A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



About 150 yds. east of this find, in the north-east comer of a field at the junction of the Great 

 and Little Wymondley and Graveley roads, a cemetery was found in 1882. Forty-three urns 

 containing burnt bones, charcoal and iron nails, each wdth a Samian saucer and ' wine bottle,' 

 and sometimes other small vessels were turned up within a space measuring 5 yds. by 7 yds. 

 The pots were all of different shapes, sizes and colour, and forty-five different varieties were 

 observed, many of which are figured. The drawings are not very good, but one of the urns 

 or ' cooking pots ' seems to resemble those figured in PI. l.b. (3) of Curie, A Roman Frontier 

 Post, which are dated to the late znd century ; two hke Ludowici, Romischer lopjer in Rhein- 

 zabern (1905-8), iii, 264, P. 14, 265 V. 7, both apparently also of the znd century. One Samian 

 cup Drag, shape (33) and eight Samian paterae are also shown, three of which are stamped 

 ' ANELLi . OF ' (? ' AnaiUi of,' which occurs mostly on the Rhine and in the Low Countries), 

 • Doccivs . F ' (found at Caudebec-les-Elbeuf and Vichy, London and York), ' romvli . of ' 

 (found in the AUier and Rhone Valleys, Aosta and at Colchester). The first-named might 

 possibly be the ' viertel-rund ' type, usually an early one, but the character of the drawing 

 makes it impossible to be certain. 



* Fragments of pottery and Samian ware were turned up in almost every part of the 

 quadrangular inclosure, which can be distinctly traced from the raised ground and trenches 



encirchng it, measuring about 20 

 acres ' and included the ceme- 

 tery (see map). These finds are 

 noteworthy because they, to- 

 gether with the square shape of 

 the two fields adjoining the 

 mounds, ' still distinctly sur- 

 rounded by a moat,' are con- 

 sidered by Mr. Seebohm as evi- 

 dence of the continuity of 

 occupation from the Roman 

 period. He held that the in- 

 closure and its contents were the 

 remains of a ' httle Roman hold- 

 ing,' forming a rough square 

 and containing about twenty-five 

 Roman jugera (17-18 acres) if the 

 corners were filled in. While it 

 seems incredible that the field 

 divisions should never have been 

 altered since the Roman occu- 

 pation, yet it cannot be denied 

 iliat a Roman settlement of some 

 kind existed here during almost 

 the whole of the Roman period, 

 and therefore probably a Roman 

 holding of some type. But it 

 is dangerous to state precisely what character this assumed, especially as it is not even 

 known whether the occupation took the form of a ' villa ' or village. The remains seem to 

 indicate the latter, since no actual structure has yet appeared or been recorded. The whole 

 question must remain in doubt until the site has been carefully excavated and our know- 

 ledge is a little more definite on the subject of land tenure in the Roman provinces. The 

 mounds belong to the ' moated and bailey ' type and were inserted into the corner of a 

 larger and apparently earlier rectangular work, while the small cross ditch is a modern 

 field division. Many of the earthworks shown on Mr. Seebohm's plan are now merged 

 in field banks and ditches and are not clearly traceable. [Ransom, Herts. Nat. Hist. Soc. 

 Trans. (1886), iv (2), 40-2, with plates; Seebohm, English Village Community (1884), 

 431-2, with plan and same plate ; F.C.H. Herts, ii, 1 19, and plan ; and I. Chalkley Gould, 

 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii (i), 10, 11]. 



(2) Part of a dwelling-house was excavated in the autumn of 1884 by Mr. Ransom ancf 

 Mr. Hill in a field close to Purwell Mill (PL xx). The exact site is not given, but is described as 

 3 furlongs from the cemetery noticed above. Some six rooms were opened and planned, 

 covering an area that measured 113 ft. by 41 ft. Three of them (1-3) were provided with 

 pillared hypocausts, 13 in. high, connected by flues with two or three furnaces, one of these 

 being added at a later date and its entrance paved with roof tiles. A small chamber (4) 



170 



Ronman Holding 



N OP Roman Holding, Great Wymonrliy 

 From Englitk I'illage Cofrmuniiy^ by F. Seebohm 



