ROMANO-BRITISH BEDFORDSHIRE 



also a number of urns containing ashes, and further away in the field, close to the station, a 



quantity of skeletons thrown together in a mass, with them some small ampul/ae and two wooden 



coffins containing bones were brought to light. Some Anglo-Saxon cinerary urns of black earth 



were also found near the station, but not in the same place as the Roman [Jssoc. Arch. Soc. ii, 



422, 427 ; viii, 117 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Old Sen), ii, 109 ; iii, 378 ; V.C.H. Beds, i, 184]. 



Further discoveries were made in 1853 *"<1 1866 of bronze articles and pottery, as well as 



nearly 30 quarters of charred wheat ; a Samian patera, marked dagomarus, which had been 



broken and riveted \^Asso:. Arch. Soc. ii, 422 ; viii, 117 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Old Ser.), ii, 109 ; 



iii, 378]. Eleven of the urns, two other vessels, and the Samian patera were secured for the 



Bedford Museum [Assoc. Arch. Soc. ii, 422]. Numerous Roman coins were also found, but their 



dates are unknown, except that a few were stated to be of Carausius (a.d. 287—93) ^"'^ Allectus 



(a.d. 293-6); but Mr, Latchmore, writing in 1889, stated that he had purchased at Sandy 



rude imitations in second brass of the coins of Claudius much resembling them, and added, * of 



the same class also are the barbarous imitations of coins of Carausius and Allectus.' These 



coins have all been scattered, so that it is impossible to ascertain if they were genuine or not 



[Num. Chron. (Ser. 3), ix, 333]. In 1856 three bronze bowls, and a sword in fine preservation, 



said to be Roman, were discovered in making a branch railway from Sandy to Potton [Assoc. Arch. 



Soc. xiii, no]. Two leaden coffins were discovered at Tower Hill in 1879, about 3 ft. or 4 ft. 



below the surface. They were made in two parts, the lower sheet being folded into a cist, 



and the upper part bent over to form a cover. One coffin, measuring 6 ft. 2 in. by 2 ft. 



contained fragments of a skull, the other 5 ft, 6 in. by i ft. 10 in. held an undisturbed skeleton, 



measuring 4 ft. 10 in. Each coffin had been held together originally by a wooden frame, the 



nails of which remained near it. Fragments of pottery were also found in the vicinity. These 



were the only leaden coffins discovered, but numbers of skulls were dug up a few yards away. 



The coffins were placed due east and west [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), viii, 201]. In 1886 



sixteen coins were found, embracing a period from Nero (a.d. 50) to Gordianus III (a.d. 238) 



[Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xlvi, 317]. A bronze plaque with the head of Mercury in high 



relief was found at Sandy and exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. W. Ransom, F.S.A., 



in 1 905 (see pi. ii). He also exhibited a quantity of iron implements, found some ten or 



twelve years before, which have been identified as far as possible as follows (see pi. ii). On the 



extreme left of plate the highest object is unidentified, and measures 1 3 in. in length. Below 



it is an axe-head 6 in. long. Starting from the top again is another iron object the same as 



the first, also 1 3 in. long. Below that is an iron ring 4^ in. in diameter, and half a ring of the 



same kind, considered to be possibly part of the iron fittings of a cart. At the top of the next 



row is what may be either an axle-box (>\ in. long, 3f in. in diameter, or a pole end. The 



object below it is 9 in. long, unidentified. Next to that is a chisel 6^ in. long, and below 



again a key, 6 in. long. The block in centre is thought to be a farrier's buttress, 7 in. in 



height, 4 in. square at the top, 7 in. square at the bottom. Below it are two iron rings, 



respectively 7 in. and 5 in. in diameter. To the right of the farrier's buttress is a shoe-maker's 



anvil 15 in. in length, the foot 6 in. long. Below it is another ring 4 in. in diameter, a 



mower's anvil 9^ in. long, and an unidentified object 5^ in. across, 3J in. long. The other 



two objects are both 13 in. long, unidentified, and there is another piece of an iron ring [Proc. 



Soc. Antiq. (Ser, 2), xx, 340 ; Arch, liv, 138-56]. In addition to these Mr. Ransom possesses 



the following articles which were found at Sandy : Some first-century Samian ware (plain) 



with Gaulish potter's marks, of. abn ; of. sever ; logirni ; iialbini m ; a second-century 



bowl with mark albvci ; two mortaria, one with the word .... fecit on it ; some fragments 



of ornamented Samian ware of the first century ; a jar of Gaulish black ware with ' thumb 



marks ' and bands of hatching, of the second century ; some fibulae ; an iron tool, having a 



curved blade with a double row of teeth, apparently used for making indentations on pottery 



Trans. Herts. Nat. Hist. Soc. iv, 41] ; and coins of Faustina Junr. (a.d. 161-75) and Postumus 



(a.d. 258-68). 



Shefford. — An inclosed cemetery of the Roman period was discovered in 1826, and opened by 



Mr. Thomas Inskip, of Shefford, who dug up a great number of urns and other remains there. 



It lay in two fields and a garden (4-4 in plan) to the west of the town, and was found to have 



been surrounded by a rough wall (see plan i-i-i and lo-io-io), about 3 ft. in thickness, 



composed of sandstone from a quarry 150 yds. off, built with little mortar and no bonding tiles. 



It was easily traced at about 3 ft. below the surface, at which depth the deposits were usually 



found. On the north side the wall was destroyed by the present Campton Road (2-2 in plan), 



which is supposed to be a little south of the old road (3-3 in- plan), but parallel to it [Dryden, 



'Rom. and Rom.-Brit. Remains at and near Shefford,' pp. 9, 10, in Publ. Camb. Antiq. Soc. 



1840-6, vol. i]. The area inclosed was about 150 ft. square. Ten years later a building 30 ft. 



by 20 ft. was discovered, 250 yards to the south-east of the cemetery, which was thought, 



II 



