A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



Street which borders the county on the south-west for a distance of twenty- 

 one miles might have afforded access from the lower Thames, while to the 

 north-west it passed through territory that remained in British hands at 

 least till the seventh century, and was therefore not available for Teutonic 

 immigration. Right through the heart of the county runs the Fosse Way, 

 from its junction with Watling at High Cross through the county town to 

 its exit on the high ground on the north side of the Wreak valley, forming 

 the county boundary there for nearly three miles. A third road, evidently 



of Roman origin, can be traced 

 from Leicester south-east to the 

 Welland,nearMedbourne; after 

 passing through Rockingham 

 Forest to Titchmarsh it turns 

 eastward and joins the Ermine 

 Street north of Godmanchester. 

 Another link was thus formed 

 with London, but even with 

 these facilities progress into the 

 interior does not seem to have 

 been at all rapid. The splendid 

 directness of these highways is 

 a standing testimony to the skill 

 of the Roman surveyor and the 

 energy he could command, but 

 it must not blind us to the real 

 difficulties of travel and trans- 

 port off the beaten track at that 

 early period. 



A discovery of interest in 

 this connexion may here be 

 noticed. In 1824 the Watling 

 Street was under repair between 

 Bensford (Bransford or Beres- 

 ford) Bridge and the turnpike 

 road leading from Rugby to 

 Lutterworth ; and at a point 

 about one mile from Cesters- 

 over the labourers excavated 

 a number of human skeletons 

 which lay buried in the centre 

 and on both sides of the high- 

 way, at a distance of 18 in. or 2 ft. below the surface. 1 * With them were 

 found weapons, shield-bosses, and spear-heads varying from 6 in. to 1 5 in. 

 in length and retaining traces of the wooden shaft in the socket ; also 

 knives and iron buckles, clasps, rings, tweezers, and feminine ornaments, 

 but above all in interest a series of brooches well illustrated in colours 

 by Akerman. 8 They comprise two ' long ' specimens which are charac- 

 teristic of this country in having had at least the side-knobs not cast in 



'" V.C.H. Warwickshire, i, 253. ' Pag. Sax. pi. xviii. 



BRONZE BROOCHES, FOUND NEAR BENSFORD BRIDGE 



222 



