90 WAREHAM I ITS INVASIONS AND BATTLES. 



residence at the water's edge, commanding exquisite scenery, rather 

 than a place of defence. The position of Wareham is worthy of 

 remark. In a paper read at the Archgelogical Congress, 1871, Mr. 

 W. H. Black, F.S.A., stated that " Wareham stood, and was 

 designed to stand, in a position equi-distant from two geographical 

 points i.e., the North Foreland in Kent and some point in Corn- 

 wall. Accordingly, he drew lines on a map, and perceived that a 

 straight line drawn from the North Foreland, through Wareham, 

 nearly reached the Land's End apparently the Logan Stone on 

 the south side of the peninsula of Cornwall. But what was the 

 most observable was that the distance from the North Foreland to 

 Wareham was the same as the distance from Wareham to the 

 Lizard's Point, the most southern point of Great Britain." 



The Emperor A'drian, by his visit to Britain, accomplished much 

 in the way of reconciliation between the Britons and the Romans, 

 but Agricola, an experienced commander under whom Dorset 

 benefited, did much to enlighten the natives by initiation into 

 Roman customs and manners. As Blomfield observes, the Roman 

 invasion was productive of two great events : the propagation of 

 our holy religion and the civilisation of the people. 



" Constantius," writes Hutchins, " died at York, and Constantino 

 his son was proclaimed Caesar by the army in Britain, and under 

 his reign Christianity flourished here as it did throughout the 

 Empire." The discoveries at Frampton in the reign of George III. 

 substantiate the statement. The discoveries in this neighbourhood 

 have proved the extent of the areas ; the discovery of a few Roman 

 coins is recorded by Hutchins, but probably the Roman road, the 

 conjectured Roman altar found north of Wareham, the Roman 

 pavement at Furzebrook, with other relics in Purbeck, may yet 

 contribute something towards gratifying the insatiate taste of the 

 antiquary. The Roman commanders were withdrawn from Britain, 

 the Roman power relaxed, Dorset was invaded by the Saxons, and 

 the standard of the Golden Dragon supplanted the Roman Eagle. 



Probably the first Saxon invasion of Dorset was by " a Saxon 

 pirate, who, A.D. 501, landed with his two sons Bieda and Msegla, 



