ROMANO-BRITISH LEICESTERSHIRE 



Constantine (A.D. 306-37), a coin (first brass) of Julius Caesar (circa B.C. 62-44), an d a circular 

 piece of metal, perhaps part of a fibula, were found about I ft. from the surface, among 

 fragments of stone and lime, possibly the foundations of a building [Arch, ix, 370 ; MS. Min. 

 Soc. Antiq. xxii, 434 ; O.S. xxv, 6.] 



SALTBY. Near Saltby, in 1 8 1 1 , a pavement of large pebbles said to bear the marks of wheels was 

 discovered [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq., xxxiii, 15]. Close to the south side of the long line of 

 entrenchments known as ' King Lud's Entrenchments ' are three tumuli, 8 ft., 5 ft., and 2 ft. 

 high respectively [post, ' Ancient Earthworks ' ; Leu. and Rut/. N. and Q. ii, 41], 



SAPCOTE. In 1770, on a piece of ground called 'Black Piece,' was discovered a tesselated pave- 

 ment, said to be like one found near the cathedral at Lincoln. The tesserae were kept by 

 different people, and two small brass coins, one of Germanicus (A.D. circa 56 ?) and one of 

 Constantine (A.D. 306-37), were also discovered. Foundations, tiles, pottery, and large 

 covering slates were disinterred at various times. On Mill Hill, in this parish, towards Stoney 

 Stanton, a stone coffin and some pieces of pottery were found [Nichols, Hist. Leic. iv, 898 ; 

 Throsby, Views of Leic. ii, 231]. Some querns were found 3 ft. deep, and are now in the 

 Leicester Museum [Rep. Com. Leic. Mus. 1860]. 



SAXBY. Some Roman urns containing human remains were found in this parish in 1890, on the 

 estate of Mr. J. Hornby, during the construction of the Saxby and Bourn Railway [post, 

 1 Anglo-Saxon Remains ' ; Kelly, Leic. Directory, 329 ; Assoc. Arch. Soc. xx, xcvii ; O.S. xx, 8]. 



SHAWELL. A large bell-shaped barrow lies in a field south of the church. It has a fosse partly 

 round it. By Cave's Inn Farm are the remains of the supposed Roman Station of Tripontium, 

 which stood on the west side of Wading Street, which here divides Warwickshire from 

 Leicestershire. Pottery and bricks have, however, been found on both sides of the road 

 [O. S. lii, 12 ; Haverfield in F.C.H. Wariv. i, 230 ; post, 'Ancient Earthworks ']. 



Six HILLS. This place has sometimes been identified with Verometum in the Itinerary, but 

 Willoughby is now more generally accepted as the site of this station. The pavement of the 

 Fosse Way still exists about a mile to the north of the village, and is described as being of 

 'red flints laid with the smoothest side upwards on a bed of gravel' [Codrington, Rom. Roads 

 in Brit. 250; Stukeley, Itin. Cur. i, 136]. A road is said to have branched off from the 

 Fosse Way at Six Hills, to join the Erming Street near Ponton [Nichols, Hist. Leic. cxlviii]. 

 A milestone found here is now in the Leicester Museum, but the only part of the inscription 

 which can now be deciphered is IMP [Arch. Journ. xxxi, 353 ; xxxiv, 396-400]. 



SKEFFINGTON. The head of a bronze spear, 5 in. in length, thought to be Roman, was discovered 

 in 1862 [Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 73], 



SKETCHLEY. A coin of Tetricus (A.D. 268-73) was f un d ' n a garden here [Nichols, Hist. Leic. 

 iv, 468]. 



SPROXTON. In 181 1 an urn containing 100 silver coins, and the broken pieces of a larger urn, were 

 found. It was thought that there had been a tumulus on the spot. The coins were 

 presented to the Duke of Rutland [Nichols, Hist. Leic. i, 619 ; MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxiii, 15; 

 Num. Chron. (Ser. 3), x, 30]. 



STANFORD. Roman coins have been found here [Reliq. and III. Arch, i, 113]. 



STONEY STANTON. A coin of Sabina, the wife of Hadrian (A.D. 1 17-37), was found near Soar Mill 

 in 1860 [Leic. Arch. Soc. i, 395]. 



SYSTON. A quern was found here about 1862, and is now in the Leicester Maseum [Rep. Com. 

 Leic. Mus.~\. 



THURMASTON. About 3 miles north of Leicester, on the Fosse Way, a Roman milestone or 

 milliary was found in 1771. It was a short column, 3ft. 6 in. high, and i ft. gin. in 

 diameter, made of millstone grit, from Derbyshire, and apparently stood formerly on a square 

 base near to where it was found. It had been used for many years as a sort of stepping block, 

 and was claimed by the parish authorities to mend the road, but the inscription on it having 

 attracted notice it was set up in 1773 in Belgrave Gate, Leicester, as 'the centre of a neat 

 obelisk surmounted with a lamp.' It was thence removed to the Leicester Museum in 1 844, 

 where it now is (plate VI). The inscription commemorates the progress of the Emperor Hadrian 

 through Britain in the fourth year of his reign, and third of his consulate, A.D. 120-1. It is 

 considered the most perfect milliary and the earliest inscribed stone yet found in Britain. It 

 also decides the distance to Ratae, and finally settles the identity of Leicester with the Roman 

 town. The inscription is as follows: 



IMP. CA.S 



DV TRAIAN PARTH FD EP 



AIAN HADRIAN B 



POT IV COS III A RATIS 



II 

 I 217 28 



