ROMANO-BRITISH BEDFORDSHIRE 



Luton. — A hoard of coins was found in a vase of brown ware in Luton Hoo Park. There were 

 probably about i,000 coins, denarii and first brass, from Caracalla (a.d. 196-217) to Claudius 

 Gothicus (a.d. 268—70). They were in fair preservation, and none were of a rare type. The 

 only remarkable feature was the absence of coins of the Tetricii. From the date of the latest 

 coin they would appear to have been buried circa a.d. 268-9 {/irch. Journ.xxxix, 288]. 



Maiden Bower. — ^A large circular earthwork i J miles west of Dunstable goes by this name. It is 

 generally thought to have been a British fortification, afterwards utilized by the Romans. 

 Adjoining the camp was discovered, during the building of the railway line to Dunstable 

 from Leighton Buzzard, a well, at least 120 ft. in depth, and in it were found Roman ddbris 

 [Assoc. Arch. Soc. v, 281]. Pieces of Roman pottery and glass have frequently been found in the 

 camp, and coins, locally called ' Madning Money.' In 1 900 an intaglio in translucent paste, 

 with the head of Carausius on it (a.d. 287-93) was discovered [F.C.H. Beds, i, 270, 160 ; 

 Bibl. Topog. Brit, iv, 200 ; Archaeologist, ii, 9 ; W. G. Smith, Man the Primeval Savage, 320-1 ; 

 Camden, Brit. (ed. Gibson, 1695), 289 ; Assoc. Arch. Soc. xi, 141 ; W. G. Smith, Dunstable : its 

 Hist, and Surroundings, 53]. In January, 1907, during excavations made for chalk, a number 

 of cinerary and other urns were disinterred on the north-west side of Maiden Bowej;. The 

 remains were close to the outer edge of the fosse, and the bases of the vases were from 3 ft. to 

 3 ft. 6 in. from the surface. There were nine vases, 5-^ in. to 11 in. in height, eight smaller 

 ones, and numerous fragments of pots of different sizes. Among them were six Samian paterae. 

 One was perfect, and had the potter's mark primani m, and three others had legible marks : 

 BALBiNvs F, sACERO M, and o FRONTiN. The larger vases were all broken except one, but 

 the bones in two of them were secured intact. The old surface of the ground was burnt, 

 showing that cremation had apparently taken place on the site of burial ; among the remains 

 of burnt wood were iron nails and pieces of squared wood, possibly evidence of cofSns. Some 

 tiles, a bronze ring i;^ in. in diameter fastened to an iron staple, fragments of mortaria, and 

 numerous pieces of drift rock, which must have been brought from a neighbouring hill-top, 

 were also found. Mr. W. G. Smith considers that there were proofs of four cremations, and 

 has in his possession the remains of four persons, and most of the things found on the site [Inf. 

 from Mr. Worthington G. Smith]. 



Maulden Moor. — An amphora was dug up here in the peat, together with several urns of diiFerent 

 forms and sizes, containing bones and ashes, also some fragments of Samian ware [Lysons, Magna 

 Brit, i, 24]. 



NoRTHiLL. — In 1845 a glass vase with a long narrow neck and one handle, 'the colour of pale port 

 wine,' was discovered in the Church field, with two other glass vessels, deposited by the side 

 of two skeletons ; also some fragments of Samian ware and an iron utensil, probably intended 

 for the purpose of hanging a lamp against a wall [Arch, xxxi, 488, App. ; Arch. Journ, ii, 82 ; 

 Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Old Ser.), i, 74]. In 1881 further articles were disinterred and presented to 

 the Bedford Museum [Assoc. Arch. Soc. xvi, 84], In the hamlet of Caldecote, on the road 

 between Hitchin and Sandy, many fragments of undoubtedly Roman pottery have been turned 

 up by the plough [Arch, xlvii, 104]. 



Sandy. A considerable quantity of sepulchral remains, pottery, and coins have been found from 



time to time in a field called ' Chesterfield ' lying to the east of the village, between two small 

 hills on which are remains of earthworks, popularly known as ' Caesar's Camp ' and ' Galley 

 Hill,' about three-quarters of a mile apart [Stukeley, Diaries and Letters (Surtees Soc.), ii, i, 

 note 2 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), i, 328 ; Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and Wales, 77 ; Assoc. 

 Arch. Soc, ii, 422]. Judging from the numbers of cinerary urns and other sepulchral remains 

 found at a slight elevation in the field known as ' Tower Hill,' it appears to have been a Roman 

 cemetery of some extent. The greater portion of this has been removed by the Great Northern 

 Railway as sand for ballast [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), iii, 378]. The size of the cemetery and the 

 quantity of remains indicate that a settlement must have existed in the vicinity. Up to the 

 present time no traces of building or masonry have been discovered, but a systematic excavation 

 of the site has not yet been attempted [Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 35 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. 

 xxvi 238 ; V.C.H. Beds, i, 271-3]. Camden and Stukeley identified Sandy as the SaXtvai 

 of Ptolemy, and the Salinaeof Ravennas [Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), i, 328 ; Arch, viii, 377 ; 

 Stukeley, Diaries and Letters (Surtees Soc), ii, i, note 2] ; but Salinae is not mentioned in the 

 * Itinerary of Antonine,' and Prof. Haverfield is of opinion with Salmon, Horsley and others, that 

 this conclusion was reached on inadequate grounds [?,z\mon,New Surv. of Engl, i, 115, 372-3 ; 

 Horsley Brit. Rom. 375 ; Arch, xlviii, 381]. The earthworks at Caesar's Camp are of an 

 irregular oblong form, the southern part of which is still clearly discernible, but the northern end 

 has disappeared. AH the older authorities give the measurements as ' comprising 30 acres,' but 

 the area of the part which can now be defined is about 7 acres [Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), i, 

 328 ; Salmon, New Surv. of Engl, i, 373 ; Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 55 ; F.C.H. Beds, i, 271 ; 

 292 



