Colony. A temple, dedicated to Diana,
appears to have stood on the site of our Eastminster, S. Paul's, and
another, to Apollo, at Westminster. When Tacitus wrote, Verulamium
and Camulodunum possessed mints, whilst London did not. The earliest
Roman London must have been a comparatively small place, with a fort
to command the passage of the Thames. Perhaps to the Romans are due
the primitive embankments which were designed to restrain the
vagaries of the river at the times of tide and flood. London Stone,
built into another stone in Cannon Street, outside the wall of St.
Swithin's Church, is generally considered to be a milliarium (to mark
so many thousand paces) or central station from which to measure
distances, but it may conceivably have had some more ancient and
peculiar designation in connection with a public or sacred building.
Old London lies 20 feet or so below the present street level, so
that, when excavations are made for any purpose, Roman remains are
frequently found and parts of the Roman wall uncovered.
[Footnote 6: In like manner we have Margate, Kingsgate, Westgate,
Ramsgate, Sandgate, &c., indicating probably sites where a passage
has been cut through the cliff by a stream or human agency.]
Remains--pavements, etc.--are to be seen in abundance in the
Guildhall Museum.
When the old General Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was
demolished a large series of Roman rubbish pits was disclosed. The
lowest portions of 120 of these were carefully excavated. The "finds"
included a few whole pots and many thousands of fragments of Samian
and coarse pottery, besides building materials, whetstones, beads,
knives, coins, and other small articles. It has been possible to
assign dates to most of the holes--between A.D. 50 and 200. By the
association in the same hole of datable with undatable pottery, light
has been thrown upon many types of the latter.
Not long ago, while the buildings 3-6 King William Street were being
demolished, another series of five large Roman pits was uncovered.
From the fragments obtained therefrom nine Samian vessels of the
first century have been pieced together, and are now in the Guildhall
Museum. These include a decorated vessel, finer than any previously
found in London, and two specimens of a shape unknown hitherto in
England. A lamp, two coins, and other objects of pottery and bronze
were also obtained from this source.[7]
[Footnote 7: Besant's _London_ and his _Westminster_ convey a
fascinating account of what was a labour of love on the part of the
author to compile. All sorts of unexpected pleasures await the
wanderer in London's highways and byeways. One of these may be
noticed in respect of the Roman bath in the Strand. Turning down
Strand Lane (a narrow passage between King's College and Surrey
Street), a few yards bring one to the baths. The lane itself is as
ancient as anything in London, inasmuch as it must have been in very
early times a path by the side of the stream fed by the bath spring,
and perhaps by the Holy Well, which afterwards gave its name to the
notorious Holywell Street, this stream finally flowing into the
Thames.]
It is a moot point whether the Saxon migration along the Thames
waterway was checked by the presence of London, which remained a city
stronghold since Roman times, but it is evident that a gap was made
in the history of the city just after the departure of the Romans,
and the theory of continuous occupation can hardly be maintained in
face of the fact that the mediaeval City streets in no case follow
the Roman roads traces of which lie beneath the mediaeval houses.
LYMPNE, or _Lemanae_.--Pevensey District, Anderida.
It is considered that Reculver was the earliest Roman coast-fortress
in Kent, that Richborough was founded somewhat later, and that Lympne
and Pevensey constituted the latest stations; also, that (probably
even before the time of Constantine) a division of the Romano-British
fleet was stationed at Lympne and a series of buildings erected by
their crews. When Romney Marshes were covered by an inland sea, and
many streams drained this eastern side of the Andred Forest, the
Romans established the military station Lemanae, at the estuary of
the chief of those streams, and defended it by the castrum, the ruins
of which are now known as Stutfall Castle. Some of the stones of this
castrum were used by Archbishop Lanfranc in the construction of a
church at Lympne.
MALDON, Essex.--Situated on an acclivity rising from the south side
of the Blackwater--44 miles E.N.E. of London, and 16 S.W. from
Colchester or Camulodunum, with which it has sometimes been
identified, or rather, confounded.
It is supposed to have received its name[8] (Cross Hill) from a cross
erected on the eminence. A large number of Roman remains have been
found in the neighbourhood, testifying to the importance of the place
during the time of their occupation. On the West side of the town
there are also traces of a large camp, which was doubtless utilized
by different bodies of invaders and settlers. The oldest historical
mention of Maldon is in 913, when Edward the Elder encamped near it
to oppose an incursion of the Danes.
[Footnote 8: Maldon may be a shortened form of a second
Ca_mul_odunum. _Dun_ would be a _hill-fortress_, and a cross being
erected thereon would give rise to the appellation _Cross Hill_.]
MANCHESTER.--180 miles N.W. of London. (Celtic _man_--a district).
It is situated in the neighbourhood of four rivers, viz., the Irwell,
Medlock, Irk, and Tib. It has been conjectured that at Castlefield
there stood a British fortress, which was afterwards taken possession
of by the soldiers of Agricola; at all events, it would appear to be
certain that a Roman Station of some importance existed in this
locality, as a fragment of a wall still exists. Even up to the end of
the eighteenth century considerable evidences of Roman occupation
were visible in and around Manchester, and from time to time in the
course of excavation (especially during the digging for the
Bridgewater Canal) old-time remains have been found. The coins
recovered were those of Vespasian, Antoninus Pius, Trajan, Hadrian,
Nero, Domitian, Vitellius, and even as late as the time of
Constantine. The period immediately succeeding the Roman occupation
is largely legendary; but up to the seventeenth century there was a
floating tradition that Tarquin, an enemy of Arthur, kept the castle
of Manchester, but was subsequently killed by Launcelot of the Lake.
The town was probably one of the scenes of the preaching of Paulinus,
the celebrated Bishop of York and of Rochester (597-644), and is said
to have been the residence of Ina, King of Wessex, and his queen,
Ethelburga, after he had defeated Ivor, in the year 689. It suffered
greatly from the ravages of the Danes. In Domesday Book, Manchester,
Salford, Rochdale, and Radcliffe are the only places named in
South-east Lancashire.
PORTSMOUTH.--74 miles S.W. of London.
To the north of the harbour is situated Porchester Castle, a ruined
Norman fortress occupying the site of the _Portus Magnus_ of the
Romans. Portsmouth and Southampton must have been used by the Romans
as a passage way to the Isle of Wight, where the remains of villas
show that the island furnished a place of residence for rich and
distinguished Romans.
RECULVER.