ROMANO-BRITISH WARWICKSHIRE 



have been ploughed down to a workable slope : thus the width of the 

 ditch would be largely increased, though its depth might be lessened. 

 But whatever allowance we make for this, it remains probable that the 

 original ditch was large and formidable. It has been generally assumed 

 that this earthwork, like that of Mancetter, is of Roman origin, though 

 no definite proof exists. Dugdale and others state that Roman coins 

 have been found within its area, and I am told that pottery and 



FIG. 4. CHESTERTON CAMP. 

 (From the 6-inch Ordnance Survey. Scale i : 10560) 



numerous coins, principally of the third and fourth centuries, have been 

 discovered in the fields around it. Burials and burial urns are also said 

 to have been met with near the ' camp,' and foundations a little to the 

 east of it. 1 Four enamelled bosses have also been dug up somewhere 

 hard by, but these, though often styled Roman, are of later date. 



Chesterton thus closely resembles Mancetter alike in the size and 

 the position of its earthwork on a Roman road and in the uncertainties 

 which attend its explanation. The earthwork may be an early Roman 

 fort, abandoned as the tide of Roman conquest swept swiftly north. Or, 

 like Brinklow (p. 245), it may not be Roman at all. In either case, the 

 late coins and burials seem to suggest a wayside village in the third or 

 fourth century. But the spade alone can solve the problem. As for the 

 ancient name of its site, it is wholly unknown. 



1 Dugdale, p. 470 ; West's Warwickshire (1830), p. 68 1 ; Builder, June 12, 1884 ; private in- 

 formation. For the measurements of the ditch I am indebted to Mr. G. B. Grundy. 



235 



