A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



occupied by Goidels. There is however so far nothing to show either 

 the extent or the duration of that occupation. Fig. b shows how large 

 an area of the county has as yet given no sign of Goidel occupation, 

 as well as how closely the Goidel followed in the lines of the Neolithic 

 settlement. 



The Iron Age 



The Goidels in their turn were displaced and driven over the Severn 

 by a new set of invaders. As the Goidels expelled the Neolithic men, so 

 the Brythons, as the new comers were called, expelled the Goidels. 

 They had the advantage over the Goidels that they used iron for their 

 implements and weapons, and it was probably due to this superiority of 

 their weapons that they drove out the Goidels, as the latter by their 

 better weapons had driven out their predecessors. The Brythons have 

 left very clear traces of their occupation of the county, which, whatever 

 may have been the date of its commencement, lasted to the time of 

 the Roman Conquest. They were probably a far more civilized race 

 than any of those who preceded them ; not only had they weapons and 

 implements, but also personal ornaments. One of these, a bronze torque, 

 was found at a depth of about 2 feet in a gravel pit at Perdeswell near 

 Worcester. ' It is curved, forming nearly a semicircle, and composed of 

 twenty small pieces of bronze curiously twisted and tooled, each alter- 

 nating with pieces finished like a small pulley strung upon a small iron 

 wire ; the whole strongly encrusted with highly polished patina.' ^ Another 

 ornament, an armlet, said to be of this period, was found at Stoke Prior, 

 which is of interest as showing that the finds of this age are not confined 

 to the river valleys and the overlooking hills. Stoke Prior being in 

 the centre of the county. Broadway, almost in Gloucestershire, also 

 supplies a sword of this period ; in fact in this age the finds become of 

 less importance for the occupation of the district is better evidenced by 

 the earthworks (see fig. c). 



Earthworks 



The earthworks are not numerous, the majority being camps or 

 forts. There is considerable doubt as to the precise period to which 

 they belong. None of them has ever, as far as is known, been properly 

 investigated, nor have discoveries of weapons or implements furnishing 

 evidence of the time of their construction been found in connection 

 with them. The following accounts must therefore be taken as only 

 provisional. 



(i) Wychbury (fig. i), in the north of the county on an outlying 

 hill above Pedmore and Hagley, overlooking the Stour valley and what 

 was afterwards Pensett Chase, is a large fort, heart shaped in outline, 

 with a double rampart on the south and an entrance to the south-east. 

 It has been called a Danish camp and a Roman camp, but it seems more 

 probable that it was originally of the British period. Except Bredon, 

 Wychbury is the only camp now known to the east of the Severn ; it 



* Archceologia, xxx. 554. 

 184 



