Archaeology: The Romano-British Period

THE ROMANO-BRITISH PERIOD

Maps of Roman Britain, such as that produced by the Ordnance Survey, show no finds or settlements in Middlesex. Intensive fieldwork since 1956 has produced many items, listed in the gazetteer, but the distribution pattern remains thin and difficult to explain on evironmental grounds. However, the area was certainly in early contact with Roman London and it seems possible that, even earlier, Julius Caesar may have campaigned in the area. Extended discussion, however, has failed to establish with certainty the point at which Caesar crossed the Thames during the second invasion of 54 B.C. or that the line of his march lay through Middlesex. Various places between Westminster and Kingston have been suggested. (fn. 1) Stakes found in the Thames (fn. 2) and archaeological finds from all periods have caused several scholars to suggest Brentford as the most likely crossing (fn. 3) but this view is by no means widely accepted. The stakes may be parts of medieval fish traps.

Caesar then marched (fn. 4) possibly directly towards Hertfordshire to grapple with Cassivellaunus who had dismissed all his forces except about 4,000 chariots. (fn. 5) These were used to harry the Romans, darting from the shelter of the woods in which the Britons had hidden their families and cattle. The Roman cavalry were able to plunder and devastate the fields. All this implies that the territory through which Caesar passed was far from wild, desolate, or trackless. (fn. 6)

One may wonder at the nature of a landscape which enabled chariots to deploy in or near woods, and Caesar's observations are not easily correlated with known topographical details of early Middlesex. (fn. 7) The Trinobantes of Essex are known to have come to terms with the Romans and Caesar's troops were forbidden to harm them. (fn. 8) If this arrangement is to be interpreted as a means of safeguarding Caesar's right flank, the advance probably lay through eastern Middlesex, perhaps following the Lea. All that is certain is that, probably only a few days after crossing the Thames, Caesar defeated the Britons, perhaps somewhere near St. Albans (Verulamium). (fn. 9) Nothing further is known of the campaign.

The Romans under Aulus Plautius again crossed the Thames in A.D. 43 in advance of the Emperor Claudius. Subsequently the area later known as London was quickly Romanized. Recent modifications in the story of Roman London, such as the discovery of a fort in Cripplegate, or even the backdating of the Boudiccan revolt from A.D. 61 to A.D. 60, have, however, little effect on the present conception of Roman Middlesex set out below.

Roman occupation as shown on the map (which excludes the City of London and Westminster) indicates, first, east and west spreads from London (Londinium) consisting entirely of extramural burials. Roadside burials were customary, but inhumations do not necessarily imply the existence of a road. The 2nd- or 3rd-century burial at Hampstead, for example, might be better interpreted as being near a dwelling. Apart from the area outside the city the largest concentration of burials with some evidence of associated settlement is found around Enfield, perhaps chiefly on the west side of Ermine Street. Finds from this area, which include coins, pottery, lamps, and many other objects, cover virtually the entire Roman period. At Churchfield, Edmonton, evidence of a small settlement has been found and at Parkfield, Potters Bar, a kiln and settlement were excavated. There may have been a settlement at Acton, and near Old England there seems to have been a small complex of waterside huts. (fn. 10) Tiles and nails found in the Brentford reach of the Thames suggest more substantial buildings and may mark one of the larger settlements in south-west Middlesex. Staines, thought to be the Pontes of the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti (3rd century), which was 22 miles from London and clearly a crossing of the Thames, has not yielded many Roman remains, although the unexpected discovery in 1961 of Romano-British sherds at Yeoveney on the site of a Neolithic causewayed camp may indicate that much still awaits discovery. Excavations at Brockley Hill, Stanmore, have yielded evidence of continuous occupation from Belgic times until the 4th century A.D. Kilns were brought into use here between A.D. 70 and 80 and Brockley Hill is thought to be the Sulloniacae of the Antonine Itinerary and associated with the mortarium stamp of SULLONIAC found at Corbridge (Northumb.). (fn. 11) Mortaria stamps of the potters Matugenus and A. Terentius Ripanus have been found, suggesting that they worked here as well as in Lyons (?Lugudunum) where they are known to have had kilns. (fn. 12)

Reports of excavations at Brockley Hill suggest nearby ploughland, (fn. 13) and there is little doubt that the Romano-British site at Yeoveney and the settlement noted by S. S. Frere at Shepperton were agricultural. Little farming equipment has, however, survived. One coulter of unknown provenance but from a collection containing many Thames finds may be from the Middlesex stretch of the river. (fn. 14) Middlesex has in the past been the subject of research for evidence of centuriation. (fn. 15) Air photography has revealed striking evidence of this form of land division in Italy, (fn. 16) but similar photographs of Middlesex show no such patterns.

The Roman roads of Middlesex (fn. 17) are fairly well defined and their known or presumed courses are indicated on the distribution map. (fn. 18) In the east a road, of which the exact alignment is unknown after some distance from the City, ran from Aldgate towards Old Ford where it crossed the Lea at Iceland Wharf and proceeded to Colchester. (fn. 19) A road along this line is shown on a late-16th-century map. (fn. 20) The road from London to Dunmow (Essex) crossed the river near Lea Bridge. (fn. 21) Ermine Street ran northward from Bishopsgate through Shoreditch, Kingsland, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, Tottenham, Edmonton, and Enfield. Watling Street ran, possibly from Westminster to Marble Arch, along Edgware Road to Brockley Hill, and thence into Hertfordshire. (fn. 22) The road to Silchester (Hants) ran from Newgate along the approximate line of Oxford Street through Bayswater, Notting Hill, and Holland Park, down Goldhawk Road and across Turnham Green to Chiswick High Road and then to Brentford where it probably joined Akeman Street which followed the line of the Strand and passed through Kensington and Hammersmith to Chiswick. The road then ran through Hounslow and East Bedfont on its way to Staines where it crossed the Thames. There is reason to believe that all these roads were linked by a road, possibly of pre-Roman origin, which ran from Old Ford and by-passed London by way of Roman Road, Old Street, and Oxford Street and then joined the Silchester road. A road probably ran from the City through a postern gate on the south-east along the Highway towards Limehouse.

Another road is thought to have run northward from Laleham up the Colne valley to St. Albans; (fn. 23) it has been suggested that this route linked by a spur from Harefield to a road running on the other side of the Colne from Chorley Wood and Langley Park (Bucks.) to St. Albans. Other old roads and trackways on the Middlesex side of the Colne valley, particularly around Harefield, are possibly of Roman origin. A road excavated near Rickmansworth Station (Herts.) continued southward into Middlesex and probably ran through Ruislip parish.

Stray pottery finds, particularly in south-west Middlesex, suggest further possible areas of occupation, and organized fieldwork here and elsewhere will probably expand considerably knowledge of Roman settlement in the county.

GAZETTEER (fn. 24)