A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



in May 1899 near Rye House station, three-quarters of a mile north-east of Hoddesdon 



[ibid, i (2), 186]. ' u , , . 



The numerous small finds suggest that a building may some day turn up at Hoddesdon, 



perhaps even a pottery kiln. 

 HoR.MEAD, Little.— There seems no reason for assigning a Roman date to the granite stone 

 mentioned by Salmon as standing near the junction of Stonecross Lane and Ware Road, 

 near Hare Street, and in 1900 among some nettles inside a field by a broken-down gateway 

 at the top of the hill exactly opposite Little Hormead Church [Salmon, Hist, of Herts. (1728), 

 312, hence Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts. (1815-27), iii, 423; Herts. Mercury, 13 Oct., lo Nov. 



1900]. 

 IcKLEFORD. — Roman coins are frequently found here and at West Mill on the R. Oughton 

 (in Pirton) [Arch, liii, 257]. Some pottery is said to have been found here some few years 

 ago, but no precise site is given. A black urn 3I in. high, decorated with two incised 

 Hnes round the shoulder and below the rim, is now in the Hertford Museum [Inform, from 

 Mr. Bullen]. 

 Kelshall. — ' A large quantity of Roman pottery, cinerary urns, Samian ware, &c.,' was found 

 among some gravel a foot below the surface, with two skeletons, in 1877-8 [Herts. Mercury, 

 6 Sept. 1902]. Burials here occurred in the chalk further to the north-east near Therfield 

 and Royston (q.v.). 

 KiMPTON. — .\ hoard of 230 silver republican and imperial coins had been deposited in a dark- 

 coloured urn and were found in May 185 1 in widening a road in Prior's Wood a quarter of 

 a mile west of St. Lawrence's Church, Ayot, but in the parish of Kimpton. The majority 

 of them were in a fair condition ; twenty of them have been described by Sir John Evans 

 as follows : 

 1 Valeria (Babelon), no. I I [b.c. 104] I Julia (Babclon), no. 10 [c. B.C. 50] 



I Cipia „ „ I [B.C. 94] I Cordia „ „ i [b.c 49] 



1 Coelia „ ,, 2 [e.g. 94] 1 Accoleia ,, „ i [b.c 43] 



I Vibia ,, ,, 1-5 [b.c 90] I Antonia „ ,,125 [b.c 31] 



1 Calpurnia „ „ n [b.c 89] 6 Augustus (Cohen), no. 64-5, 2I-3, 42-3 



2 Fonteia „ „ II [b.c. 88] [b.c 2] 

 1 Furia ,, ,.23 [b.c 53] 2 Tiberius „ no. 16 [b.c 2-a.d. 35] 



[Numis. Chron. (1851-2), xiv, 83 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (1852), vii, 176]. 



Knebworth. — The barrow here when opened was found to contain no urns and only a few 

 bones and was full of flints [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxvi, 260]. 



Letchworth. — Various finds, chiefly of burials, have been made in laying out and draining the 

 Garden City. ' A quantity of pottery,' thought to be Roman, was found near some post- 

 Roman burials on Norton Common in 1905 and ' a burial vase ' in excavating for a gasometer 

 the same year [Herts. Express, 25 Mar. 1905]. More were noted in 1910 in Letchworth Lane 

 and seem to consist of burial urns about 2 ft. below the surface. Animal bones also occurred 

 here and near the ' Pix ' [The Citizen, Letchworth, 3 Dec. 1910]. The record of these finds 

 is so scanty that it is not even certain they are Roman. For other Roman finds in the neigh- 

 bourhood, see Norton, Baldock, W'iUian and Ickleford. 



Markyate Street. — See Caddington. 



MuNDEN. — See Watford. 



NoRTHCHURCH. — A bronze helmet was found in excavations for the Grand Junction Canal near 

 Northcott Hill in 1 8 1 3 and is now in the British Museum (pi. i). It is almost circular (measuring 

 internally about 8 in. by j\ in.), has a plate for the neck or neckpiece about z\ in. at its 

 widest, with a rivet for a strap underneath to hang it up, and a circular knob about i in. 

 high on the top where the crest should come ; inside on the left a plate had been fastened 

 with two rivets and turned up on to the rim, on the right a hook also fastened with a rivet, 

 both doubtless belonging to some arrangement for keeping the helmet on the head. Some 

 helmets resembling it are showm by Lindenschmidt in Das Romisch-Germanische Central 

 Museum (1889), Taf. xxvii, 7, and also in Daremberg and Saglio, but they all have a piece 

 cut out to allow room for the ear and some have a cheekpiece, while the Northchurch example, 

 which is small in the head, is quite straight round and probably cleared the ears. Sir 

 Augustus Franks suggests that it is early Roman or Gaulish, and Sir John Evans considered 

 it possibly Late Celtic, but the drawing of it does not confirm this view. There seems to be 

 no reason why it should be called ' Late Celtic,' and it may possibly be Roman. Mr. ffoulkes 

 suggests that had it been of iron it might be dated at about 1640, but being bronze it is 

 probably Roman. [Drawing published by the Soc. of Antiquaries, 18 19, Vetusta Monum. 

 (1835), V, plates xxvi, xxvii; Lewis, Top. Diet. s.v. Tring ; Franks, Proc. Soc. Antiq. v, 362 ; 

 Sir J. Evans, V.C.H. Herts, i, 236, where also he states that the provenance of a similar helmet 



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