ON THE BRITISH ANTIQUITIES OF WARWICKSHIRE. 181 



Most of the commentators on Richard of Cirencester, not being 

 aware of any Roman or British remains at this place, have had re- 

 course to conjecturCj and incorrectly fixed the station Richard of 

 Cirencester alludes to, at different places ; Dr. Stukely, for instance, 

 at Warwick, and Mr. Hatcher, at Chesterton ; notwithstanding the 

 great disagreement, in point of distance, with the numerals laid 

 down in the iter, and which, to adapt to their several hypotheses, 

 they were obliged to alter. 



The antiquities found at this place consist of fragments of pot- 

 tery, one ornamented with scroll-work, an iron nail, an instrument 

 like a chisel, with a socket for the insertion of a handle, a spear- 

 head of iron, and a very large brass fibula or brooch, and some 

 pieces of stag's horns, which appear to have been sawn. Coins, and 

 other articles of Roman fabrication, have also here been discovered, 

 and these are the common indicia of the position of Roman-British 

 settlements. 



We rarely find foundations of buildings in any of these settle- 

 ments ; this fact, however, does but corroborate the statements of 

 Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, who inform us that the habitations of 

 the Britons were mere huts constructed of wood and reeds. 



We observe certain peculiarities connected with the position of 

 these ancient British towns ; they were all situated on rising ground 

 near a flowing stream, and in the vicinity of a fortress or camp, to 

 which, as to a post of security or refuge, the inhabitants, in time of 

 need, might resort. Thus, Cestersover is within a short distance of 

 an ancient British stronghold at Brownsover, Kings Newnham is 

 near that at Brinklow, whilst Princethorpe, where both Roman and 

 Roman- British remains have been discovered, is in the vicinity of a 

 Roman camp at Wapenbury. 



In viewing the characteristic features of those earthworks or 

 strongholds, the formation of which we ascribe to the ancient Bri- 

 tons, we should bear in mind the allusions, however slight, made by 

 those historians who noticed them when in their pristine condition. 

 Caesar, from his own personal observation, speaks of the British 

 strongholds as generally placed in a wood, and fortified with a ram- 

 part and ditch, in which, he says, they were accustomed to get 

 together, to avoid the invasion of their enemies ; and Strabo states 

 that the towns of the Britons were in woods, where, having hewn 

 down trees, and fenced round a wide circular space, they erected 

 huts for themselves, and stalls for their cattle. 



In these particulars, the position and peculiarities of the British 

 entrenchments at Brownsover agreed. It was situated on the bor- 



