Harrou) before the Conquest. 51 



barbarous foes, withdrew for ever the Imperial legions from our 

 island. There have been also dug up, quite lately, on Mr. Black- 

 well's property, by Harrow Weald Common, several Roman anti- 

 quities, which I have been enabled by his kindness to examine, 

 'J'hese consist of a Roman lamp in good preservation, and a rather 

 elegant example of the common type ; several ])ieces of pottery and 

 vases, amongst which was a pot which was unfortunately broken 

 when discovered ; the neck of a vase, and half of a vessel with the 

 potter's name SENISIVS stamped upon it; one 3rd brass coin of 

 Diocletian, with lOV. EX. IIERCV. CONS, on the reverse ; and a 

 silver denarius of Nero reading obverse NERO. CAESAR. AVG. 

 IMP., and on the reverse PONTIF. MAX. TRP. VII. COS. IIII. 

 PP. Besides these, Roman remains have from time to time been 

 dug up on Harrow Hill itself, and I have myself got specimens of 

 coins of Victorinus, Gallienus, Allectus, Helena, and Constantine 

 the Great, found chiefly on the western side of the hill, which show 

 that the Romans had something to do with this hill in the third or 

 fourth centuries of our era, while from the other coins I have cited 

 we have traces of the Roman occupation of this district from the 

 first century to the beginning of the fifth. On the whole it seems 

 that there were more antiquities dug up about here in former 

 times than latterly. And the reason of this appears to be that at 

 present this is par excellence a grazing country, while formerly, as 

 we see from the Saxon reckoning of the number of ploughs kept at 

 Harrow the land was more used for arable purposes, and was, 

 therefore, more disturbed than at present. 



Besides the remains I have described above, I find in Stukeley 

 mention of a Roman camp round Kingsbury Church, but on a close 

 examination I have not been able to find any traces of it, and so I 

 think it very probable that he may have been mistaken. 



And now we must pass on from Roman to Saxon times. From 

 the commencement of the fifth century all is a blank till the ninth, 

 when we first hear definitely of Harrow itself. Although as far as 

 T am aware no Saxon antiquities have been discovered here, yet 

 the names of most of the villages round about here, and, indeed, as 

 I hope presently to show of Harrow itself, are to be referred to a 

 Saxon origin. Indeed some of them are distinctly mentioned in 

 Saxon wills, such as Stanmore, the Saxon* Stanmere, Kingsburyf 

 Cyngesburh, Wembleyt Wembalea, YeadingJ Gedding, &c. 

 It is generally believed that the HERGA of Saxon times was on 

 the same spot as Harrow. The HERGA of Saxon deeds is in 

 the first place localized by the places with which it is mentioned, 



• Gesta Monachorum Sci. Albani. + Will of jlilfric of Canterbury, 



t Deed of Cwoendrith (see later). 



