Great Britain -- Antiquities, Roman; Romans -- Great Britain
(49) The fourth volume issued by the Welsh Monuments Commission
(_Inventory of Ancient Monuments in the County of Denbigh_, H.M.
Stationery Office, 1914) enumerates the few Roman remains of
Denbighshire. The one important item is the group of tile and pottery
kilns lately excavated by Mr. A. Acton at Holt, eight miles south of
Chester, which I have described above (p. 15); the Commissioners' plan
of the site seems to have an incorrect scale. Chance finds, important
if not yet fully understood, have been found in British camps at
Pen-y-corddin, Moel Fenlli, Moel y Gaer, and especially at Parc-y-Meirch
or Dinorben (above, p. 28). Isolated coins have been found scantily--a
hoard of perhaps 6,000 Constantinian copper at Moel Fenlli, a gold coin
of Nero from the same hill, another coin of Nero at Llanarmon, 200-300
Constantinian at Llanelidan. A parcel of bronze 'cooking vessels' was
found near Abergele (Eph. Epigr. iii. 130) but has unfortunately
disappeared. The index also mentions coins under 'No. 458', which does
not appear in the volume itself. A Roman road probably ran across the
county from St. Asaph to Caerhyn (Canovium); its east end is pretty
certain, as far as Glascoed, though the 'Inventory' hardly makes this
clear.
(50) A partial plan and some views of the west gate of the Roman fort at
the Gaer, near Brecon, are given in the _Transactions of the Woolhope
Naturalists' Field Club_ for 1908-11.
_Scotland_
(51) The fifth Report of the Royal Commission on Ancient and
Historical Monuments in Scotland, _Inventory of Monuments in Galloway.
II. Stewartry of Kirkcudbright_ (Edinburgh, 1914) shows that the eastern
half of Galloway, like the western half described in the fourth Report
in 1912, contains nothing that can be called a 'Roman site' and very few
Roman remains of any sort. Indeed this eastern half, the land between
Dumfries and Newton Stewart, seems even poorer in such remains than the
district between Newton Stewart and the Irish Sea. Its only items are
some trifles of Samian, &c., found in the Borness Cave, and some iron
implements found in a bronze caldron in Carlingwark Loch. This result
is, of course, contrary to the views of older Scottish writers like
Skene, who talked of 'numerous Roman camps and stations' in Galloway,
but it will surprise no recent student. Probably the Romans never got
far west of a line roughly coinciding with that of the Caledonian
Railway from Carlisle by Carstairs to Glasgow. Their failure or omission
to hold the south-west weakened the left flank and rear of their
position on the Wall of Pius and helped materially to shorten their
dominion in Scotland in the second century.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account