A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Harrold.— A vase, said to be Roman, from this place was presented to the Bedford Museum in 

 1881 [Jssoc. Arch. Soc. xvi, 84]. In 1895 a Roman oculist's stamp of green slate, of the usual 

 size, was found in a field. The inscriptions on it were : — 



(i) C . IVN . TERTVLLI . DIA . 



LEPID . AD . ASPR . ETC . 

 (ii) C : IVN . TERTVLL . 



DIAMISVS . AD . CIC . 



A variety of Roman coins, extending from the time of Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138—61) to 

 Arcadius (a.d. 383-408) have been found in the immediate vicinity [Rev. Dr. Cox, 1896, 

 Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), xvi, 83]. 



Haynes. — Both British and Roman pottery have been found here in considerable quantities on the 

 line of the supposed Roman roads \_Assoc. Arch. Soc. i, 382 ; viii, 152]. 



Hicham Gobion. — Specimens of plain pottery have been found here, and are now in the possession 

 of Mr. W. Ransom, F.S.A. 



Houghton Regis. — Roman coins were found at Gravel Pit Hill, and at a place called the Bury 

 Field, in the hamlet of Thorn, fragments of pottery, urns of light brown and coarse black clay, 

 together with a small copper key and a copper spear-head, were discovered \Arch. xxvii, 

 100-104]. 



Kempston. — A large quantity of pottery and some human bones were found in 1890 in a field on 

 the north side of the main road between Bedford and Kempston, about i^- miles from Bedford, 

 adjoining some burials of the Anglo-Saxon period \cLV.C.H. Beds, i, 178]. These were 

 discovered in a saucer-shaped excavation, 12 ft. in diameter and 4 ft. in depth. There were 

 altogether twenty-three urns, all in good condition. The best specimen was of a yellowish- 

 white colour, and was nearly filled with fine gravel, called locally ' chinks.' The others con- 

 tained earth, gravel, and remains of bones. In one was found a pair of bronze tweezers, and 

 in another a bronze implement, use unknown. Several of the urns were of Upchurch ware, 

 ornamented with incised patterns, and sometimes with wide mouldings in relief. Two 

 skeletons, some potsherds, a circular fibula much decayed, and an iron spear-head were also found 

 at a depth of about 3 ft. from the surface. A smaller excavation was afterwards revealed, filled 

 with bluish-coloured earth, in which was found some broken pottery [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), 

 xiii, 240-42]. 



Kensworth (formerly in Hertfordshire). — Fragments of large amphorae and paterae in coarse ware 

 have been found at Kensworth Common ; cinerary urns, Samian and imitation Samian ware, 

 pieces of mortaria, loom weights, spindle-whorls, coins, and broken querns were discovered on 

 the south side of the Kensworth Road, also on the common ; some of the urns were in good 

 preservation, containing burnt hiunan bones. Roman potsherds have also been found in the 

 churchyard. A number of inscribed stones are said locally to have been taken from ' Fourteen 

 acres field,' a quarter of a mile north of Kensworth church, near to the ancient British Road, 

 but they have all been lost. A small bronze fibula was found on the Downs in this parish 

 [W. G. Smith, Dumtahle : its Hist, and Surroundings, 52-3]. 



Leagrave Marsh. — Some clay bars, of a shape tapering towards the end, the fi-agments about 

 6 in. long and i| in. wide, some pottery, and animal bones, also the remains of two skeletons, 

 were found in Walluds Bank, a British earthwork here, by Major Cooper Cooper, F.S.A. in 

 1884. It is possible that the bars formed part of a pottery kiln. The position of the bars and 

 potsherds, and the discovery of portions of baked clay bearing the impression of oat-straw, 

 apparently used in the dome covering a kiln, point to this conclusion [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 

 2), X, 133]. 



Leighton Buzzard. — About a mile and a half north of this place the remains of a circular earth- 

 work like Maiden Bower once existed in a field called ' Craddocks ' near St. Leonard's Church. 

 It was entirely destroyed in making inclosures about a hundred years ago. Camden and others 

 have called it Roman, though from the shape it was probably British. [Camden, Brit. (ed. 

 Gough), ii, 56 ; Pointer, Brit. Rom. 54 ; Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and Wales, i, 37 ; Arch. 

 xxxix, 287.] About half a mile south-west of the town a 'well' was discovered, lined with 

 sandstone, which was said to be Roman. Some antlers of red deer, &c., were found in it flnf 

 from Mr. W. G. Smith]. *■ 



LiMBURY. — A Roman waste pit was opened at Biscot Grange, containing potsherds, human and 

 animal bones, and refuse. The bones were evidently isolated, not representing a burial [W. G. 

 Smith, Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), xxi, 82 (1906)]. At a later date two human skeletons were 

 found side by side and intact in the same pit. With them were remains of Bos longifrons, 

 bones of sheep and of a large dog, and numerous Roman potsherds. In a gravel pit on ' Stony 

 Hill ' another large and deep waste pit or well was found, and quantities of bones and broken 

 pottery were turned out of it [Inf. from Mr. W. G. Smith]. 



