ROMANO-BRITISH BEDFORDSHIRE 



An eagle of lead with outstretched wings, 7 J in. across, weighing over 3 lb., made appar- 

 ently to fit on to a staff [Dryden, ' Rom. and Rom.-Brit. Remains at and near Shefford,' pp. 

 10-14 in Publ. Camb. Antiq. Soc. 1 840-6, vol. i]. 



A quantity of Samian pottery was found, and about 3 1 vessels were kept. The following 

 is a list of the potters' marks on the more important : — 



SILVVS ; TENEVM ; NVTIS ; OF.PRIMVS ; OF.COE ; LVPPA ; VIRTOVAS ; OF.MUSERA ; MACCIVS ; 

 MATULVS ; FETI- ? OF. MACCIA ; CALINVS ; REGINVS ; OUIDI ; CVCAUM ; UBERALIS ; SCOLVS ; CVIM ; 

 SCORVS ; OFF.AGER ; OF.ALBIN ; DONVM- ? OF. BIAICI ; OF.ICO- ? {Joum. Brit. Arch. Assoc, iv, 143; 

 Arch, fourn. i, 395 ; Dryden, op. cit. 14 ; Brayley, Graphic and Hist. Illustrator, 345]. 



All the pottery which has been preserved, including a large amphora with a ball of pitch 

 at the bottom, was discovered in the cemetery, except some of the Samian ware, found at the 

 building, but it has not been kept apart from the other. 



A number of coins was also discovered in the cemetery, dating from Tiberius (a.d. 

 14-37) *° Maximian (a.d. 286-310), including a small silver coin, with a full face on the 

 obverse and a man with two horses and a word said to be Piancus on the reverse [Dryden, 

 op. cit.]. In 1836 a farmer, ploughing in a field just beyond Shefford, turned up a number of 

 coins, several of silver and potin, and the rest small brass. They were common and in bad 

 condition, only three were in good preservation, i.e. a silver one of Allectus (a.d. 293-6), a 

 small brass also of Allectus, and a small brass of Constans (a.d. 337-56). This is only 

 remarkable as one of the first to bear the inscription Felix temporum reparatio, which afterwards 

 became a favourite legend [Num. fourn. i, 80]. 



Shillington. — A globular-shaped bottle, made of tin, over 5 in. high, and some minor articles 

 supposed to be Roman were found here [Dryden, op. cit.]. IVlr. W. Ransom, F.S.A., 

 possesses some specimens of plain pottery which came from this place. 



Stanford. — In 1832, half a mile to the north of Stanfordbury Farm, near the Southill Road, a 

 rectangular vault, 15 ft. in length from north to south, by 12 ft. in width and 5 ft. in depth, 

 was opened by Mr. Thomas Inskip. The sides were perpendicular, not walled, and fell in as 

 the excavations proceeded. The floor was paved with tesserae. Two years later another 

 vault of the same dimensions was discovered about 30 ft. south of the first one, and was also 

 opened by Mr. Inskip. Judging from the difference of the articles discovered in them the 

 first vault was considered to have held the remains of a man, the second those of a woman 

 [Dryden, op. cit. 15]. A similar vault was discovered at Bares, in Essex, the contents of 

 which were almost identical with those found at Stanford [C. Roach Smith, Coll. Antiq. 

 ii, 28]. 



These vaults probably indicate the existence of a villa in the neighbourhood, the site of 

 which has not been discovered. The following is a list of articles taken from the vaults, and 

 the plans given show the position in which they were found : — 



I. A large shallow brass pan, 3 ft. in diameter, very thin and much broken, mounted on 

 a piece of wood. 2. A brass jug, with ornamental handle representing a woman, and ter- 

 minating in two masks or faces. It was much corroded and was 

 also found inverted on a piece of wood. 3. A brass pan, of 

 good workmanship, lO:^ in. in diameter, and about ']\ in. in 

 depth. The handle was flat, slightly ornamented, and pierced by 

 a small semicircular opening, probably for suspension. 4. This 

 article was also made of thin brass, and thought to be the elbow- 

 piece of a suit of armour. It was about 5 in. in length, and 

 the same in width, and appeared to have had a boss or spike at 

 the apex. 5-5. Along the west side of the vault stood two iron 

 implements resembling fire-dogs. Each consisted of two uprights, 



2 ft. l\ in. high, terminating at the top in a deer's head with 

 two horns finished with knobs and joined by a horizontal bar. 



By the side of each lay an extra bar (6-6) and a piece of iron 



which were thought to have formed part of the implement. Simi- sai.i ((huosfett. 



lar implements were found in the vault at Bures. Here the uprights First Vault at Stanford 



3 ft. 6 in. high terminated in heads of oxen with brass knobs on the 



tip of each horn [C. Roach Smith, op. cit. ii, 28]. It is very uncertain what was the use of these 

 objects. They may have been the varae corresponding to our andirons or fire-dogs, or perhaps the 

 veru or spit, a bar resting on the fork formed by the horns of the deer from which the meat to be 

 roasted might be hung. A fragment of a similar object was found at Silchester, and andirons, but 

 of different form and without the uprights, have been found at Paestum and Pompeii [Rich, lllus. 

 Diet. Roman and Greek Antiq. 212]. 7. A tripod of iron with the legs gathered together, also 

 supposed to have been used for cooking. 8. Numerous pieces of thin iron, some riveted, which 



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