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of Scotch fir trees growing on a mound at the highest and most prominent part of 
the hill very possibly marks out the signal station of its Roman occupants. 
On the south side of the hill in the wood near the top, is a large hollow 
space, from which very possibly the earth was taken to form the present road on 
the escarpment just mentioned. On the side of this hollow, Mr. Herbert Ballard, 
when digging ferns among the underwood, in 1878, discovered a very curious 
Roman lamp at a few inches below the surface. 
BLACKWARDINE. 
Another Roman Station of some importance was BLACKWARDINE. Tradition 
has long asserted that a fortified Roman town of considerable size existed here, 
and many coins, and fragments of pottery and other Roman relics had supported 
the belief. Its Roman name, however, is not known, and its site was not dis- 
covered until the year (1881), when the Leominster and Bromyard Railway men 
cut through a corner of it. At three or four feet below the surface they found 
many Roman remains, broken vases, pottery, portions of grinding stones, and 
other objects of interest. It is situated on a branch of the Roman road leading 
from Bravinium towards Wall Hills, and the pass over the Malvern Hills, at the 
foot of the Herefordshire Beacon. Cicutio was also situated on the same road. 
The site is on high ground in the parish of Stoke Prior, about a mile north of 
Risbury Camp. It was formerly a common, but has long since been enclosed. It 
is now arable land, with the black soil which denotes the mode of its destruction. 
Any exploration on this site could scarcely fail to produce objects of the highest 
interest. 
EASTNOR or CASTLE DITCH. 
A small Roman Station probably existed here. The Rev. J. Pointer in his 
Britannia Romana (1724) speaks of ‘‘another (Camp) at Ledbury,” and this has 
been generally supposed to have been at Wall Hills. The Romans doubtless used 
this Camp when it suited their purposes, as they did most of the Camps in the 
County, but though it has been cultivated for at least a century past, it has 
afforded but very slight evidence of Roman occupation. In 1876, when some 
excavations were being made on what is now the lawn tennis court of Eastnor 
Castle, some curious portions of stone piping were discovered. They are of Oolite 
stone, bored through the centre and fitting by socket into each other. They were 
evidently used for the conveyance of water, probably from the beautiful spring 
near the church, and the locality is close by the Ridgway and Wainstreet Roman 
Roads. Mr. George H. Piper has these pipes in his possession. The nearest 
place from which Oolite stone can be found is some twelve miles off, at Bredon 
Hill. The exact site of the station, which was probably very small, has not yet 
been discovered, nor is its Roman name known. 
There were, doubtless, several other small stations scattered through the county 
to render the roads secure for travellers, as well as for the convenience of the 
Roman settlers. 
