439 
1811] Jiers ef Richard of CiTcnces'er, 
For the Monthh/ Magazine, 
Conclusion of the Vil'h and IQth Iters of 
Kichard of Cirencester. 
BRAY-5 T A N E S-W V R A R DIS B U R Y 
EGIIAM - BIBRACTE, Or WINDSOR, 
OUR readers will find tiieinselves 
interested in the conclusion of 
these journies. In my last paper I stated 
reasons for supposing that an old road 
ran through Reading to the VValtharns, 
from thence I suppose it ran to old and 
new Windsor, which have both been 
considered by some w'riters Bibracle. 
No author has, however, attempted to 
prove that either of these places was this 
station; and our antiquaries, on the con¬ 
trary, .are now disposed to place it any- 
%vhere, except in its right place. I will 
Tiot venture to assert that Bibracte and 
Pontibus are not the same place: from 
points of land at W^indsor I should de¬ 
rive Pontibus from Font, an old spelling 
of the word point. But Antoninus and 
Richard ma^ have given two routes to Ca- 
leva, one by Bihiacte, and the other by 
another place formerly named Pontes; 
and if so, but not otkerzeise, Pontibus and 
B-ibracte are not likelv to be the same 
»/ 
place. 
Tile old road from London to the w'est 
may have run near the course which Dr, 
Beeke in the ArchtEologia has supposed. 
The Bibroci, among other places, inha¬ 
bited the Hundred of Bray. But Bray, 
w’lrich has been so long said to be Bi¬ 
bracte, is a name given to streams! The 
reason of the formation of this word for 
streatns I will'hereafter give. But nei¬ 
ther the little stream on which this place 
lies, and. from w'hich it is derived, nor 
P'Y/j/ itself, nor Braijzrick, will pz'ove the 
Bibroci inhabiting its borders. Bray 
also lies too far from Loiidinum, and too 
near to Caleva, and seems every way ex¬ 
cluded from any claim wliich our authors 
liave set up, as taking its naum from the 
Bibroci, or from beiiig Bibracte. 
In like manner Stanes, in Doomsday 
Book Stane, does nrit in tlie names of 
pdaces, convey th.e idea of a word for an 
old Homan or British road, as writers 
have asserted : on the contrary, w'here- it 
is found as an adjunct it generally im¬ 
plies land. But Staines has also been 
considered Iry antiquaries as derived from 
the word Stan, a stone; and tins is as 
pu'obable as Mr. Hals’s explanation of 
the parish of Whilstone, which he sup¬ 
posed derived from the white stone men¬ 
tioned in the Revelations. There was a 
time when the pivers Tames and Coin ran 
Mot according to their present directions. 
Without the banks made on rivers the 
present low lands must have been flooded 
to a great extent, and in a variety of 
places {rom whic'h the water has been 
drained, tiiere could have beeu no names 
for the bottoms which they had occu¬ 
pied. Tile adjuncts Ham, J]'orih, Wick, 
Szc. are often iram^-s of places on streams; 
and Stan, or Stane, as such anotiier ad¬ 
junct, was also a proper name for newly- 
recovered land. 
That Stanes was the Roman station 
of pontes seems ti.en utihkely from its 
name, and from its distance from Lon¬ 
don, as well as from its total waiii of re¬ 
mains. A more likely place from name, 
for I know not well the situation, is 
Wyrardisbuey, in wijich name Buri/ 
generally denotes a little hill with an old 
camp. This place w'as in Doomsday 
Look w'ritten Wlrcesberie, and it may 
imply the border, or border’s camp. 
From wLat I remember of the country, I 
should consider that tfse Tames firmerlv 
rnust have taken its course, in iiigh wa¬ 
ters at least, across the grouiid on which 
tile l>ank of Rgham stands; and that an 
old road Com London westward, may, 
from this circumstance, have run near 
the course which Dr. Beeke has assigned 
it at Wyrardisbury. But should Pontes 
and Wyrardisbury not be synonymous 
names, and no remains be found in this 
place,—on the contrary, if it .shall ap¬ 
pear that Bury in this denominatiori 
rjieatis a village instead of a camp, we 
may be obliged to give op such road, and 
to account this place likewise no statioii. 
But it hatii been said in the commeTit 
to Richard, that “ Bibracte rnust be 
placed ne*ir the hill at EofiAM, or at 
THE HEAD OF TOE VIRGINIA WaTER.’’ 
These ate places at some distance tVoni 
each other!—That it was not at Fgham 
we might shew from this place liaving no 
rciritun-, taking its name from its bank 
on the Tatnes, or from its hill, and from 
this word not answering as a syrionyme 
of Bibracte ; that it was not at the head 
of the Virginia IVater, we may also 
prove, from this head lying so far beyond 
twenty miles of Londitium, and w'ithout 
any natne or remains which can lead us 
to suppose that tlie distances in the Iti¬ 
nerary may be incorrect. From living 
some time on Englefield Green, I have 
no reason to suppose that either of the 
above places, has the least claim to the 
honor which this writer has bestowed 
upon it. 
In the 16th Iter I have stated the im¬ 
ports of the names of three stations, 
host 
