ROMANO-BRITISH NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



town : the only settlements where there can have been anything like perma- 

 nent occupation are the stations of Brough (Crococolana), East Bridgeford 

 (Margidunum), and Willoughby (Vernernetum) along the Fosse Way, and 

 Littleborough on Ermine Street (Segelocum). To this list Southwell should 

 possibly be added, though the importance attached to it by older writers was 

 much exaggerated. Its Roman name, if any, is unknown, but the Saxon 

 name of Tiovulfingaceaster, if indeed it denotes this spot, suggests a Roman 

 site, and considerable if unimportant remains of pavements, &c., have been 

 found there. 7 Much more doubtful are the claims of Newark or ' Eltavona ' 

 as advanced by Stukeley. 8 



In addition there are three examples of villas : at Barton in Fabis, 

 Styrrup, near Blyth, and Mansfield Woodhouse. The first two of these have 

 yielded mosaics, and the third, if less luxuriously fitted, was certainly extensive. 

 These and similar villas were probably (as Professor Haverfield has pointed 

 out) the property of the Romanized nobles and upper classes of Britain (as 

 was the case in Gaul), who cultivated their land by means of slaves and let it 

 out in part to coloni. Seldom if ever were they owned by Roman officials, 

 and in view of what has been said about the peaceful character of the lowland 

 districts under the Romans, it is clear that the oft-repeated statements that 

 these villas were the residences of local commanding officers or ' centurions ' 

 cannot be substantiated. The peasantry, it may be imagined, lived under very 

 poor conditions. 



No fewer than twelve hoards of coins have been discovered in the county 

 at different times. The list, with approximate numbers and dates, is as follows 

 in probable order of deposit : 



(1) Askham 



(2) Selston . 



(3) Babworth 



(4) Calverton 



(5) Hickling 



(6) Mansfield 



B.C. 49-A.D. 96 



A.D. 54-117 



91 AD. 54-180 



200 A.D. 98-138 



20O A.D. 70-175 



35O B.C. 3I-A.D. 212 



(7) Nottingham 



(8) Epperstone 1,000 



(9) Everton 



(10) Osberton 



(n) Oxton . 



(12) Wilford 



600 

 940 



A.D. 253-73 

 A.D. 254-93 

 A.D. 253-305 



Constan tines (4th 



century) 

 No details 

 No details 



It will thus be seen that they cover practically the whole period of the 

 Roman domination of Britain. In regard to the Nottingham and Epperstone 

 finds it has often been noted that hoards for which the date of their con- 

 cealment must be fixed during the last half of the third century are not 

 infrequent in Britain. The reason assigned for this is that they were hidden 

 to avoid loss by plunder during a disturbed condition of the country ; but a 

 more systematic investigation of the whole subject is to be desired. In particular 

 we need to know more accurately the latest coin in each hoard. It is often a 

 solitary specimen of a brief-ruling Emperor in whose time the hoard was 

 deposited, and such a solitary coin is exactly the feature which is easiest lost. 

 We rarely possess the whole of a hoard, and our published records pay far 

 more attention to the Emperors represented by hundreds of coins than to the 

 all-important single specimen. In addition to the finds above mentioned, 

 some allusion should be made here to Mr. Cecil Woolley's carefully-recorded 

 discoveries of coins at Brough, covering the period from Domitian to 

 Gratian.' 



7 See below, p. 34. 



8 See p. 32. 

 3 



* See below, p. 14. 



