THE SOMERSET COAST AND THE PORT OF BRISTOL
You have already read of theSevern Sea and the two Holmswhich rise out of its waters, and twice you landed with the Hanes upon our shore. Now we will travel from east to west along the coast stopping at places of interest as we pass. But first we must pay a visit to the city of Bristol, an ancient port on the riverAvon, one of the boundaries between Gloucester and Somerset. Yet Bristol is in neither of these counties ; for being a place of great importance, it long ago received a charter making it a county to itself. Now Bristol is a very ancient place. Like Bath it was the site of a British town, and theRomans used it as a port. The Saxons called it Brigstow, which means Bridge-place, and this has changed into its present name. For centuries it was the largest port of the kingdom, with the exception of London, and it still has a valuable trade. The Bristol merchants were very rich and enterprising, and their Guild of Merchant Adventurers fitted out the expedition, commanded by John Cabot, which discovered Newfoundland. It also sent Sebastian Cabot upon his great voyage. But the history of Bristol commerce would fill a large volume, and hundreds of thrilling adventures might be told of Bristol seamen. Should you have a day to spend in Bristol there are many interesting things to see.
Brigstowe ; Bristol; Exactly when the city was founded is unknown. The earliest relic is a silver coin in the Royal Collection at Stockholm, Sweden. The coin bears the image ofEthelred Unrede(978 -1016) and was minted in Brigstowe (Bristol) by a man namedAelfweld.If Bristol was important enough to have a mint by 978 it must have been in existance sometime before then.It is fairly certain that no town existed here before577 AD.The reason being that in 577 two Saxon kings (Cuthwine and Ceawlin) fought and killed three British kings (Commail, Condidan and Farinmail) at a village called Dyrham near Pucklechurch, just outside of the present city. Although the towns of Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester are mentioned in the account of this battle, Bristol isn't mentioned at all, even though it would have been closer than those mentioned.Thus, Bristol was founded sometime between 577 and 978 AD. Even by this latter date the town was known to be dealing sending slaves to the Vikings in Dublin, Ireland.Bridges at this time were of vital importance. There are three reasons why Bristol, as a port, is situated 7 miles inland with access to ships up a very tortuous river. A bridge across the Avon nearer it's mouth would have been technologically very difficult, the land there was very prone to flooding and the town would have been very exposed to attack. Ships would make their way up the Avon until they reached Bristol Bridge and lay beached at low tide on the mud ready to be unloaded. Bristol before 1000 AD Bristol , the area enclosed by the Old City Walls)
The named streets are still in existence. Being built in the crook of theRiver Fromenext to the River Avon provided Bristol with near perfect protection. The building of a wall around the town further increased its fortifications. A walk around the area bounded by the old city walls -even though they don't exist now, except for the old St. John's Gate at the bottom of Broad Street -is a very pleasant way of spending an hour or so.
ORATION : The Court of Bricgstowe No. 75, 2nd April 2011 by W.& Em.Bro. Colin Lowther, Provincial Eminent Grand Prior Elect of Wessex ;Most Worshipful Grand Master, Worshipful Master, Worshipful Brethren, Brethren.Brethren, we are assembled here today in harmony and peace, and privileged to be present at, and to participate in, the consecration of the newestCourt of Athelstan,the sixth Court in theProvince of Wessex.
Brigstowe Court No. 75.
Bristol or is it Brigstowe, has a recorded history of over 1000 years. There is an unrecorded history going back to pre Roman times. It was a small market town or burgh from as early as the 10th Century and forming part of the Kingdom of Wessex. 1000 years has seen many changes. We meet here today in this ancient city and in this wonderful Masonic Temple. The Bristol we know today has grown from a small town into a thriving city. The original Kingdom of Wessex disappeared many years ago but the name Wessex lives on and we now have the Province of Wessex in theMasonic Order of Athelstan. The building in which we meet today is the Province of Bristol. All of the Orders and Degrees administered by the Province of Bristol meet in this one building. Craft, Royal Arch, Mark, Royal Ark Mariners and the Camp of Baldwyn. The Camp of Baldwyn holds a unique position in English Freemasonry. It incorporates in one body, five Royal Orders of Knighthood.
This building was acquired by the Province in 1872 and with the exception of a number of years following damage by enemy action in 1940, every meeting has been held within these walls.
As the Masonic Order of Athelstan, we are youngsters in the Masonic world. But our Order is based on foundations laid down when Bricgstowe was but a youngster. Ten Provinces each with Ten Courts. Representing, as near as possible, the original Kingdoms and Guilds as they were set up by King Athelstan during his reign as First King of the English. All this when Bristol was just a village near a bridge.
Since that date, there have been many changes. Bristol was granted a Royal Charter in 1155 and was granted County status in 1373 separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset. The Masonic Province of Bristol has as its boundary, the original city boundary.
The history of Bristol as a city and a Province is an inspiration to us all. 1460, William Canynge, Mayor of Bristol. St Mathyas Chapel being in ruins was this year erected by him into a Freemasons Hall. We have Canynge Lodge.
In 1497, John Cabot set sail from the port of Bristol and discovered North America. Bristol has Cabot Lodge and Cabot Chapter. In 1532, Robert and Nicholas Thorne founded the Bristol Grammar School. They have Robert Thorne Lodge.
John Whitson, in his will, left funds for the foundation of the Redmaids School, the oldest surviving girls school in England. They have Whitson Lodge. Edward Hodges Bailey, the Sculptor created the frieze above the main entrance to this building. His name is commerated by Baily Lodge. Colston, Brunel and Chatterton, all famous names with strong Bristol connections.
There are records of a Masonic Lodge in Bristol in 1725, the Nags Head Lodge No. 29. Not, I am sure named after a famous Bristolian but the hostelry in which they met.
1739 saw the first Methodist Chapel, the building still exists. 1771, Records of the Royal Sussex Lodge of Hospitality show that the Lodge was opened at half past eight and closed immediately with all due Harmony and Decorum.
In 1844 Brunel's SS Great Britain was launched, 1864, the Bristol Suspension bridge was built, both still here today and we finish the list with Concorde
.
The Province of Bristol was created in 1786 at the request of Brother Thomas Dunkerley. He was the first Provincial Grand Master for Bristol. There are now 36 Lodges in the Province of Bristol, all meeting in this wonderful building. During 1786, Dunkerley was also the Provincial Grand Master in five other Provinces.
However, we are assembled here today not to look back. We look to the future and the growth of the Masonic Order of Athelstan. As Court number 75 we represent a milestone in the history of the Order.
As Bricgstowe Court, we must always remember, although we meet in the heart of the Province of Bristol, we are not Bristol Masons, we are part of the Province of Wessex, meeting in this historic Bristol building. A building steeped in Masonic history.
Many of the founders of Bricgstowe Court are Bristol Masons, brought up on sound Bristol traditions. As members of the Order of Athelstan they will now see the fine precepts and disciplines on which the Order of Athelstan is founded
Built on solid foundations, the Order of Athelstan is growing month by month, year by year. The building bricks are being added one by one. As Bricgstowe Court, we are the 75th brick. It may not be very long before the 100th brick is laid and the building completed.
As Court Master Masons, we are inspired by our leaders. They lead from the front. They are here today to watch with interest as we are formed into a new Court. They will follow our progress as we grow from strength to strength and will attend our future meetings when time permits.
Right Worshipful Brother Malcolm Burns, Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Wessex will guide us and encourage us to make further advances in our Masonic knowledge.
Brethren, today we add the name of Bricgstowe Court number 75 to the register of the Grand Court of the Masonic Order of Athelstan in England, Wales and itsProvinces Overseas.
Let us go forth, inspired by the famous names that appear in the history of the city of Bristol.
May the Great Architect of the Universe bless you and forever guide and protect you.
The port of Abonae was an embarkation stage for troops going to Siluria. The campaign against the Durotriges and Dumnonii tribes.
Although it was recorded as suffering a defeat at the hands of the Silures in 52,the II Augusta proved to be one of the best legions,even after its disgrace during the uprising of queen Boudica,
when its praefectus castrorum, who was then its acting commander (its legatus and tribunes probably being absent when the governor Suetonius Paulinus), contravened Suetonius’ orders to join him and so later committed suicide.
After the defeat of Boudica,
the legion was dispersed over several bases; from 66 to around 74 it was stationed at Glevum , modern Gloucester , and then moved to Isca Augusta (modern Caerleon, building a stone fortress that the soldiers occupied until the end of the 3rd century. The legion also had connections with the camp at Alchester in Oxfordshire; stamped tiles record it in the 2nd century at ' Abonae ','Sea Mills', Bristol on the tidal shore of the Avon
Bristol the cleeve frenchay the river frome at the top of the hill
There is very little left of Bristol Castle, but at one time it was one of the largest Norman Keeps in the country.
It was important enough to be used in the city's coat of arms, which depicts a ship leaving the protection of the Water Gate. The story of the castle is the story of Bristol at the time. For this reason some of the material here is drawn from other parts of my site.
Bristol's Arms Bristol was founded sometime between 577 and 978 AD, nestled between the Rivers Frome and Avon, the waterways provided Bristol with near perfect protection. The building of a wall around the town further increased its fortifications.
It will become obvious why the castle was built, maintained and eventually demolished. This was not the time 'Merrie Olde Englande' - if such a thing ever existed. For hundreds of years British society was deeply divided, at the bottom were slaves, then there were the majority of the population - the half free, what the Normans called 'villeins'. These may or may not have had land or work of their own, but they all had an obligation to work for the Lords of the land - and pay taxes as well as or instead of work. This obligation also extended to going to war for the lords. At the top of society were the Lords and later the Bishops.
The Lords built the Castles and the Churches. They more or less had the priests in their pockets and between them the commoners were told what to do and how to act. Although laws were in existence, peoples day to day living was still dominated by tradition and custom.
Not only that, but practically everyone seemed to be want to be king. As one Lord fell out of favour then you can bet someone else was looking longingly at their possessions. This in turn to led to fighting which would involve whole towns and villages. To give an example, between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Black Death of 1348, England enjoyed only one period of domestic peace that lasted more than 30 years.
Britannia in the Ravenna Cosmography: a reassessment K J Fitzpatrick-Matthews
This does not solve the problem of why the Cosmographer should have seen Isca Dumnoniorum, Exeter, as a point at which to insert a break in his listing. The Peutinger Table may offer a clue: although Britain is severely truncated, with only East Anglia and Kent appearing on the surviving copy, Moridunum and Isca Dumnoniorum are also shown without any intervening south-coast places. It is possible that Isca Dumnoniorum was depicted as prominent in some way, perhaps isolated on a promontory or, as seems more likely, as the gateway to a peninsula (as suggested by Rivet & Smith 1979, 200). In this way the Cosmographer might have decided to break his text at a point which appeared dictated by the geography of the region. He does so further north, where his listing of the Antonine Wall forts occurs ‘where that same Britain is seen to be narrowest from sea to sea’ (ubi et ipsa britania plus angustissima de oceano in oceanum esse dinoscitur 10750 to 10751). Although this was not the primary reason for inserting a break at this latter point, the Cosmographer was clearly sensitive to the depicted shape of the island.
14
On the other hand, we should perhaps take into account the curious fact that the Civitas Dumnoniorum (basically the Cornish peninsula west of Exeter) appears to have been a part of Britain virtually unaffected by those changes to élite behaviour usually termed ‘romanisation’.
Is it possible that much of it lay outside provincial or diocesan control and that some kind of border was depicted on the Cosmographer’s map source as separating the south-western peninsula from the rest of Britain?In that case,Isca Dumnoniorum may have been prominent as a point of contact between the wilds of the far south-west and the more ‘civilised’ Durotriges (or Durotrages, following RIB 1673: the form of the name is very uncertain according to Rivet & Smith 1979, 352) to the east.
Inside this site the noted Roman areas do not seem to fit this revision with the one dig at Calstock
Group 1: the Cornish Peninsula V in qua britania plurimas fuisse ciuitates et castra legimus ex quibus aliquantas designare uolumus id est:
Giano Barnstaple ? 10546 Eltabo River Taw 10546 , Elconio River Torridge ? , 10547 Nemetotatio North Tawton 10547 Tamaris Launceston ? 10548
Puro coronauis ? 10548 Pilais ? 10549 Vernilis Liskeard ? 10549
Ardua rauenatone River Dart 10550
Deuionisso Statio ? 10551 deuentia steno Buckfastleigh Totnes ? 10551 , 10552 Duriarno Plymouth 10552
Vxelis Barnstaple ? 1061
Verteuia Land’s End 1061 = 1069
This group appears to take us on a general perambulation of the Cornish Peninsula and adjacent area.
*Fl Taua, the second name, is clearly the River Taw (Ekwall 1928, 394; Thomas 1966a, 87; Rivet & Smith 1979, 470). *Nemetostatio is probably the fort at North Tawton,which is in an area where a group of modern names containing the elements Nymet and Nemet are found (Rivet & Smith 1979, 425).The identification of *Fl Conio with Ptolemy’s Κενίωνος ποταμοῦ ἐκβολαί (Geography II.3,3) made by Rivet & Smith (1979, 306) must therefore be questioned as the general progression seems to be from north-east to southwest.It may refer the River Torridge, although this is a Celtic name, derived by Ekwall (1928, 414) from a Brittonic *Torric-, ‘violent, rough’.*Glano should therefore be somewhere in north Devon,perhaps in the vicinity of Barnstaple. Tamaris, the Ταμάρη of Ptolemy (II.3,13), is a site on the River Tamar (Ekwall 1928, 389), perhaps at the crossing at Launceston, not the river itself, as the name recurs in the list of river-names (10748). *Durocornouio and Pilais
Britannia in the Ravenna Cosmography: a reassessment K J Fitzpatrick-Matthews
cannot now be identified. Charles Thomas (1966a, 87) originally identified the former with The Rumps, a pre-Roman defended enclosure.
More recently, he suggested that it might be Tintagel, the site of an important sub-Roman trading settlement, although its Romano-British status is not clear (Harry & Morris 1997, 121). <Vernilis> may be the same as Ptolemy’s Οὐολίβα (Geography II.3,13), perhaps near Liskeard (Strang 1997, 30); the correct RomanoBritish form may have been *Verleua. The Cosmographer’s form would have arisen by way of a transposition of -l- and -u-, the latter being miscopied as -n-.
The next name must be for *Fl Deruentione, the River Dart, so the Cosmographer’s eye may have moved from travelling along the spine of Cornwall, following the poorly known road along the centre of the peninsula, and he has possibly now turned his attention to the road south from Exeter, closer to the south Devon coast. Deuionisso Statio and Deruentio Statio , which are wrongly divided in the text are probably unlocated Roman government establishments, perhaps tax offices.
The latter may have lain in the Dart valley , Dart being Brittonic *Deruentiu: perhaps at Buckfastleigh or Totnes, and the former perhaps near Newton Abbot or elsewhere on the River Teign.
damnonia has a few exras to observe waterways have the answer to all the doubts in this old review Iscas and taintona will give you clues
The next name, Duriarno, is probably not the same as Durnouaria (Dorchester),as suggested by Rivet & Smith (1979, 345) following Horsley (1732, 490),since it is probably not corrupt (compare the Arnodurum quoted by Williams (Richmond & Crawford 1949, 32),which shows the more usual ‘continental’ ordering of elements).
Instead,it may be the name of a site in the vicinity of Plymouth where the inhumation cemetery at Mount Batten and a sequence of coins attest a settlement of some importance (Thomas 1966a, 86).
Uxelis is too far west to be the same as Ptolemy’s Οὔξελλα (II.3, 13), which must be on the River Parrett, his Οὐεξάλλα εἴσχυσις (II.3,2), and may be a site or river in Cornwall, perhaps the Fowey or the Fal, unless it is an example of a name written to the west of its symbol on the map source. If this is the case, then it may have been near Barnstaple (Strang 1997, 30). Group 2: the south Devon and Cornish coast Melamoni Sidford ? 1062 = 1064/1069/10613
Scadumnamorum Exeter 1062
Termonin ? 1063
Mesteuia Land’s End 1063 = 1061
The mention of Moridunum, Sidford ?, for the first time indicates a change of direction, and there are now hints of an ordering of names with a general progression from east to west. The -l- for -r- in Moridunum is also found in the next section; it may be that the name was very difficult to read in the Cosmographer’s source. It is unlikely to have occurred as a result of misreading two separate documents, further evidence for the essential unity of the Cosmographer’s sources. The unlocated *Terminum would have been somewhere between Exeter and Land’s End, an admittedly imprecise location. The River Gowy in Cheshire was formerly known as the aqua de Tervin (‘water of Tarvin’) in 1209, the name deriving from the Latin terminus, ‘boundary’, via Welsh Terfyn (Dodgson 1970, 26), which has been retained by a large parish and village. Although the origin of the latter name is generally sought in the post-Roman politics of the region (Bu’Lock 1972, 24), it is probable that the River Gowy was the eastern boundary of the prata legionis of the fortress at Chester. Could a similar origin be suggested for this name, at the western boundary of the prata legionis of the early fortress at Exeter or the territorium of the later capital of the Civitas Dumnoniorum?
16
Group 3:
Somerset ? Milidunum Sidford ? 1064=1062/1069/10619
Apaunaris Bath ? 1064
Masona Camerton? 1065
Alouergium Shepton Mallett 1065
The Cosmographer returns to Moridunum, with the same peculiarl- for -r- as in the previous group, and a similarly logical ordering of names (this time jumping north-eastward and then working back to the starting-point). Rivet & Smith (1979, 255) identify Apaunaris with Aquae Sulis, Bath, perhaps correctly, so the two remaining names may relate to sites between Bath and Sidford.
<Masona> suggests a name derived from that of a river, although which cannot now be ascertained; it perhaps refers to the small town at Camerton.The name is corrupt. Alobergium should be in a hilly location, probably near the Mendip Hills at Shepton Mallett, where parts of a Romano-British small town have recently been identified.
Neolithic, Beaker and “ Food Vessel : sherds from Rowberrow Cavern will be described later, were near it.With the pottery was a service of Hint implements wrought by shallow scaling, including part of a polished tool and barbed stone arrowheads.
But undoubtedly the important feature of the industry here found was the presence of , pygmy flints though not quite the same as the earlier
pygmies from King Arthur’s Cave they are probably derived from the Arthursian industry.
They suggest that the indwellers in Rowberrow Cavern were the descendants of men who dwelt in Britain in y. lardenoisian times.
They in turn perhaps were derived from the
cave men of Old Stone Age.
Cheddar, has also produced an association of round
bottomed Neolithic pottery, sherds of Beaker-ware, finely scaled flint implements and small fragments of a polished axe.
Soldier’s Hole in Cheddar Gorge has so far given us a set of stone implements including a polished axe and a chipped stone spear-head.
The most significant Neolithic site m this district was found by the Somerset Archaeological Society under an overhanging rock in. Chelm’s Combe, Cheddar, where round bottomed bowls and the bones of the men who used them had survived. One of the bowls is of a Spanish type.
The Neolithic men who dwelt in these seven caves had domestic beasts, but they hunted freely to augment their food stocks.
Neolithic Man.
The description of the Palaeolithic man of Aveline’s Hole and Gough’s Cave could be used for the men from the Gloucestershire and Somersetshire long barrows and from Chelm’s Combe without much amending.
Perhaps the main difference is that the long-barrow men had narrower faces than the cave men.Judging by the skeletons we have there is no reason to suppose that the long-barrow men were other than the descendants of the cave men.
But this is a theory that needs testing by research in transitional stations.
A skull was taken from Bisley long-barrow upon which the dangerous and delicate surgical operation of trepanning had been successfully performed.
It has been asserted that the Megalithic culture was carried across Europe by traders from the Near East who were in quest of gold, amber and pearls. They were dark broad-heads, and are known as Prospectors. Professor Fleure has discovered in Pembroke and South Cardigan, where Megaliths are numerous, numbers of men who may be their descendants.
Never the less, no oriental Neolithic objects have appeared in the West of England and, moreover, the skeletons from the long-barrows all appear to belong to the distinctive native type.
At this period it is probable that work began on the gold bearing gravel of Wicklow.
For centuries this was the most important gold-field in Europe and this may account for the enormous number of flint axes and early bronze implements found in Ireland. But there are few signs of the gold trade in these parts. >
Trade there was:
no one can walk across a ploughed field on Mendip without discovering a flint implement or flake.
No flint is found naturally in the district, therefore, the presence of such enormous quantities on the land is testimony of settled conditions and an interchange of commodities in the New Stone and Bronze Ages.
Die Megalithie stage certainly lasted into the early Bronze Age;
the occurrence of Beaker-ware with Neolithic pottery is good evidence of that.
Stonehenge itself was raised after the close of the New Stone Age. It is now well-known that the inner circle of blue stones was brought thence from Pembrokeshire. Perhaps they were ferried across the Severn estuary to Uphill or Worlehury and toiled along Mendip to the Wiltshire Downs by devout herdsmen.
Merlin s Cave, Symond's Vat.
No doubt there were all along tares mingled with the wheat. The Church of the first three centuries was never, except perhaps on the day of Pentecost, in an absolutely ideal condition.
But yet during the ages of persecution, the Church
as a whole was visibly an unworldly institution.
It was a spiritual empire in recognized antagonism with the world-empire.But from the time of the conversion of Constantine, a .d . 312, and still more completely from the time of Theodosius the Great, a d 379 , the Church and . the world seemed, in some respects at any rate, to have made terms with each other.The world, without ceasing to be the world, was no longer outside, but had been admitted within the sacred enclosure.And that Roman world of the fourth century, what a detestable world it was ! On this point Christian writers of every school seem to be agreed.The fervent and eloquent Roman Catholic Montalembert quotes and adopts the words of the Protestant Guizot, who says, “ The sovereigns and the immense majority of the people had embraced Christianity;but at bottom civil society was pagan; it retained the institutions, the laws, and the manners of paganism.It was a society which paganism, and not Christianity, had made.” 1 Montalembert adds that “ this paganism . . . was paganism under its most degenerate form . , . Nothing,” he says, “ has...............
ever equalled the abject condition of the Romans of
the empire. . . . With the ancient freedom, all virtue,
all manliness disappeared.
There remained only a society of officials, without strength, without honour,
and without rights. . . . We must acknowledge that
in this so-called Christian society, the moral poverty
is a thousand times greater than the material, and
that servitude has crushed souls more than bodies.
Everything is enervated, attenuated, and decrepit.
Not a single great man, nor illustrious individual
rises to the surface of that mire. Eunuchs and sophists of the court govern the state without control,
experiencing no resistance but from the Church.”
These last words guard Montalembert’s meaning.
He is speaking of civil society, which was now nominally inside the Church; but, side by side with this Christianized paganism, the Church still handed on the glorious traditions which had been bequeathed to her by the age of the martyrs.
Though it may be true that the civil society of the fourth and fifth centuries produced no great men, yet the hierarchy the Church produced a galaxy of heroes.
Let me state only five, Saint Athanasius, Saint Basil , Saint Ambrose,
Saint Christostum and Saint Augustine. A religious instil tion which can produce such splendid names is
full of life; but nevertheless the
Ohurch whioh had admitted the world within her
precincts, was in a very different condition from the
Church during the first three centuries of her
I op. eit., pp. 264, 269, 271, 272,
1 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilization en France, leot. ii., quoted in
Montalembert’s Monks of the West (English tram, 1861, i. 263).
silchesterHistoric Scenes along the Norwich Road By Charles G. Harper Historian of the British Highways Chapter XL1VThe old coaching road to Norwich,
the present admirable highway, is measured from Whitechapel Church, and is 111. 1/2 miles in length.In Aldgate High Street were once a number of coaching inns.The most famous of these, the Bull, was kept in its most prosperous period by the widowed Mrs. Ann Nelson. It gave up business in 1869, and all the others are gone, too. We hear much in dispraise of the East End of London, chiefly by those who know little of it.The Whitechapel Road and portions of the Mile End Road are inhabited, it is true, largely by aliens, but the generous width of the road here is something that other exits from London cannot boast.Passing the picturesque Trinity Almshouses for decayed sailormen, we come to Bow. It is properly “ Stratford-le-Bow,” but in these hurried days we have not time for all that.The old church stands islanded in the midst of the road, with a bronze statue of Mr. W. E. Gladstone, set up in his lifetime, in front of it. “ Strat-ford,” the “ street ford ”— that is to say, the ford on the old Roman road, acquired the additional “ le-Bow ” when the first bridge was built there, over the river Lea, at the suggestion of the good Queen Maud, consort of Henry I. The arch (arc) or “ bow ” of a bridge was thought then so remarkable that it gave a name to the place. We do not, in these latter days, leave London’s suburbs behind until Ilford is passed and Romford, twelve and a half miles from Whitechapel, is entered. Whether the name of “ Romford ” derives from “ the Roman ford ” or a ford on a stream called the Rom has not been decided ;but no doubt can exist at all in the traveller’s mind as to what is the leading industry of the town, for the huge brewery sufficiently informs him. This is Essex, and that county usually is thought to be flat. That is a popular illusion. The road from Romford to Brentwood, which is very hilly, clearly demonstrates this The Fleece inn, on the way, is a picturesque old hostelry, and in Brentwood town itself the White Hart keeps in its yard some remains of an older house. An obelisk and an old elm-tree in the main street mark the spot where William Hunter was burnt in the Marian persecution of 1555. Brentwood stands on a lofty ridge, whence we descend past Shenfield to Mountnessing, with a picturesque windmill on the left. The original village was one mile away to the right, where the ancient church is situated. Two miles along the road comes Ingatestone, a village of one long and narrow street, very old-world, and with a red brick church that does by no means look its age, which exceeds four centuries. Within is the monument of that Sir William Petre who was, in the reign of Henry VIII, enriched with the manor of Tngatestone. His old home, plundered from the nuns of Barking, is Ingatestone Hall, whose quaint entrance gateway is on the right. The hall is the scene of Miss Braddon’s novel entitled “ Lady Audley’s Secret.” Forward to Margaretting— i.e. “ Margaret’s Meadow.” The Margaret thus honoured is the saint to whom the church is dedicated. Hence, past the long wall of Hylands Park, we enter Chelmsford, past Widford and Moulsham. Chelmsford, early in the nineteenth century, so modernised itself, that little of the older town remains. The parish church has in recent years become the cathedral of a new diocese, and the prison at Springfield, at the farther end of Chelmsford, after being used as a prison for Germans during the Great War, has now been devoted to other purposes. Apart from that inimical establishment, Springfield is a pretty village, lately expanded into a suburb of Chelmsford. It gives a name to the town of Springfield, Massachusetts. Beyond this are the lodges of New Hall, which was new in the fifteenth century. It is now a convent. On the right is Bore- ham House, with a long and impressive vista formed by an avenue of noble elms and a lake. Here is preserved the carriage used by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. The old-world village of Boreham, embowered amid lime-trees, ishidden away from the road, on the right. Through the quaint village of Hatfield Peverel we come to Witham, whose oldest part lies off to the left, at Chipping Hill, where the church stands within the cincture of a prehistoric camp, later occupied by the Romans. Thence we go to Kelvedon, through Riven- hall. All around Kelvedon the Essex industry of seed-growing is largely followed. At Kelvedon that famous preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, was born in 1834, at a cottage in the main street which afterwards became the Wheatsheaf inn. Approaching Colchester, through the pretty village of Lexden, we come into a district rich in Romano- British history. For Colchester, the “ Colonia Camu- lodunum ” of the Roman occupation of Britain for close upon five centuries, was, after “ Verulamium,” the most important of Roman cities, and wears even to-day the marks of that forceful people. The entrance to Colchester is singular. From the straight road through its modern suburbs it makes the sharpest of turns to the left, and thus enters the precincts of the ancient walled town. A good deal of the Roman walls remain, notably in Balkerne Lane, where the church of S. Mary-on-the-Wall stands. But the most spectacular object in Colchester is a something that is by no means Roman. It is “Jumbo.”WHERE THE NORWICH ROAD LEAVES LONDON BY ALDGATE AND BOW CHURCH Aldgate High Street is now a busy and rather dingy thoroughfare.Most of its antiquities disappeared in wholesale rebuilding from about 1860 onwards.In the fourteenth century the district,which took its name from one of the city gates, was called Ale Gate, and Stow, the great London historian, spells it Ealdegate. Being very near the royal residence of the Tower, it was once an aristocratic part of London. Bow Church (top) is not to be confused with its namesake in Cheapside.Bow is properly Stratford-le-Bow, bow meaning a bridge.
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
The materials produced are quite unlike the early Roman pottery usually found, which has much Belgic influence. Wollaston
in the 2nd century, and soon became surrounded by suburban ‘overspill’. In the large areas between these were very many villa-farms and smaller steads.
The villa-farms generally occupied only a few acres, and so are too small to be called villages, but were rather larger than single-family modern farms. They supported the Roman Imperial economy by cattle-rearing and agriculture.
Many farms were superimposed on previous Belgic or Iron Age farm sites, and probably to a certain extent used the same field systems and employed the original Celtic populace as labourers.
Proof of a continuity of Iron Age traditions came from the various hut-circle ditches found on Roman sites. At Wollaston, off Hinwick Road, a hut circle of diameter 40 feet with an entrance 13 feet wide had an off-centre hearth made of two large roofing tiles. Both of these tiles had numerals incised on them before firing. In the ditch was a large quantity of early 2nd century a.d. pottery44.
At Deanshanger, similar penannular ditches were found46.
Gravel workings at Ringstead revealed a hut circle underlying a stone-built circular structure 30 feet in diameter46. The most complicated stone examples known in the neighbourhood are at Bozeat. One, dating from the early 3rd century, is 48 feet in diameter with four central pier, or post, bases and a few cross walls47.
Only a few such structures are known, and the plan is near-identical with an Iron Age wooden structure at Little Woodbury, Wilts., dating from c. 300 B.C.48. At an estate south of Bozeat High Street there is another site with circular buildings, also of the 3rd century49. Examples have also been discovered in Oxfordshire50.
Villa-farms are certainly the norm of the many Romano-British sites scattered over the whole of Northamptonshire. A few of them had central heating, bath suites, mosaic floors, and painted walls. At Easton Maudit, trial excavations revealed a substantial building with hypocaust box tiles (used to conduct hot air along the walls) and a crude mosaic floor. This was substantially built with a layer of hard-core supporting firm mortar which supported a white very hard plaster in which the stones were embedded. Instead of a design composed of different coloured stones, the floor was made of small stones with a design painted on. Recently a fine floor has been discovered at Thenford61. Several have been known for many years, e.g. those at Nether Heyford noted by Morton (in 1712) and by the Victoria County History.
Bath suites are usually only recognized by large scale excavation. Total excavation of a villa at Brixworth, north of the church, revealed a complicated bath suite with hot and cold compartments52.
At least two of the Roman sites known at Wollaston seem likely to have been villas, according to the debris in the top soil. A fine aerial photograph of the villa site near Cut-Throat Bridge shows the plan, with a corridor and series of rooms, and some surrounding enclosures.
Painted wall-plaster does not survive in ploughsoil, and so is only known at those sites that have been excavated. At the Brixworth villa several motifs were recovered, and at the housing estate at Bozeat a considerable quantity of fine quality 3rd-century plaster survived in the building debris.
Of the Roman towns there is a very imperfect plan of Chester made by Baker, vicar of Hargrave, in 1879, showing various buildings including a temple. In the 1920s and 1930s many rich finds were found during ironstone quarrying in the cemetery east of the town. These now seem to be lost for the most part, except for some bowls in Northampton Museum. Aerial photographs show the road-plan of Chester to consist of winding lanes rather than the usual grid pattern. These probably represent a continuity from an Iron Age settlement53.
Excavation and aerial photographs at Castor have led to the compilation of a very complicated plan, but again outside the town proper, and not at all regular54.
Of Roman industry there are many remains, principally relating to potters. The invading legions brought with them their own potters, who operated wherever the military was stationed. Such a site has recently been found at Longthorpe. The materials produced are quite unlike the early Roman pottery usually found, which has much Belgic influence. Early kilns, dating from the late 1st century, have been found under the circular buildings at Bozeat. The area of the Nene valley east of Northampton was the centre of an early industry; this, however, later became less important. In later Roman times, the area north of the town of Durobrivae in the parish of Castor was the centre of a very large pottery. The main products were colour-coated wares, often with fine relief designs, finished in white on a black or red background. This pottery was traded throughout the country.
The other industry practised in the south and north of the county was iron smelting. Large areas of black dense slag can be found in fields in the old Rockingham Forest. Each represents a bloomery site where iron was smelted. Some of these sites are several miles away from the nearest ironstone because it was easier to carry the ore to the wooded areas where charcoal was made. This was because the ratio of iron to charcoal needed is about 1:5. Recent excavations of a slag patch at Wakerley55 showed the small clay furnace to be quite miniscule, about 9 inches in diameter. Analysis of the slag shows that no flux was used, and much iron remains as dense black silicate.
Industry and agriculture meet in the process of corndrying. The sitesio Wollaston
in the 2nd century, and soon became surrounded by suburban ‘overspill’. In the large areas between these were very many villa-farms and smaller steads. The villa-farms generally occupied only a few acres, and so are too small to be called villages, but were rather larger than single-family modern farms. They supported the Roman Imperial economy by cattle-rearing and agriculture. Many farms were superimposed on previous Belgic or Iron Age farm sites, and probably to a certain extent used the same field systems and employed the original Celtic populace as labourers.
Proof of a continuity of Iron Age traditions came from the various hut-circle ditches found on Roman sites. At Wollaston, off Hinwick Road, a hut circle of diameter 40 feet with an entrance 13 feet wide had an off-centre hearth made of two large roofing tiles. Both of these tiles had numerals incised on them before firing. In the ditch was a large quantity of early 2nd century a.d. pottery44.
At Deanshanger, similar penannular ditches were found46. Gravel workings at Ringstead revealed a hut circle underlying a stone-built circular structure 30 feet in diameter46. The most complicated stone examples known in the neighbourhood are at Bozeat. One, dating from the early 3rd century, is 48 feet in diameter with four central pier, or post, bases and a few cross walls47.
Only a few such structures are known, and the plan is near-identical with an Iron Age wooden structure at Little Woodbury, Wilts., dating from c. 300 B.C.48. At an estate south of Bozeat High Street there is another site with circular buildings, also of the 3rd century49. Examples have also been discovered in Oxfordshire50.
Villa-farms are certainly the norm of the many Romano-British sites scattered over the whole of Northamptonshire.
A few of them had central heating, bath suites, mosaic floors, and painted walls.At Easton Maudit, trial excavations revealed a substantial building with hypocaust box tiles (used to conduct hot air along the walls) and a crude mosaic floor.This was substantially built with a layer of hard-core supporting firm mortar which supported a white very hard plaster in which the stones were embedded. Instead of a design composed of different coloured stones, the floor was made of small stones with a design painted on. Recently a fine floor has been discovered at Thenford61. Several have been known for many years,
e.g. those at Nether Heyford noted by Morton (in 1712) and by the Victoria County History.
Bath suites are usually only recognized by large scale excavation. Total excavation of a villa at Brixworth, north of the church, revealed a complicated bath suite with hot and cold compartments.
At least two of the Roman sites known at Wollaston seem likely to have general plan and some details of every great work of art, of ruinous or entire, before the mind can properly apply which belong to it. In Stonehenge this especially necessary; for however the imagination by the magnitude of those masses of stone which in their places, by the grandeur even of the fragments or broken in 'their fall, by the consideration of the vast required to bring such ponderous substances to this desolate spot, and by surmise of the nature of the mechanical skill by which they were lifted up and placed in order and proportion, it is not till the entire plan is fully comprehended that we can properly surrender ourselves to the contemplations which belong to this remarkable scene. It is then, when we can figure to ourselves a perfect structure, composed of such huge materials symmetrically arranged, and possessing, therefore, that beauty which is the result of symmetry, that we can satisfactorily look back through the dim light of history or tradition to the object for which such a structure was destined. The belief now appears tolerably settled that Stonehenge was a temple of the Druids. It differs, however, from all other Druidical remains, in the circumstance that greater mechanical art was employed in its construction, especially in the superincumbent stones of the outer circle and of the trilithons, from
which it is supposed to derive its name; stan being the Saxon for a stone, and henge to hang or support. From this circumstance it is maintained that Stonehenge is of the very latest ages of Druidism;
and that the Druids that wholly belonged to the ante-historic period followed the example of those who observed the command of the law : “ If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build
it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” (Exodus, chap. xx.) Regarding Stonehenge as a work of masonry and architectural proportions, Inigo Jones came to the
conclusion that it was a Roman Temple of the Tuscan order. This was an architect’s dream. Antiquaries, with less of taste and fancy that Inigo Jones, have had their dreams also about Stonehenge,
almost as wild as the legend of Merlin flying away with the stones from the Curragh of Kildare. Some attribute its erection to the Britons after the invasion of the Romans. Some bring it down to as recent a period as that of the usurping Danes. Others again carry it back to the early days of the Phoenicians. The first notice of Stonehenge is found in the writings of Nennius, who lived in the ninth century of the Christian era. He says that at the spot where Stonehenge stands a conference was held between Hengist and Vortigern, at which Hengist treacherously murdered four
hundred and sixty British nobles, and that their mourning survivors erected the temple to commemorate the fatal event. Mr. Davies, a modern writer upon Celtic antiquities, holds that Stonehenge was the place of this conference between the British and Saxon
princes, on account of its venerable antiquity and peculiar sanctity.
There is a passage in Diodorus Siculus, quoted from Hecataeus, which
describes a round temple in Britain dedicated to A p ollo; and this
Mr. Davies concludes to have been Stonehenge. By another
writer, Dr. Smith, Stonehenge is maintained to have been “ the
grand orrery of the Druids,” representing, by combinations of its
stones, the ancient solar year, the lunar month, the twelve signs of
the zodiac, and the seven planets. Lastly, Stonehenge has been
pronounced to be a temple of Budha, the Druids being held to be a
race of emigrated Indian philosophers.
Startling as this last assertion may appear to be, a variety of facts
irresistibly lead to the conclusion that the circles, the stones of
memorial, the cromlechs, and other monuments of the highest antiquity in these islands, have a distinct resemblance to other monuments of the same character scattered over Asia and Europe, and
even found in the New World, which appear to have had a common
origin. In Great Britain and Ireland, in Jersey and Guernsey, in
France, in Germany in Denmark and Sweden, such monuments
are found extensively dispersed. They are found also, though more
rarely in the Netherlands. Portugal, and M alta in Gozo and
Phoenicia. But their presence is also unquestionable in Malabar,
in India, in Palestine, in Persia. Figures 7 and 8 represent a
Druidical circle, and a single upright stone standing alone near the
circle, which are described by Sir William Ouseley
him at Darab, in the province of Fars. in
are copied from those in Sir William Ouseley
them upon the same page with the
If we had obliterated the Oriental figures
might easily receive them as
from another point of view. The
book W e have
the general arrangement of Stonehenge, and other similar monuments of Europe, led Sir William Ouseley to the natural conclusion that a “ British Antiquary might be almost authorised to pronounce it Druidical, according to the general application of the word
among us.” A t Darab there is a peculiarity which is not found at
Stonehenge, at least in its existing state. Under several of the
stones there are recesses, or small caverns. In this particular, and
in the general rudeness of its construction, the circle of Darab
resembles the Druidical circle of Jersey (9),. although the circle
there is very much smaller, and the stones o f very inconsiderable
dimensions,— a copy in miniature of such vast works as those o f
Stonehenge and Avebury. This singular monument, which was
found buried under the earth, was removed some fifty years ago by
General Conway, to his seat near Henley, the stones being placed
in his garden according to the original plan.
When we open the great store-house not only of divine truth but
of authentic history, we find the clearest record that circles of stone
were set up for sacred and solemn purposes. The stones which
were taken by Joshua out o f the bed of the Jordan, and set up in
Gilgal, supply the most remarkable example. The name Gilgal
itself signifies a circle. Gilgal subsequently became a place not only
of sacred observances, but for the more solemn acts of secular
government. It was long a controversy, idle enough as ‘'such
controversies generally are, whether Stonehenge was appropriated
to religious or to civil purposes. I f it is to be regarded as a
Druidical monument, the discussion is altogether needless; for the
Druids were, at one and the same time, the ministers of religion,
the legislators, the judges, amongst the people. The account which
Julius Caesar gives of the Druids of Gaul, marked as it is by his
usual clearness and sagacity, may be received without hesitation
as a description of the Druids of Britain : for he says, “ the system
of Druidism is thought to have been formed in Britain, and from
thence carried over into Gaul ; and now those who wish to be more
accurately versed in it for the most part go thither (/. e. to Britain)
in order to become acquainted with it.” Nothing can be more explicit than his account of the mixed office of the Druids: “ They
are the ministers o f sacred things; they have the charge o f sacrifices, both public and private ; they give directions for the ordinances of religious worship (religiones interpretantur). A great
number of young men resort to them for the purpose of instruction
in their system, and they are held in the highest reverence. For it
is they who determine most disputes, whether of the affairs of the
state or of individuals: and if any crime has been committed, if a
man has been slain, if there is a contest concerning an inheritance
or the boundaries of their lands, it is the Druids who settle the
matter: they fix rewards and punishments : if any one, whether in
an individual or public capacity, refuses to abide by their sentence,
they forbid him to come to the sacrifices. This punishment is among
them very severe; those on whom this interdict is laid are accounted among the unholy and accursed ; all fly from them, and
shun their approach and their conversation, lest they should be injured by their very touch ; they are placed out of the pale of the
law, and excluded from all offices of honour.” After noticing that
a chief Druid, whose office is for life, presides over the rest, Csesar
mentions a remarkable circumstance which at once accounts for the
selection of such a spot as Sarum Plain, for the erection of a great
national monument, a temple, and a seat of justice :— “ These
Druids hold a meeting at a certain time of the year in a consecrated
spot in the country of the Carnutes (people in the neighbourhood
of Chartres), which country is considered to be in the centre of all
Gaul. Hither assemble all from every part who have a litigation,
and submit themselves to their determination and sentence.” A t
Stonehenge, then, we may place the seat of such an assize. There
were roads leading direct over the plain to the great British towns
of Winchester and Silchester. Across the plain, at a distance not
exceeding twenty miles, was the great temple and Druidical settlement of Avebury. The town and hill-fort of Sarum was close at itv.
hand (23). Over the dry chalky downs, intersected by a few streams
easilv forded, mig ht pilgrims resort from all the surrounding
The seat of justice which was also the seat of the highest
unity, would necessarily be rendered as magnificent
Id accomplish. Stonehenge might be o f a later
:Lan Avebury, with its mighty circles and long avenues o f
tu.Iars : but it might also be of the same period,— the one
. sned by its vastness, the other by its beauty of proportion,
sriee executed in that judgment-seat was, according to
:e?timonv. bloodv a
Rivers and navigable creeks, p. 36. Tamar, Lynher, p. 38. Tide, or Tidi, p. 40. Seaton, ib.
Loo, or Eaft-Loo, ibid. ProfpoCt of Loo Bridge," ib. Duloo, or Weft Loo river, p. 41. fawy, ib.
Fal, 42, and it’s harbour. Hel, or Heyl river in Kerricr, p. 43. Lo or Low river in Kerrier, p 44.
A1
Heyl in Penwith, ibid. Ganal creek, p. 45. River Alan, al Lamel, ibid. Wade navigable rivers in
may be made notbeneficial, p. 47. Subject: to obftrudtions, p. 49.
