

ROMANO-BRITISH STAFFORDSHIRE 



KINVER. On the height known as ' Kinver Edge ' half a mile east of the village, are the remains 

 of an encampment of oblong form measuring 300 yds. by 1 80 yds., with a single ditch [Past, 

 ' Anct. Earthworks']. It is supposed to be Roman, but there is no record of Roman remains 

 having been found within it [O.S. Staffordshire, 25 in. Ixx, 15], Near it is a large square 

 stone about 6 ft. in height and 1 2 ft. in circumference, tapering towards the top, where it is 

 divided into three. It is known as the ' Barton,' ' Boltstone,' or ' Battlestone,' and is generally 

 considered Celtic, like the ' Devil's Bolts ' in Yorkshire, or ' Devil's Coits ' in Oxfordshire. 

 Mr. Coote suggests, however, that it was an agrimensura or terminal stone [Coote, Romans of 

 Britain, 98 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staff's, i, 22, 37, 263 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 197 ; Cox, 

 Mag. Brit, v, 33 ; Camden, Brit. (adds, by Gough), ii, 381]. There are no records of coins 

 or other remains discovered in the neighbourhood. 



LEEK. There are traces of an entrenched camp of an oblong shape, with rectangular corners, in 

 the fields to the east of Abbey or Abbey Green Farm, at a little distance from the town \Antiq. 

 xxxviii, 337 (1902)]. On the top of a hill called 'Gun,' about i miles from the abbey, is 

 another square entrenchment, said to be Roman, but the identification of both sites is very pro- 

 blematical \_Antiq. xxxviii, 359; Staffs. Field Club (1902-3), xxxviii, 150]. Several relics, 

 thought to be pieces of Roman armour, &c., have been found near the town [Kelly, Dir. 224.]. 



LICHFIELD. A tradition exists that ' Christianfield,' near Stitchbrook, was the supposed scene of the 

 execution of i, ooo martyrs during the persecution of Maximian (A.D. 286), but no evidence 

 can be adduced in support of this legend. At Pipe Hill, between Wall (q.v.) and Lichfield, 

 are the remains of what is called a ' barricade,' said to be of the Roman period [Plot, Nat. Hist. 

 Staffs. 3989]. It is made of the whole trunks of oak trees, fixed at some depth in the ground. 

 The upper part had, of course, vanished, but a great deal of the lower part was found intact, 

 the wood being quite black, uniform in length and shape, the marks of the axe being still 

 visible. From some which had apparently fallen and remained whole under the surface, it 

 was concluded that the height was 12 ft., the largest diameter being from 12 in. to 14 in., and 

 it is said to have been flanked with bastions. Each piece of timber had a cavity 4 in. wide, 

 3 ft. from the top, cut down its middle. The barricade was traced for 500 yards, not quite 

 straight, so as to include a natural swell or bank of earth. Palisades as defences were, how- 

 ever, used for a considerable time before and after the Roman occupation of Britain, and the 

 structure was possibly of a date later than the Roman occupation. A copper coin of Hadrian 

 (A.D. 1 20) was found on the site [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxvi, 317 (1794) ; Erdeswick, Surv. 

 of Staffs, (ed. Harwood), 302 ; Pitt, Hist. Staff's, i, 128 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staff's, i, 19]. 



LONGDON. To the north-east of Longdon Church are traces of a fortification thought to be Roman, 

 the east and west sides being still apparent [Plot, Nat. Hist. Staffs, 406 ; Cox, Mag. Brit, v, 

 35 ; Antiq. ii, 272]. The remains consist of several short lengths of slopes, but without 

 discernible boundaries [Post, 'Anct. Earthworks']. 



MADELEY. In 1817 two urns, containing a quantity of Roman copper coins, were turned up by 

 the plough on a farm called Little Madeley Parks, about three miles from Chesterton. The urns 

 were destroyed ; a horseshoe and a key were found at the same time. The coins identified 

 were as follows : Maximinus (A.D. 235-238), Diocletian (A.D. 284-305), Constantine (A.D. 

 306-337), Licinius (A.D. 307-324), Crispus (A.D. 317-326), Constantine P.F. (four reverses) 

 (A.D. 317-337), Constantine Junior (four reverses) (A.D. 337-340) [Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 447]. 

 During draining operations in a field called 'Cheshire Meadow," foundations of buildings, 

 carved and moulded stone work, are said to have been discovered ; a field adjoining this, called 

 Wall Croft, has a deep fosse and a vallum, which may give its name to the croft. In Made- 

 ley field is an entrenchment, and in 1871 Roman pottery, corroded pieces of iron, and an iron 

 fibula were found there. Near the camp is a hollow, paved with large boulders, and over the 

 field traces of roads and buildings are said to exist below the surface. A little north of the 

 camp, at Overton, a circular leaden case was found, from i6in. to i8in. across, gin. in 

 depth, which, it is suggested, may have been a sepulchral urn case, but it is doubtful if it was 

 Roman [Redfern, Hist. Uttoxeter, 63]. 



MAYFIELD. In, a field called Dale-close, an urn containing Roman coins was found, and in Church- 

 town-field in Upper Mayfield another urn was discovered [Plot, Nat. Hist. Staffs. 404 ; Cox, 

 Mag. Brit, v, 105 ; Brayley, Beauties of Engl. and Wales, xiii, pt. 2, pp. 1006, 1018]. 



MORETON. See Forton. 



OFFLEY (or HIGH OFFLEY). It was conjectured by Pitt in his history of Staffordshire that the 

 station called Mediolanum stood here, but there is little evidence in support of such a theory. 

 Traces of a Roman road are thought to have been discovered, and Roman coins in great 

 numbers, tiles, armour, fragments of pottery, &c., have been found on the side of a hill south 

 of the churchyard [Pitt, Hist. Staffs. 319]. These remains have either been grossly 

 exaggerated by Pitt or his informants, or they indicate a house or hamlet of some sort. 



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