It has been stated before, that the site of Uriconium is of very great extent. If the visitor, after having examined the excavations, would seek an agreeable walk, he may turn off by the smith’s shop already mentioned, along the northerly continuation of the Watling Street Road, which soon becomes a deep and pretty country lane, and crosses the Bell Brook. Soon afterwards, on the rise of a bank, we come to a spot where the ancient town wall crossed this road, and where there are said to be traces of one of the gateway entrances to Uriconium. At the latter part of the year 1862, excavations were made in an adjoining field to trace the line of the town wall, which was found remaining to a height of three or four feet; but it was of very rough construction, built merely of small stone boulders mixed with clay, and had evidently been raised hurriedly, at a late period of the history of Uriconium, to meet some sudden emergency. There had evidently been an entrance opening here, but there were no traces of gateway buildings, which were perhaps only of timber. Outside the walls, on the bank to the right, was one of the principal cemeteries, and here the sepulchral inscriptions mentioned above were found. Successful excavations were made in 1862 on the site of this cemetery, and many Roman graves were opened which furnished the Museum in Shrewsbury with another inscribed monument of great interest, a number of sepulchral urns and vessels of glass, and various other objects.
If, instead of going northward, the visitor follows the Watling Street Road towards the south, he will soon reach the village of Wroxeter, and may examine its church. A new gate to the churchyard has recently been erected, and Mr. W. H. Oatley, of Wroxeter, who holds the office of churchwarden, has contributed a shaft of a Roman column, and two Roman capitals, which, together with another shaft given by the Rev. E. Egremont, are now placed on each side of this gateway. The two capitals, which were dragged out of the river Severn, are worthy of particular attention. They are singularly rich in ornament, and mark that late period of Roman architecture which became the model of the mediæval Byzantine and Romanesque. I cannot help wishing that they were safely deposited in the Museum at Shrewsbury, and I think that the Roman columns would serve as well for gateway supports without the capitals, which probably did not belong to them. The church of Wroxeter is a substantial Norman building, with later alterations, and on the outside of the southern wall of the chancel are the remains of a very interesting Norman doorway, which has been built up.
The chancel internally is chiefly remarkable for some fine monuments with effigies of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, interesting especially for their costume. It has at present a low flat whitewashed ceiling, but there is a fine old timber roof above, and it is greatly to be regretted that the unsightly ceiling has not been removed, so that the chancel might again be open to its lofty roof of timber. At the western end of the church is an early font, pl. 7, which has been formed of a very large Roman capital, taken from some important building in the city of Uriconium. Such applications of Roman monuments to later ecclesiastical purposes are by no means uncommon. In the garden of the vicarage, which adjoins the churchyard, are a few fragments of Roman architecture and sculpture, which have been carefully preserved by the present vicar, the Rev. E. Egremont.
Near the churchyard stands the residence of Mr. Oatley, who has also collected in his garden a few fragments from the ancient city and its neighbourhood. Among these is a cylindrical stone, which at first sight might be taken for part of a column, but which appears, from a few remaining letters of an inscription, to have been more probably a Roman milliarium or mile-stone. Mr. Oatley has placed a Roman capital on the top of it, and both are represented in pl. 6. Several architectural fragments are also preserved in the garden of Mr. Stanier. Two of the most interesting of these, belonging to the shaft of the same column, or to those of two similar columns are represented in pl. 15.
The Watling Street Road leads us direct from the gateway of the churchyard to the river Severn, which is here crossed at present by a ford. On the right is a large rugged field overlooking the river, and occupied by Mr. Oatley, which has been trenched in several directions, but nothing was discovered except a Roman well, ten feet deep, which is kept open, and is now partly filled with clear spring water. In an orchard at the corner of this field, near the road, were found a number of human skeletons, attended with some remarkable circumstances, for an account of which I refer the reader to Dr. Johnson’s remarks at the end of this little volume. On the other side of the Watling Street Road, the ground rises to a little knoll, which looks down upon the river, and seems to have formed the southern corner of the inclosure of the city of Uriconium. The top of this knoll has been carefully explored, and the walls of a square building, perhaps of a tower, were uncovered. Among the objects found on this spot were a head sculptured in stone, and a mould for casting Roman coins, both of which are deposited in the Museum at Shrewsbury. The impress on the coin-mould is that of a coin of Julia Domna, the wife of the emperor Severus, (the commencement of the third century); and it is rather a curious circumstance that a silver coin of this empress, which fits the impress exactly, has been found in the excavations near the Old Wall. This method of multiplying the imperial coinage by casts seems to have been very common in these distant provinces, and was perhaps exercised by the imperial or municipal officers. Another coin-mould, also with the impress of Julia Domna, was found at Wroxeter in 1747, and two, one of Severus himself, and the other of Plautilla, in 1722.
In conclusion, I may perhaps be allowed to make a remark on some of the various points on which the excavations on the site of Uriconium have already thrown more or less illustrative light during the short period in which they have as yet been carried on. We see how, by examining their buildings and comparing the objects that are turned up by the pick and the spade, we get an insight into the condition of the inhabitants of Roman Britain, and learn to what degree they enjoyed the luxuries and comforts of life. We see that they possessed a great majority of the refinements of modern society—far more than can be traced among the population of the middle ages. We are taught even the character of their food by remains of edible animals. The comparison of other objects enables us to judge to a great degree of the state and extent of manufactures and commerce. We learn from inscriptions on their sepulchral monuments and altars the names and occupations of some of the inhabitants of the ancient town, and the races to which they belonged; and from this partial information we are enabled by induction to obtain a general view of the whole. We are thus enabled to form a truer notion of the manner in which this country had been inhabited and governed during nearly four centuries; and we have the further hope of eventually discovering monuments which will throw some light on the more particular history of this neighbourhood in these remote ages. We learn, finally, from the condition in which the ruins of Uriconium are now seen, and especially from the numerous remains of human beings which are found scattered over its long-deserted floors, the sad fate under which it finally sank into ruin, and thus we are made vividly acquainted with the character and events of a period of history which has hitherto been but dimly seen through the vague traditions of writers who at best knew them only by hearsay.
Catalogue of Wroxeter Antiquities in the Museum at Shrewsbury.
I.
OBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE ARRANGEMENT AND
CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS.
1. Roofing flags, of micaceous sandstone, form generally hexagonal, with a hole for the nail.—See pl. IV., fig. 1.
2. Tiles of various kinds:—small square tiles, flue-tiles, roof-tiles, &c. Large oblong square tiles for bonding-courses in the walls, &c. Square tiles for making the pillars in the hypocausts.
3. Specimens of the concrete which covered the hypocaust, to the depth of eight inches or more, forming the floor of the apartment.
4. Eight different specimens of the tessellated, or mosaic, pavement, taken up as it was found, and framed.
5. Drawings of the same, made by Mr. George Maw, of Broseley, and presented by that gentleman to the Museum.
6. Sculpture in sandstone; a head of late Roman art, which appears to have formed part of the architectural ornamentation of a building.
7. Bases, capitals, and shafts of columns.
8. Stucco, covering the walls, coloured, plain, and with some formal patterns. One specimen, bearing the letters A. R. C. A., having formed part of an inscription on the wall. Tessellated ornamentation of the surface of a wall, dark and light tesseræ, so as to form an irregular pattern.
9. Umbilicus, or hinge for a door.
10. Iron bolts, shaped iron stancheons, and nails, for fixing roof and flue-tiles upon the walls.
11. Many tiles bearing the impression of the foot of domestic or wild animals,—some of the dog; other, of the sheep, pig, horse, and ox.
II.
OBJECTS FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES.
1. Pottery:—
a. Samian ware.
b. Upchurch pottery.
c. Durobrivian pottery.
d. Romano-Salopian ware, made of clay obtained from Broseley.
e. Pieces of red earthenware, probably made in Shropshire.
2. Glass:—
a. Fragments of flat or window glass.
b. Portions of bottles, &c., generally coloured, some opalescent.
c. Fragments of a cup, ornamented with spots of deep purple glass.
d. One green glass bottle, 6½ inches high, with narrow neck, found in the cemetery, quite entire.
e. A green glass jar, with wide mouth, about 5 inches high and 6 inches wide, also found in the cemetery. It was full of soil, everywhere penetrated by roots of plants.
f. Two metallic mirrors or specula, one in fragments, the other entire. They are of white metal, a compound of tin and copper, with a large proportion of the former.—(Cemetery.)
g. Three very pretty lamps. One bears the figure of Hercules, another that of a dolphin, a third that of a boy kneeling.—(Cemetery.)
h. A silver fibulæ.
3. Bronze statuette of Venus and Mercury.
4. A strigil, (fragment.)
5. Part of an iron horse-shoe. Iron bit of a bridle. Iron spur.
6. Two masks, one made of terra cotta, the other of pottery.
7. Anomalous earthenware vessel.
III.
IMPLEMENTS AND UTENSILS.
1. Weights: one in lead, 20¼oz.; another in stone, 11½oz.
Weight in lead, marked ii., weighs 2¼oz.; another also in lead, weighs 2½oz.
2. Ladle; and neck of some vessel made of block tin.
3. Several keys, of different forms. Iron padlock.
4. Large shackles, chains, &c., of iron.
5. Knives, spear-heads, and portions of other weapons. Two axe-heads. Bone handle of a sword, very curious.
6. Several whet-stones. Stone handle to a knife. Touchstone.
7. Iron trident.
8. Rings of iron, bronze, and lead.
9. Styli of bronze and iron; bronze tweezers; bronze and iron spoons; steelyard.
10. Small cup of lead; ditto of thin copper.
11. Large plates of lead, purpose unknown.
12. Cock made of lead, a child’s toy.
13. Fragment of a lamp in red pottery.
14. Three painters’ pallettes.
15. A curious iron box—(ointment box?)
16. Iron trowel.
17. Bronze lancet (?)
IV.
PERSONAL ORNAMENTS.
1. Hair pins, in great variety; more than 30 specimens have been found made usually of bone; with some of bronze, but these are much more slender. Pl. 11.
2. Bodkins or needles made of bone.
3. Fibulæ, and buckles in great variety.
4. Bracelets or armlets, and brooch.
5. Bronze studs or buttons, some flat, and others very convex.
6. Finger rings:—a. silver; b. yellow bronze; c. bronze, with iron wire; d. bronze, with open work on one side; e. fragment of one of wood; f. iron signet ring: device engraved upon a blue stone, a fawn coming out of a nautilus shell.
7. Combs made of bone, one much ornamented. Pl. 10, figs. 5, 6.
8. Beads of glass of various sizes, some large to suspend round the neck, others to string together upon a thread.
9. Bronze bracelet of twisted work.
COINS.
1. Coins found in the present excavations at Wroxeter.
2. Coins found at Wroxeter, at different times, and given to the Museum.
3. The coins found with a skeleton in the hypocaust.
4. Coining-mould of baked clay. Julia Domna.
CINERARY URNS.
1. Large red earthenware urn, containing human hones (burnt), inclosed in an outer urn of lead, which was brought from Wroxeter many years ago.
2. Another Cinerary urn of black pottery, containing burnt human bones, found in a field adjoining the cemetery, and outside the town walls. Purchased by the secretary.
3. A large Cinerary urn, found in the recent excavations, ten inches high, and thirty in circumference, almost entire, containing bones, but not human.—See pl. 13, fig. 2.
4. Cinerary urns in red and black pottery of various sizes, from 4 to 12 inches high. Some contained burnt human bones and unguent bottles.—(Cemetery.) Many small flask-shaped bottles were found, some broken, some entire, some which had evidently been exposed to heat. Oily matter was detected in one; hence they have been termed unguent bottles.—(Cemetery.)
V.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
Medicine Stamp, found at Wroxeter in 1808, by Mr. Upton; purchased from his family in 1859, by the late Beriah Botfield, Esq., M.P., who presented it to the Museum.
1. Oyster shells in great number; shells of some nut found in an oyster shell.
2. Remains of small animals and birds.
3. Nondescript articles in iron, shapeless masses of lead, innumerable fragments of pottery, bone, &c.
4. Fragments of horn and bone which have been cut with a saw or other tool.
5. Fragments of bone, which have been turned in a lathe.
6. Inscribed sepulchral stone with Latin inscription, partly legible. There has been a statue on the top.—(Cemetery.)
7. A skiff-shaped vessel in bronze, with round handle, and a lid which closed with a catch.
8. Several legs of the fighting cock, with very large natural spurs.
9. Roundels, formed chiefly from the bottoms of earthenware vessels, perhaps used in some game; others made with a hole in the centre.
10. Skulls of the dog; one, that of a dog of the mastiff kind, of an unknown species. Bones of horse, ox, roe, and red deer, (Cervus elaphus); also fragments of the horn of a species allied to the elk of Ireland, (Strongylocerus spelæus.) Very numerous remains of the wild boar, including bones of the hoof, jaw, and tusks.
Among other bones of the ox are some of a very large kind, now unknown in this country.
Also, the crania of the Bos longifrons, more than one bearing evident marks of the fatal blow of the axe on the forehead.
11. Specimens of mended pottery:—1. Samian ware. 2. Upchurch. 3. Romano-British pottery.
12. Slabs of stone for grinding or mixing colours, painters’ pallettes.
13. Specimen of Hepatic iron ore. Ditto of Barytes or heavy spar.
14. Iron tire of a wheel, 3ft. 3ins. in diameter, 1½ inch in breadth. Two iron hoops, supposed to have belonged to the nave of the same wheel.
15. Two hoops of another nave, with the wood remaining between them.
Human Remains.
1. Parts of three human skeletons found in the hypocaust B. Two of the skulls are almost entire, and one is broken into fragments. The latter is remarkable for its great thickness. One of the two former from its form, is most probably the head of a female, and the bones of the pelvis of one skeleton are also characteristic of the female sex. One jaw-bone must have belonged to a very old person, as not only the teeth but even the sockets are gone. One hundred and thirty-two coins were found in the hypocaust with these skeletons. See page 41.
2. Five human heads, and other parts of human skeletons, were first dug up in the orchard, near the river. Of these, four were singularly deformed,—the one eye being in advance of the other and the face oblique. Ten other skulls have since been found in the same place, and have been arranged in the Museum. Of the ten above-mentioned three are deformed like the others, four are so broken and defective that their form cannot be ascertained, three are not deformed. One of the latter is a very large skull, well formed, but with very strong projecting cheek (malar) bones, and a projecting occiput.
3. The principal bones of a skeleton (female?) belonging to one of the skulls, stretched on a board (as well as could be done on the spot) just as it lay in the ground.
The circumstances under which these skeletons were found are full of interest. The greater part of them (at least twenty have been found, but not all in a state to be taken up) were evidently put into the ground with a certain degree of attention, that is, buried. They were not thrown heedlessly into a pit, but carefully deposited at full length, and generally near together, the legs and arms for the most part extended, or, as in the case above described, one arm lying across the body. In general, nothing particular has been found near them, but only the usual contents of the soil, such as stones, roots, and fragments of pottery. In one instance an iron ring, in another, some nails were met with, and in a third a single coin of Claudius Gothicus. But all these might have occurred accidentally in the neighbourhood of the bodies, in an old Roman site, and not have been buried with them. No vestiges of wood derived from coffins, or of apparel, were discovered. There were no traces of weapons or articles of domestic use, which were generally buried by the Romans with their friends, and the place where these remains were found is within the walls, and could not, therefore, be a Roman cemetery.
4. In more than one instance, bones of very young children have been found; but in one instance, alluded to at page 68, almost an entire skeleton of a child was found, which has been preserved, and is in the Museum. This was found outside the semicircular end of the great hypocaust, where there must have been a small court. From the smallness of the bones of the skeleton, and from the circumstance of the teeth being still contained within the jaw-bone, it may be inferred that this was a very young infant—perhaps still in arms.
5. A thigh bone has been found, which, having been fractured, has become united during life.
The most interesting circumstance connected with the human remains found at Wroxeter, is the large relative proportion of deformed skulls. Of the nineteen crania found in the orchard and since deposited in the Museum, eleven are more or less crooked. It has been supposed, and indeed the opinion is still entertained by some antiquarians, that this deformity was congenital and not posthumous, that is to say, that the persons to whom these skulls belonged lived and died with deformed heads. And this was my own view before I had learned that bones are capable of being bent by pressure in the ground. There can be little doubt that the deformity has been produced by posthumous pressure, aided by moisture and the solvent action of certain acids that always exist in vegetable mould. [99a] Other instances of a like effect have been described by Dr. Sherman, [99b] and, in America, by the Rev. D. Wilson. [99c]
H. J.
APPENDIX.
On November the 11th, 1858, at the General Meeting of the Shropshire and North Wales Natural History and Antiquarian Society, held at the Museum, Shrewsbury, the President, Beriah Botfield, Esq., M.P., proposed that excavations should be commenced at Wroxeter. He had written to the Duke of Cleveland, and obtained his Grace’s consent to do so. He also made the very liberal offer to give fifty guineas towards the expenses, provided that fifty other gentlemen could be found willing to subscribe one guinea each. A Committee was formed, consisting of the following noblemen and gentlemen to carry on the work:—
The Right Hon. the Earl of Powis, Powis Castle
Beriah Botfield, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., Decker Hill
R. A. Slaney, Esq., M.P., Walford Manor
Rev. B. H. Kennedy, D.D., Shrewsbury
Rev. E. Egremont, Wroxeter
Rev. R. W. Eyton, Ruyton, Shiffnal
Rev. H. M. Scarth, Bathwick
Samuel Ashdown, Esq., Uppington
W. H. Bayley, Esq., Shrewsbury
William F. F. Foulkes, Esq., Stanley Place, Chester
Henry Johnson, Esq., M.D., Hon. Sec., Shrewsbury
George Stanton, Esq., Shrewsbury
Albert Way, Esq., Worham Manor
Samuel Wood, Esq., Shrewsbury
Thomas Wright, Esq., F.S.A., Brompton
A Metropolitan Committee has since been thought desirable, and held its first meeting August 3rd. It consists of the following distinguished noblemen and gentlemen:—
The Right Hon. Earl Stanhope, President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries
The Right Hon. Viscount Hill, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire
The Right Hon. Lord Braybrooke
The Right Hon. Lord Talbot de Malahide
The Right Hon. Lord Lindsay
The Right Hon. Lord Newport, M.P.
The Right Hon. the Lord Chief Baron
Beriah Botfield, Esq., M.P.
The Hon. Rowland C. Hill, M.P.
R. Monckton Milnes, Esq., M.P.
C. Octavius S. Morgan, Esq., M.P.
H. Danby Seymour, Esq., M.P.
W. Tite, Esq., M.P.
C. C. Babington, Esq., F.R.S., St. John’s Coll., Cambridge
The Rev. E. L. Barnwell, General Secretary of the Cambrian Archæological Association
Sir John P. Boileau, Bart., F.R.S., V.P.S.A.
The Rev. Dr. Bosworth, F.R.S., F.S.A., Professor of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford
The Rev. Dr. J. Collingwood Bruce, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Talbot Bury, Esq., F.R.I.B.A., A.I.C.E.
Benjamin Bond Cabbell, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A.
Robert Chambers, Esq., Edinburgh
Sir James Clarke, Bart., F.R.S.
James Dearden, Esq., F.S.A.
C. Wentworth Dilke, Esq.
J. Hepworth Dixon, Esq., F.S.A.
Joseph Durham, Esq., F.S.A.
The Rev. E. Egremont, Vicar of Wroxeter
F. W. Fairholt, Esq., F.S.A.
Augustus Guest, Esq., L.L.D., F.S.A.
S. Carter Hall, Esq., F.S.A.
J. O. Halliwell, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.S.
The Rev. C. H. Hartshorne
Fredk. Hindmarsh, Esq., F.R.G.S., F.G.S., Hon. Sec.
The Rev. T. Hugo, F.S.A.
Dr. Henry Johnson, Hon. Sec. of the Excavation Committee, Shrewsbury
Joseph Mayer, Esq., F.S.A., Liverpool
Sir Roderick I. Murchison, F.R.S., &c.
Frederick Ouvry, Esq., F.S.A.
The Rev. H. M. Scarth
Charles Roach Smith, Esq., F.S.A.
Vice-Admiral W. H. Smyth, F.R.S., F.S.A.
W. S. W. Vaux, Esq., F.S.A., President of the Numismatic Society
Albert Way, Esq., F.S.A.
Thomas Wright, Esq., F.S.A., Treasurer.
J. O. SANDFORD, PRINTER, SHREWSBURY.
PLATES.
Plate 1: The north side of the Old Wall at Wroxeter
Plate 2: Wroxeter Church, Shropshire (Vignette)
Plate 3: First Roman Hypocaust Discovered at Uriconium 1859
Plate 4: Roman Tile-Roof, Roman Flag-Roof, Section of Roman Hypocaust, &c.
Plate 5: Plan of Walls, discovered by the Excavations at Wroxeter, Salop, from February 3rd to September, 1863.
Plate 6: Column in the garden of W. H. Oatley Esq., Wroxeter
Plate 7: Ancient Stone Font in Wroxeter Church
Plate 8: Capitals found at Uriconium
Plate 9: Samian, Upchurch, and Romano-Salopian Pottery
Plate 10: Rings and Combs
Plate 11: Hair Pins &c.
Plate 12: Skulls from Wroxeter
Plate 13: Roman Remains from Wroxeter
Plate 14: Upchurch Pottery, Adz, Spear Head, and Romano-Salopian (Red) Ware
Plate 15: Carved stone fragments from Uriconium, in the Garden of Edward Stanier, Esq., Wroxeter
Plate 16: Sepulchral Stone
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