A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



OGLEY HAY. There are slight remains of an earthwork here, known as ' Knaves' Castle ' [Post, 

 ' Anct. Earthworks' ; Erdeswick, Surv. of Staffs. 302]. 



OKEOVER. A square intrenchment, called 'The Halsteads,' about a quarter of a mile south of the 

 church, is considered possibly Roman [Cox, Mag. Brit, v, 107 ; Plot, Hist. Staffs. 404]. 



PATTINGHAM. Several Roman relics (not described) are said to have been found here at different 

 times [Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs, ii, 279 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 188 ; Cox, Mag. Brit, v, 43 ; 

 Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), ii, 380], 



PIPE HILL. See Lichfield and Wall. 



ROCESTER. While making foundations for a cotton mill in 1792 some foundations were discovered, 

 together with a brass spear-head and some copper coins, much corroded and defaced, which 

 were, however, thought to be Roman. Human bones and fragments of pottery were also 

 found [Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs, i, 34, note]. In a field near the church is an earthwork 

 about 45 yds. square, with a circular mound in the centre, and the remains of a vallum on 

 three sides [Antiq. xxviii, 238 ; Redfern, Hist. Uttoxeter, 65]. About three-quarters of a 

 mile north of Rocester is a ' camp ' called Barrow Hill, on the side of Dove Cliff. The 

 camp is rectangular, with rounded angles, measuring 147 yds. north and south, 167 yds. east 

 and west, and contains an area of 6f acres. The north-west and south-east angles are extant, 

 and the sides can be traced. In 1894 some fragments of Roman pottery and glass were 

 disclosed slightly under the surface [Post, 'Anct. Earthworks'; N. Staffs. Field Club (1894)]. 

 In a barrow or tumulus to the north of the camp Roman coins and pottery were found in 

 1872 [O.S. Staffs, xxvi, 6]. 



ROWLEY REGIS. In 1794, in pulling down an old stone wall, an urn, described as an 'earthen 

 globe,' was found, containing about 1,200 silver coins. They were all dispersed except 300, 

 which were kept by the Rev. J. Cartwright, and were said to cover the whole period of the 

 Roman occupation [Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs, i, 35 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 8]. In 1804 a 

 further discovery of coins was made, one said to be a silver denarius of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 

 161-180) [Gent. Mag. 1805, ii, 696]. 



RUSHALL. In 1795 some silver and two copper coins, together with two pieces of metal, supposed 

 to be fibulae, were found in digging a canal here [Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs, i, 35 ; Pitt, 

 Hist. Staff s.i, 148]. 



SEDGLEY. At Gournal, in the parish of Sedgley, Roman foundations are supposed to have been dis- 

 covered in the sixteenth century, and mention is made of ' grindstones ' or querns being found 

 in the same place, but there is nothing to show that they were Roman [Erdeswick, Surv. of 

 Staffs, (ed. Harwood, 1844), 370]. 



SEISDON. On Seisdon Common, near Abbots' or Apwood Castle, is a small square intrenchment 

 with a single ditch, situated on a round promontory. [Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), ii, 381 ; 

 Pitt. Hist. Staffs, i, 187 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staff's, ii, 210]. Near the common is a large 

 triangular stone called the War Stone, which Mr. Coote suggests is a ' trifinnial ' boundary 

 stone [Coote, Romans of Britain, 97 ; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 187 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs. 

 ii, 210]. 



SHARESHILL. On the north and south sides of this village were vestiges of two encampments,, 

 supposed from their square form to have been Roman ; remains of one still exist [Post, ' Anct. 

 Earthworks'; Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 259 ; Brayley, Beauties of Engl. and Wales, xiii, 868]. 



STAPENHILL. Roman coins were found here in a Saxon cemetery [P.C.H. Derb. i, 262]. 



STONE. An urn of unglazed red clay was dug up in the corner of Stoke Lane, at the east entrance 

 into Stone. It was of a wide-mouthed or ' bell ' shape, diameter 3^ in. at the bottom, 9 in. at 

 the top ; height i o in. ; it was ornamented with incised lines in a zigzag pattern, and contained 

 ashes and small pieces of human bones [Pitt, Hist. Staffs, i, 6 ; Stebbing Shaw, Hist. Staffs* 

 i> 35]- There is a square entrenchment a mile out of Stone, at Hollywood, in a coppice 

 known as Campfield, and in the meadows near the Hilderstone Brook is another earthwork with 

 a double fosse, the outer one representing a quadrilateral figure of 200 yds. A small bronze 

 Roman coin was dug up here. On the road from Stone to Gnosall was a 'high paved way* 

 near Eccleshall, mentioned by Plot about 1686 [Antiq. xxxviii, 361 ; Plot, Nat. Hist. Staffs. 

 402]. 



STRETTON (near Brewood). The site of Pennocrucium, the Roman station of the Antonine Itinerary 

 on Wading Street, 12 Roman miles from Uxacona (Oakengates) and 12 from Letocetum 

 (Wall), is generally thought to be here because the distances approximately agree. The name 

 Pennocrucium suggests a connexion with the River Penk which the Watling Street here 

 crosses, and the name of Stretton suggests a Roman site. No Roman coins or other antiquities, 

 however, have been discovered, but no systematic excavations have been attempted. There 

 are two small eminences near the street, called Rowley Hill and Beacon Hill. The larger, 

 Rowley Hill, occupies about five acres, rises from meadows near the river, and is sur- 



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