296 Roman Mining Operations on the Borders of Wales. 



60, so that this pig was probably cast in the year before Boadicea's 

 revolt. It is clear, therefore, that it was the metallic riches 

 of the mountains on the border, and on the northern coast of 

 Wales, which drew the Romans thither at so early a period. 

 Britain had long had a celebrity for its richness in metals, 

 derived from the treasures carried from the south, and the 

 Romans would no doubt be attracted by any report of moun- 

 tainous districts. They had thus at a very early period fixed upon 

 the peak of Derbyshire ; and in the mountains of the Welsh 

 border, their richness in metals must have been visible on the 

 surface, and would have caught the eye of the Roman metallur- 

 gists at the first glance. 



There are evidences of a much more definite character, which 

 show the extent to which the Romans laboured on these metal- 

 liferous regions, and which will repay well the labours of the 

 scientific inquirer in exploring them. The attraction of these 

 researches is increased by the fact that the most imposing 

 remains of the Roman mining operations are scattered through 

 by far the most lovely scenery of the Welsh border. We 

 may trace them from the wild country of the Forest of Dean, 

 and the beautiful Wye scenery in the south, through the hills- 

 of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire, Cheshire, and the countries 

 of Flint and Denbigh, and through the ancient country of the 

 Cangi, or Kiangi, up to the shores of the Irish Channel. We 

 can only, in the space here allowed us, review this extent of 

 country briefly, but we will begin with the iron district in the 

 south. 



The best position from which to visit the Roman mining 

 districts of the forest of Dean is Ross or Monmouth. Nearly 

 the whole country for some extent on both sides of the river 

 Wye, between those towns, has a deep substratum of the 

 scoriae from the Roman iron works, sometimes lying close upon 

 the surface. I am told that in places the depth of scoriae has 

 been found to be from twelve to twenty feet, and I have myself 

 traced it on the surface over a considerable part of the district. 

 Coins and pottery of the Romans, and other objects, found fre- 

 quently among the scoriae, leave no room for doubt that the 

 latter were deposited there by that people. 



Nor are their cinders the only remains of their iron works, 

 which that extraordinary people have left behind them in this 

 district. ;Ina turn of the river Wye, amid the beautiful scenery 

 between the nuns of Goodrich Castle and Monmouth, rise two 

 massive hills, called the Great and Little Dowards. They con- 

 sist of mountain limestone, resting on the old red sandstone, 

 in the former of which the iron ore is here found. Both hills 

 have been largely mined by the Romans, and their manner of 

 proceeding on this occasion is explained fully by the entrance 



