Monday 26th September 1994
Danny Howell writes ~
Where It Was At In Roman Times
In quest of Roman times, Quebec Farm, north of Ansty Hill, on the road between Heytesbury and Chitterne, was the destination for an afternoon trip by 15 members of the Warminster History Society.
They were in pursuit of Andrew Houghton, the Society’s Honorary Secretary and a teacher at Kingdown School, who is particularly interested in Roman archaeology.
Around Quebec Barn, near the earthwork known as Knook Castle, are banks, ditches, circular platforms, lynchets and the edges of fields which date from the late Bronze Age (the time when Stonehenge was falling into disuse).
Andrew pointed out the sites of two Romano-British settlements, each with its own village street running north to south. People once lived either side of these streets, hence the discovery by William Cunnington and Richard Colt Hoare in the early 1800s of coal, a latchlifter, plaster, and pottery from France.
Strips of nettles in the ditches reveal signs of human activity from hundreds of years ago.
Around the settlements can be seen the remains of field systems. Ridges denoting the edges of early fields and lynchets where ploughing has created steps were visible from different angles.
The edges of the old fields are prominent features at regular intervals in a shelter belt of beech trees straddling the downs. These field edges can also be seen where they cross the track which runs from Quebec to Breakheart Hill.
Several circular flat areas, dug into the slope of the downs, measuring twenty to thirty feet across, are the remains of hut bases. These huts would have been made of timber, mud and plaster. The people who lived in them, between 200 A.D. and 350 A.D. kept cattle and grew grain.
The bleakness of the area and the cold weather made for difficult living conditions. So, why did people live here? It certainly wasn’t for safety, because the country was at peace during the time of the Roman occupation.
There are three possible answers:
1. A large population generally meant that every piece of land, even bleak downland, had to be used.
2. The Roman Government ran the plain as a cattle ranch (there are no stone buildings used by the Romans on the plain; the nearest were at Pitmeads).
3. The tribe who lived here were so nasty to the Romans they were subject to extra taxation, and had to eke out a living by scrabbling in a marginal area.
It really is a case of ‘we don’t know.’
Andrew offered another suggestion. Perhaps the area was only used for summer habitation. “This is where it was at for the ordinary person in Britain,” said Andrew. “Their lives are not recorded. These humps and bumps in the landscape and strips of nettles are the visible reminders of their existence. This is far more important to me, the lives of ordinary people, than those of the more noble who lived at Chedworth and other Roman villas.”
A unanimous vote of thanks for an interesting afternoon jaunt was given to Andrew. Next month, in the comfort of the Dewey Museum, Martyn Whittock will give a lecture about King Arthur.