A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



to be inadequate. The name alone is suggestive of Roman origin. The north vallum and fosse 

 still remain, and the east and west defences can be traced [jfourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (New Ser.), 

 ii, 121 et seq.]. The camp forms a parallelogram measuring 365 yds. by 300 yds. (outside 

 measure), and incloses upwards of 20 acres, the ditch being about 20 yds. wide. So far as 

 is known no Roman or other relics have been found on the site. Erdeswick, writing 

 about 1603, mentions remains of masonry which were to be seen in his time in sufficiently 

 good preservation for it to be perceived ' that the walls have been of marvellous thickness ' 

 [Erdeswick, Surv. of Staffs, (ed. Harwood, 1844), 22]. The site was excavated in 1905, and 

 the only result was the finding of some pieces of flat red sandstone joined with mortar. 

 Mr. Charles Lynam, however, does not seem to have considered that the mortar was Roman 

 [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (Ser. 2), ii, 121 et seq.]. 



CROXDEN. Roman remains are reported to have been turned up on a farm about three-quarters of 

 a mile south-east of Croxden Abbey. The supposed Roman road between Hollington and 

 Rocester is not far from this place [Antiq. xxviii, 255]. 



ELLASTONE. Some gold coins of the Roman period ' are said to have been found near Wootton 

 Lodge [Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs, i, 32]. 



FORTON. Plot and Camden record 'some Roman works' at Moreton, not far from this place. 

 The Ordnance map marks a Roman well on the north side of the mere called Aqualate in 

 this parish [Plot, Nat. Hist. Staffs. 395 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), ii, 380; Antiq. xxviii, 

 255]. At Oulton, about a mile off, some arms were found which it has been suggested were 

 Roman [Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 275]. 



GREAT BARR. On Hardwick Farm, about half a mile from the Icknield Street, was found the 

 boss or umbo of a shield, thought to be Roman. It was made of bronze ornamented with 

 embossed figures, and measured about 2 in. across [Willmore, Hist. Wahall, 25]- 



GREENSFORGE. (See KINGSWINFORD.) 



GOURNAL. (See SEDGLEY.) 



HAWKBACK. (See UPPER ARELEY.) 



HINTS. In 1771 a pig of lead was discovered on Hints Common, with the following inscription 

 on the bottom, in relief : IMP. VESP. vu. T. IMP. v. cos. (Imperatore Vespasiano septimum. 

 Tito Imperatore quintum, Consulibus). On the side, DECEAN. G. The date would have been 

 about A.D. 76. The letters on the side are thought to refer to the Deceangi, a tribe which 

 inhabited the district about the county of Flint, and the pig is, therefore, supposed, with others 

 found in different parts of the country, to have come from that locality. The weight is 

 150 lb., the length 22^ in., and it was found at a depth of 4 ft. below the surface. It is now 

 in the British Museum [Gent. Mag. (1772), p. 558 ; (1773), p. 6 1 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. 

 Gough), ii, 382 ; Httbner, Corpus Inscrip. vii, 1205 ; Arch, v, 371 ; Ivii, 402 ; Arch. "Joum. 

 xvi, 28 ; Haverfield, Proc. Sac. Antiq. (Ser. 2), xv, 187 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 164 ; Stebbing 

 Shaw, Hist, Staffs, i, 331]. 



HOPTON. An iron spear-head was found when making a road near Hopton in 1792 which Bateman 

 thought to be Roman [Bateman, op. cit. 10]. 



ILAM. In 1845 two barrows known as Bitchenhill Harbour, between Wetton and Ham, were 

 opened. In one was found the remains of an urn of coarse pottery with a deposit of burnt 

 bones, and a third brass of Constantine the Great (A.D. 291-306) [Bateman, op. cit. 8iJ. 

 A small barrow called ' Green Low ' in the hamlet of Castern was opened in 1 860. It was 

 in the same field as a larger one excavated in 1846, which was not thought to contain any- 

 thing Roman. In ' Green Low ' several articles of different periods were found ; a green hone 

 celt, a round-ended flint, a piece of coarse pottery, and a very perfect harp-shaped bronze 

 fibula, said to be of a Roman type. These articles appeared to be independent of each other 

 or of any interment. In another cutting the skeleton of a child with a flint arrow point was 

 discovered, and in a third trench another juvenile skeleton. Pieces of stags' horns, animals' 

 teeth, rats' bones, numerous pebbles and flints were also found [Bateman, Ten Fears' Diggings, 

 116 ; Ante, 'Early Man']. 



KINGSWINFORD. There is said to be a Roman camp, on the level ground called Ashwood Heath,, 

 near Greensforge, in the parish of Kingswinford. It is square, easily to be traced, and lies on 

 the south-east side of the road. It measures 206 yds. in length and 160 yds. in width, 

 containing an area of 6f acres, and is surrounded by a single ditch [O.S. Staffordshire, 25 in., 

 Ixx, 4], It used to be known as ' Wolverhampton Church Yard.' The road crosses it, and 

 the western side is*the most perfect. Coins have been found in the locality. The camp at 

 Chesterton in Shropshire, on the same road, is said to resemble it very closely [Ante, 

 'Ancient Earthworks'; Camden, Brit. (add. by Gough), ii, 380; Plot, Nat. Hist. Staffs. 

 406 ; Erdeswick, Survey of Staffs. 374 ; Cox, Mag. Brit, v, 35, 46 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist* 

 Staffs, ii, 233 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 5, 193]. 



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