A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



DONNINGTON. See ' Shaw cum Donnington.' 



DRAYTON. Pale brown urn found in Drayton Field near a skeleton [Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. 

 i. 310; xvi. 33]. 



BALING. See 'Hampstead Norris.' 



EARLEY. Marble urn with Roman inscription found in use as a flower-pot. Its origin un- 

 known. In Reading Museum \Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. p. 51]. 



EAST GARSTON. Romano-British cinerary urn (PUpchurch ware) containing calcined bones, 

 first brass of Albinus (A.D. 192-197), coin of Claudius II (A.D. 268-270), two iron arrow- 

 heads and two Roman buckles [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 184, 204]. 



EASTHAMPSTEAD. The great military road of the Antonine Itinerary which ran from Clausen- 

 turn to Londinium, and of which the remains are still visible in this parish, lies about 

 I mile to the south of the entrenchment popularly known as Caesar's Camp. The 

 Ordnance Map (xlvii. 5) marks it as Romano-British, and although it would seem to be 

 British in origin, it was probably occupied during the Romano-British period [Berks, 

 Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Oct. 1901]. A plan of it as it existed in 1818, ac- 

 companied by a full description, was laid before the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. Narrien 

 of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst [Arch. xix. 96-98]. The Sandhurst students 

 who surveyed the Imperial Way in 1836 described it as resembling an oak leaf in shape and 

 fortified at the neck by a double parapet and ditch [United Service Journal, Sept. 

 1837]. Stukeley mentions that there had been a well in the camp and both Roman and 

 British coins were found there [I tin. Curiosum (ed. 2), 177]. 



Other traces of Roman occupation have been found at a spot known as Wkkham 

 Bushes, not half a mile south of Caesar's Camp, and at a farm called ' Rapley's Farm ' 

 or ' The Roundabout," a few miles to the south-east. Both were explored by Mr. 

 Handasyd in 1783 [Arch. vii. 199, 204]. Gough mentions this earthwork and its outlines 

 can still be faintly traced [G. A. Kempthorne, The Devil's Highway, 6]. The farm itself 

 once formed part of the heath but was enclosed early in the seventeenth century. In 

 one corner of the farm Mr. Handasyd saw a small piece of ground enclosed by a vallum 

 and deep fosse which the owner assured him had been ' deep enough to take in a road 

 waggon, tilt and all ! ' Some years after this fosse had been filled in, the remains of a 

 large number of earthenware vessels were ploughed up on the spot. Mr. Handasyd col- 

 lected many of the fragments, some of which were of Samian ware, and sent drawings of 

 the most remarkable to the Society of Antiquaries. 



No excavations seem to have been attempted on ' The Roundabout,' but at Wick- 

 ham Bushes Mr. Handasyd and a labourer opened the ground in various parts. At that 

 time the land was covered by a large number of thorn bushes from which it took its name. 

 It seems also to have been known as ' The Town ' \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xlix. 173]. 

 A very large quantity of pottery, bricks and tiles was found and a coarse brick floor 

 laid on layers of flints and sand, but the lateness of the season made more complete 

 excavations impossible and nothing more seems to have been attempted for very many 

 years. 



About 1878 the Natural Science Society of Wellington College obtained leave to 

 dig at Wickham Bushes. Mr. Kempthorne in referring to their finds describes a village 

 settlement and suggests that the inhabitants belonged to the poorer classes living for the 

 most part in wattled sheds [Kempthorne, The Devil's Highway, 8]. That there were also 

 timber-built dwellings is shown by the great number of nails found with occasional frag- 

 ments of burnt wood. These better houses were roofed with tiles and at least one floor 

 was paved with small squares of red brick. Iron binding, bolts and hinges show that the 

 doors were solid, and more than one Roman key has been found. The coins discovered are 

 from A.D. 1 17-383. We are told of various personal ornaments, a buckle, a safety pin brooch, 

 a bangle, a snake-shaped ring, and a small cameo representing Hermes, with a cornucopia 

 in one hand, and sheaves of corn in another. There were also household utensils of black 

 Upchurch ware, amphorae, ampullae, fragments of mortaria, handmills, some Samian 

 ware and fragments of glass. 



ENBORNE. Romano-British pottery is said to have been found in this parish [W. Money, 

 Early Hist, of the Parish of Enborne, i]. 



FAWLEY. Four human skeletons in separate graves were found on the crest of the hill between 

 North and South Fawley. With two of the interments were ' food-vessels ' an ampulla 

 and a poculum, both probably from the kilns of the New Forest. Some flat-headed studs, 

 supposed to be caliga nails, and portions of leather were found near the feet of two of 



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