2 



JOHN CORDEAUX: LINCOLNSHIRE. 



whilst Trent hangeth down like a broken string, as being somewhat 

 of the shortest.'* 



At the time of the Roman invasion Lincolnshire formed part of 

 the territories of the powerful tribe of the Coritani, their district also 

 comprising Rutland, part of Nottinghamshire, the whole of Leicester- 

 shire, and some portion of Warwickshire,t Lindum being their chief 

 city and stronghold, their frontier fortresses at Gainsborough, Auk- 

 borough, Yarborough Camp, and Caistor predominating the Trent 

 and Humber, which rivers separated them to the north and north-west 

 from their equally powerful neighbours the Brigantes. When the 

 Romans, probably under Ostorius, about a.d. 70, seized Lincoln, 

 they appreciated its commanding site and strongly fortified it. Sub- 

 sequently it became a chief fortress — one of the nine Colonise held by 

 veterans of the legions on condition of rendering military service. 

 They appear also to have utilised for defensive purposes the remain- 

 ing strongholds of the tribe along the northern frontier, connecting 

 them byroads, Vi<z Militares et Vicinales. Of these the most remarkable 

 is the Ermine Street running above Grantham to Ancaster and 

 Lincoln, and then leaving the camp at the Newport Arch, the most 

 perfect Roman gateway existing in the country, it ran in a direct line 

 to the north through Kirton-in-Lindsey to Wintringham-on-the- 

 Humber, where there was a ferry at Brough on the Yorkshire side, 

 and hence on to York. Through a considerable portion of its course 

 the ' old strete ' is still used for purposes of traffic, in others, as over 

 part of Lincoln Heath and near its northern extremity, it is a wide 

 green lane bordered by gorse, whin, and bramble thicket ; and in 

 solitudes which once echoed to the tramp of the cohorts and the heavy 

 rumbling of baggage trains, and in more recent days the march of 

 great English armies towards Scotland, we now listen to the warbling 

 of innumerable linnets, or the monotonous song of the yellow-hammer. 

 The eastern face of the Roman fortress ran nearly in line with the 

 transepts of the present Minster, which stands partly within and 

 partly without the camp. From its commanding position, over- 

 looking an immense extent of country, it must have been practically 

 impregnable. Those indeed who have climbed the steep slopes from 

 the lower town to the castle-yard can form some estimate of its 

 strength, when massive wallj was lined with the hardy veterans of 



* ' Worthies of England,' Nicholls' Ed., 181 1, Vol. II, p. 1. 



fM. H. Bloxam, ' Lindum civitas Coritanorum.' Line. Diocesan Arch. Soc. 

 34th Report, 1877, p. 41 et seq. 



X The walls of Roman Lincoln are computed at 10 to 12 feet thick, and 20 to 

 25 feet high. The area of the camp was about six or seven acres. — Line. Dioc. 

 Arch. Soc. report, 1876, pp. 178-179. Naturalist, 



