A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Beds. 25 in. O.S. xviii, i]. The Galley Hill fortifications are smaller and more regular in 

 form, being nearly rectilinear and rectangular. The interior measurement is 343 ft. by 272 ft. 

 \V.C.H. Beds, i, 272]. So far all discoveries of Roman remains have been made in Chester- 

 field, opposite to the present Great Northern Railwray station, and at Tower Hill, and not m 

 the camps, except that a few bronze coins of the minimi type much defaced, and fragments of 

 coarse pottery, not made on the wheel, have been found at Caesar's Camp ; but though trial 

 trenches were dug on Galley Hill, nothing of interest was discovered t\icre \V.C.H. Beds, i, 

 273-4], Anglo-Saxon urns and other sepulchral remains were found in 1850 near the rail- 

 way bridge {Assoc. Arch. Sec. ii, 427 ; r.C.H. Beds, i, 184]. The first recorded discovery of 

 Roman coins, cinerary urns and other pottery was made in 1670, and the articles were presented 

 to the University of Oxford by Mr. Chrysty [Gent. Mag. (1764), 60 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. 

 Gough), i, 328]. In 1738 a small head of iron, said to be covered with silver, and a sword, 

 also said' to be covered with silver, were shown to the Society of Antiquaries, w^ho preserved a 

 rough drawing of the head. Camden called it ' a brass female head, about 3 in. high, called 

 Boadicea . . . possibly meant for the top of a standard pole,' but its authenticity as a Roman 

 relic is doubtful. It may possibly have been a steelyard weight [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. iii, 131 ; 

 Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), i, 328]. Stukeley, in his Itinerarium Curiosum, Tefened to the 

 discovery of immense quantities of coins, locally known as ' Chesterpieces' [///«. Cur. (1776) 



Sam IAN Bowl from Sandy 



78], and Bromsall, writing to him in 1724, gave a detailed list, mentioning altogether coins 

 from Agrippa (b.C. 28) to Theodosius (a.d. 450) [Stukeley, Diaries and Letters (Surtees Soc.), 

 ii, i]. Stukeley also spoke of the discovery of 'urns, lachrymatories, lamps, and a cornelian 

 entaglio.' In 1764 glass vessels and a vase of Samian ware were found, all containing ashes 

 [Gent. Mag. Lib. Beds., 71]. In 1779 a cinerary urn of an ordinary type (dark brown, slightly 

 glazed) was discovered, full of grey sand and burnt bones [Arch, vii, 413, App. ; MS. Min. Soc. 

 Antiq. xvi, 228]. In 1787 fragments of three Samian bowls of large size were disinterred 

 [Arch, viii, 377), also a cinerary urn of Castor ware, containing bones and ashes, and some 

 articles of a lady's toilet, including a hair-pin ' and a metal mirror measuring 5 in. by 2 in. 

 and preserving its polish to a great degree.' Numbers of coins were also found, dating from the 

 Flavian family (a.d. 69) to Constantine (a.d. 306-37) [Arch, viii, 377, 381 ; MS. Min. Soc. 

 Antiq. xxi, 488 ; Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 24]. In 1844 a Samian vase, anciently broken and 

 riveted with lead, was found and given to the British Museum [Arch, xxxi, 254 ; Proc. Soc. 

 Antiq. (Old Ser.), i, 57]. In 1850, in digging for the Great Northern Railway, an urn contain- 

 ing burnt bones divided by layers of cloth, a silver ring set with cornelian bearing the device 

 of an eagle, and a copper coin with the same emblem, were discovered. Near Caesar's Camp 



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