Box After AD 350 Alan Payne and Jonathan Parkhouse June 2020
Artistic representation of Wansdyke (courtesy Major F Albany and Edward J Burrow, The Mystery of Wansdyke, 1926, Ed Burrows & Co)
This article reconsiders available evidence about life in the Box area at the close of the Roman period. It considers the information we have at the Box Roman villa and the earthwork called Wansdyke in the south of the parish. We also review evidence from coinage finds, place-names and other topographical details.
We know that Roman ways continued in our area for a long time based on the details in the previous article. Box Valley was settled by farmers in the late Roman period and we might speculate that it produced a sufficient surplus to provide whatever taxation or tribute payments were required. It is good farming land because of its sheltered location and good water supply - otherwise the existence of Box’s large Roman villa would have been economically unviable.
We know that Roman ways continued in our area for a long time based on the details in the previous article. Box Valley was settled by farmers in the late Roman period and we might speculate that it produced a sufficient surplus to provide whatever taxation or tribute payments were required. It is good farming land because of its sheltered location and good water supply - otherwise the existence of Box’s large Roman villa would have been economically unviable.
Coin Evidence in Box
There is evidence for activity in Box in the early fifth century. A recently published account of two hoards of copper-alloy vessels discovered in North Wiltshire discusses the pattern of hoarding in late Roman Britain of coins and other artefacts, such as belt fittings, and refers to clipped siliquae (small, thin, Roman silver coins with their exterior edges pared) and nummi (coins introduced by Constantine) minted shortly after AD 408, found in the Box area, some distance from the main villa site, suggesting the presence of, or at least contact with, late Roman officialdom amongst sections of post-Roman society. It is asserted that this area of central Wiltshire may have seen continuity of control into the immediate post-Roman period by late Roman military groups based on the fortified towns of Cunetio (near Mildenhall) and Verlucio (Sandy Lane). Two of the copper-alloy nummi were issued during the co-reign of Honorius/Theodosius II dated AD 408-423. [1]
The last major issue of silver coins in the Western Empire was of siliquae of Arcadius and Honorius, minted in Milan, and these were the last official silver coins to enter Britain whilst it was still a functioning province. The general consensus for the clipping of the siliquae seems to be that it began somewhere about AD 405 and continued to perhaps 420, maybe even beyond. Clipping removed silver for use as melted-down bullion but allowed the coin to remain in circulation. Whilst the inscriptions around the edge of the coin were often removed entirely the head of the emperor was never clipped, and it is suggested that respect for the imperial portrait indicates that even with reduced weight the siliquae maintained their role as currency. So, we seem to be entering a phase at this time in Box when coins (with a notional value) and bullion (with intrinsic value) are both in circulation, with the one coming to supplant the other.
There is evidence for activity in Box in the early fifth century. A recently published account of two hoards of copper-alloy vessels discovered in North Wiltshire discusses the pattern of hoarding in late Roman Britain of coins and other artefacts, such as belt fittings, and refers to clipped siliquae (small, thin, Roman silver coins with their exterior edges pared) and nummi (coins introduced by Constantine) minted shortly after AD 408, found in the Box area, some distance from the main villa site, suggesting the presence of, or at least contact with, late Roman officialdom amongst sections of post-Roman society. It is asserted that this area of central Wiltshire may have seen continuity of control into the immediate post-Roman period by late Roman military groups based on the fortified towns of Cunetio (near Mildenhall) and Verlucio (Sandy Lane). Two of the copper-alloy nummi were issued during the co-reign of Honorius/Theodosius II dated AD 408-423. [1]
The last major issue of silver coins in the Western Empire was of siliquae of Arcadius and Honorius, minted in Milan, and these were the last official silver coins to enter Britain whilst it was still a functioning province. The general consensus for the clipping of the siliquae seems to be that it began somewhere about AD 405 and continued to perhaps 420, maybe even beyond. Clipping removed silver for use as melted-down bullion but allowed the coin to remain in circulation. Whilst the inscriptions around the edge of the coin were often removed entirely the head of the emperor was never clipped, and it is suggested that respect for the imperial portrait indicates that even with reduced weight the siliquae maintained their role as currency. So, we seem to be entering a phase at this time in Box when coins (with a notional value) and bullion (with intrinsic value) are both in circulation, with the one coming to supplant the other.
Place-name Evidence from Box Landscape
Place-names are notoriously difficult to use to identify locational origins; nonetheless, the frequency of usage makes them difficult to ignore. The occurrence of the element wīc in Wiltshire locations is undeniable and the Box area is surrounded by these elements at Bathwick, Shockerwick and Pickwick.
Place-names are notoriously difficult to use to identify locational origins; nonetheless, the frequency of usage makes them difficult to ignore. The occurrence of the element wīc in Wiltshire locations is undeniable and the Box area is surrounded by these elements at Bathwick, Shockerwick and Pickwick.
|
Place-name Evidence There are numerous -wick (wīc) names in the Box area., which may reflect Roman-British settlement |
The most significant wīc location in Box is Wadswick, lying close to the ancient ridgeway road where Romano-British pottery and metal finds have come from Wormwood Farm. It has been claimed that Anglo-Saxons settling into localities used the wīc element in recognition of their non-Germanic characteristics.[2]
|
The Old English name wic is believed to be derived from the Roman word vicus and it appear to have had a wide range of meanings over many centuries, including as subsidiary dairy farm settlements in valleys. Some linguists have suggested an association with very small Romano-British settlements, often dependent on larger locations and sited close to Roman roads and near Roman villas.[3] Wadswick lies within about 1 kilometre of a Roman road. This may suggest that a settlement existed there but there is no evidence of this.[4] The name Wadswick derives from the Saxon words, the dairy farm of Waeddi and the first recorded reference is Wadeswica.
There are several wīc field names in Francis Allen’s 1630 map: Wick Farme at the top of Doctors Hill, Ashley; Weeke at the north-west of Kingsdown; and the reference to Clement de Wyke in 1333, possibly at the Ashley location. A similar connection has been postulated with the Saxon word walh, suggested to mean Briton or foreigner (Welshman), which at some time took on the meaning of slave.[5] Whilst there are no walh locations in Box, we are close to Walcot, Bath.
There are several wīc field names in Francis Allen’s 1630 map: Wick Farme at the top of Doctors Hill, Ashley; Weeke at the north-west of Kingsdown; and the reference to Clement de Wyke in 1333, possibly at the Ashley location. A similar connection has been postulated with the Saxon word walh, suggested to mean Briton or foreigner (Welshman), which at some time took on the meaning of slave.[5] Whilst there are no walh locations in Box, we are close to Walcot, Bath.
Change and Continuity at Box Roman Villa
Archaeologist Mark Corney used refinements in ceramic chronology to re-assess the dating of the Box Roman villa.[6] There was a substantial rebuilding in the first half of the fourth century, perhaps as late as about AD 340-350, fitting into a general pattern of aggrandisement in the southwest as surplus cash was invested in well-appointed country estates. The work at Box villa is particularly extensive, including reinforcement of some of the walls to counter structural instabilities perhaps soon after the main rebuilding. Thereafter we have few dateable objects (only eleven coins, the last of which was of Valens (364-378)) and little stratigraphic evidence. There are two sherds of South Midlands shell-tempered ware, a late fabric pottery which circulated in southwest Britain from about 350-360, possibly into the early 400s. It isn’t easy to understand what this means - the lack of finds may simply mean that the villa was kept free of debris rather than that no-one lived there. There was slight evidence of a fire in one of the rooms but its date and cause are unknown and attempts to link it to marauding sea-borne Irish pirate incursion seems unrealistic.[7]
The picture is a little clearer at other villas in the vicinity. At Atworth occupation continued into the 400s. At Bradford-on-Avon (excavated by Mark Corney) an octagonal structure was constructed over the main room of the villa during the 400s and occupation may even have continued into the 500s. The Box Roman villa by the Selwyn Hall was not the only site in the parish occupied during the Romano-British period but these offer no clues about their longevity - little is recorded about the site at Cheyney Court and the only record for the one at Hazelbury may actually refer to the main Box villa.
Archaeologist Mark Corney used refinements in ceramic chronology to re-assess the dating of the Box Roman villa.[6] There was a substantial rebuilding in the first half of the fourth century, perhaps as late as about AD 340-350, fitting into a general pattern of aggrandisement in the southwest as surplus cash was invested in well-appointed country estates. The work at Box villa is particularly extensive, including reinforcement of some of the walls to counter structural instabilities perhaps soon after the main rebuilding. Thereafter we have few dateable objects (only eleven coins, the last of which was of Valens (364-378)) and little stratigraphic evidence. There are two sherds of South Midlands shell-tempered ware, a late fabric pottery which circulated in southwest Britain from about 350-360, possibly into the early 400s. It isn’t easy to understand what this means - the lack of finds may simply mean that the villa was kept free of debris rather than that no-one lived there. There was slight evidence of a fire in one of the rooms but its date and cause are unknown and attempts to link it to marauding sea-borne Irish pirate incursion seems unrealistic.[7]
The picture is a little clearer at other villas in the vicinity. At Atworth occupation continued into the 400s. At Bradford-on-Avon (excavated by Mark Corney) an octagonal structure was constructed over the main room of the villa during the 400s and occupation may even have continued into the 500s. The Box Roman villa by the Selwyn Hall was not the only site in the parish occupied during the Romano-British period but these offer no clues about their longevity - little is recorded about the site at Cheyney Court and the only record for the one at Hazelbury may actually refer to the main Box villa.
|
Some archaeologists have argued that from the late-300s there was a change in the ways in which elites represented themselves, from a Roman mode of classical behaviour (the development of intellect and taste in order to participate in civil society) to one where military achievement became the principal male marker (which would include both the hillforts of the western Britons and the spears and shields used in new funerary rites).
|
The distinctions between "Roman", "Saxon" and "Briton" have distorted our understanding . |
The argument goes that, freed from the demands of imperial authority, the aspirations of local elites could be more-openly expressed in power and wealth better-protected through armed retainers. The villas and towns were not emptied of activity, but the activity was different from what went before, with less readily intelligible archaeological signatures. The distinctions between Roman, Saxon and Briton have distorted our understanding and categorisations, whilst problems of dating (such as the scarcity of coinage) have made changes appear more sudden than was necessarily the case. The emphasis on archaeologically-visible material culture has masked the continuity of agricultural economy and populations despite a changing political context.
We don’t know who lived in the Roman villa but the people who provisioned the villa were native Britons who worked the land and provided services to the villa. These people subscribed to Roman culture with the use of markets, coinage and laws but they spoke their own Celtic language, Brittonic. Possibly many people were bilingual if not multilingual, needing to use Late Spoken Latin for administration. These people just carried on their lives adjusting to the changing circumstances around them dropping outdated and failing ways and adjusting to new cultures. As Roman authority diminished, other British tribes took control in the area. The Dumnonii were primarily in Devon and Cornwall but also held territory in Dorset and Somerset. The Durotriges were a British kingdom which had existed since pre-Roman times and afterwards in Dorset and south Wiltshire.[8] Bede claimed that a Romano-British leader Vortigern invited troops into the area to support the British rule. From the east of the area, various Germanic tribes seem to have become dominant for short periods of time until the Gewisse tribe took a wider control. The Roman slaves in Box villa may have become free men but were replaced by other conquered people taken by local tribes as tribute.
We don’t know who lived in the Roman villa but the people who provisioned the villa were native Britons who worked the land and provided services to the villa. These people subscribed to Roman culture with the use of markets, coinage and laws but they spoke their own Celtic language, Brittonic. Possibly many people were bilingual if not multilingual, needing to use Late Spoken Latin for administration. These people just carried on their lives adjusting to the changing circumstances around them dropping outdated and failing ways and adjusting to new cultures. As Roman authority diminished, other British tribes took control in the area. The Dumnonii were primarily in Devon and Cornwall but also held territory in Dorset and Somerset. The Durotriges were a British kingdom which had existed since pre-Roman times and afterwards in Dorset and south Wiltshire.[8] Bede claimed that a Romano-British leader Vortigern invited troops into the area to support the British rule. From the east of the area, various Germanic tribes seem to have become dominant for short periods of time until the Gewisse tribe took a wider control. The Roman slaves in Box villa may have become free men but were replaced by other conquered people taken by local tribes as tribute.
East Wansdyke (courtesy Jonathan Parkhouse)
Landscape Changes: Wansdyke (Woden’s Ditch)
There are aspects of the local landscape that have been attributed to Germanic origins. Wansdyke is the name given to an embankment and ditch running alongside the Roman road from Mildenhall to Bath, which is still the southern boundary of the parish. The name refers to Woden, from whom the Saxon Wessex kings claimed descent. Woden in Germanic mythology (called Odin in Norse) was the one-eyed god of war who sat on the throne in Valhalla and was expected to lead the festival of mid-winter in eating and drinking. The early historian William Camden wrote about the dyke in 1577: The middest of this shire, which for the most part also lieth even in plain, is divided overthwart from East to West with a Dike of wonderfull worke, cast up for many miles together in length. The people dwelling thereabout call it Handspike, which upon an errour generall received, they talke and tell to have been made by the Divill upon a Wednesday. For in the Saxon tongue it is called Wodensdic.[9]
There have been many different theories about the Wansdyke structure. Some date it to the late 400s or early 500s but others put it as a boundary line between Wessex and Mercia in the 600s or 700s.[10] In our area, there have been claims that Wansdyke ran from Ashley Wood in the west, past a tumulus near Lodge Farm, along the boundary of Kingsdown following the line of the Roman Road, then to Norbin Farm.[11] Its existence has been disputed because it is scarcely visible in Box today but is still a significant structure at Neston Park.[12] We can be certain that its name appealed to a mythical Germanic and Norse mythology of immigrants and was attractive to later historians seeking a back-story for prominent topographical local features.
There are aspects of the local landscape that have been attributed to Germanic origins. Wansdyke is the name given to an embankment and ditch running alongside the Roman road from Mildenhall to Bath, which is still the southern boundary of the parish. The name refers to Woden, from whom the Saxon Wessex kings claimed descent. Woden in Germanic mythology (called Odin in Norse) was the one-eyed god of war who sat on the throne in Valhalla and was expected to lead the festival of mid-winter in eating and drinking. The early historian William Camden wrote about the dyke in 1577: The middest of this shire, which for the most part also lieth even in plain, is divided overthwart from East to West with a Dike of wonderfull worke, cast up for many miles together in length. The people dwelling thereabout call it Handspike, which upon an errour generall received, they talke and tell to have been made by the Divill upon a Wednesday. For in the Saxon tongue it is called Wodensdic.[9]
There have been many different theories about the Wansdyke structure. Some date it to the late 400s or early 500s but others put it as a boundary line between Wessex and Mercia in the 600s or 700s.[10] In our area, there have been claims that Wansdyke ran from Ashley Wood in the west, past a tumulus near Lodge Farm, along the boundary of Kingsdown following the line of the Roman Road, then to Norbin Farm.[11] Its existence has been disputed because it is scarcely visible in Box today but is still a significant structure at Neston Park.[12] We can be certain that its name appealed to a mythical Germanic and Norse mythology of immigrants and was attractive to later historians seeking a back-story for prominent topographical local features.
East Wansdyke (courtesy Jonathan Parkhouse)
|
Modern Interpretations
The present general consensus is that the earthwork which forms the southern boundary of the parish was simply the ditch (fossa) of the Roman road towards Verlucio (Sandy Lane). It is asserted that Wansdyke wasn’t continuous, didn’t even exist in Box parish and that West and East Wansdyke may have been built at different times. The West Wansdyke structure ran from Odd Down, south of Bath, west towards Maes Knoll at Norton Malreward, near Bristol.[13] It may have been a post-Roman structure but the mode of construction might equally allow a late Roman date, built as part of a Roman military tradition, perhaps incorporating older structures and landscape elements. It is tempting to use as context one of the events recorded in the early sources, such as the battle of Dyrham in 577, but we have previously seen that the historical veracity of these accounts should be treated with extreme caution as they are often more in the nature of foundation myths. It seems unlikely that the slight construction of the West Wansdyke was a defensive earthwork, probably it was more in the way of a demarcation line. |
The East Wansdyke is a much larger earthwork, running from around Morgan’s Hill to Marlborough. Andrew Reynolds has argued plausibly for construction of the main part of East Wansdyke by Cynewulf of Wessex in the 700s to demarcate his territory from that of Mercia. Certainly, the scale and ambition of East Wansdyke seems more consonant with a strong emerging regional polity than a smaller unit of the type assumed to have existed in the 400s and 500s. East Wansdyke may also incorporate earlier elements of earthwork, like West Wansdyke, The Roman road which runs between the two main sections of Wansdyke may also have been incorporated into a political boundary. It shows that Box seems to have been in a border zone between different polities, even if identifying those polities is problematic.
Conclusion
Just because we have evidence for the withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain, this doesn’t mean that we can presume major changes occurred in a rural area like Box. So we need to discount the analysis of one local historian who was still writing in 1985: "The Britons either fled westwards to the remoter parts .. or, if they submitted, were slaves of the new masters".[14]
These views are not supported by the evidence. To illustrate the fabrication of historical record, Gildas writing in about 540 tells of the victories of the British leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, particularly at the Battle of Mons Badonicus. Later writers romanticised this leader to be King Arthur, champion of British independence against foreign invaders.
Without any local evidence to the contrary, the presumption has to be that Romano-British people continued to live, farm and work in Box. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we may assume, that the population of Box remained and farmed the land as before, even though there is nothing to prove beyond doubt that anyone was there after about AD 375. It is entirely possible that some of this activity took place within the villa, although, by analogy with other similar sites, that activity may have changed to crop-processing, storage or metal-working. But we simply do not know what happened on the Box villa site, nor for how long such activity continued.
Conclusion
Just because we have evidence for the withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain, this doesn’t mean that we can presume major changes occurred in a rural area like Box. So we need to discount the analysis of one local historian who was still writing in 1985: "The Britons either fled westwards to the remoter parts .. or, if they submitted, were slaves of the new masters".[14]
These views are not supported by the evidence. To illustrate the fabrication of historical record, Gildas writing in about 540 tells of the victories of the British leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, particularly at the Battle of Mons Badonicus. Later writers romanticised this leader to be King Arthur, champion of British independence against foreign invaders.
Without any local evidence to the contrary, the presumption has to be that Romano-British people continued to live, farm and work in Box. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we may assume, that the population of Box remained and farmed the land as before, even though there is nothing to prove beyond doubt that anyone was there after about AD 375. It is entirely possible that some of this activity took place within the villa, although, by analogy with other similar sites, that activity may have changed to crop-processing, storage or metal-working. But we simply do not know what happened on the Box villa site, nor for how long such activity continued.
References
[1] R Henry, D Roberts, MJ Grant, R Pelling and P Marshall, 2019, ‘A Contextual Analysis of the Late Roman Pewsey and Wilcot Vessel Hoards, Wiltshire’, Britannia 50, 177
[2] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh: Britons and Saxons in Post-Roman Wiltshire, 2002, Landscape History, 24:1, p.34, published on-line: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01433768.2002.10594537
[3] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.29 and 33
[4] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.12
[5] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.35
[6] Mark Corney, The Roman villa at Box, 2012, Hobnob Press and The Romano-British villa at Box, Wiltshire: A reappraisal and assessment of the archaeological evidence, undated
[7] Mark Corney, The Roman Villa at Box, 2012, Hobnob Press, p.107; and Barry Cunliffe quoted in Draper, Simon Andrew (2004) Landscape, settlement and society: Wiltshire in the first millennium AD, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3064/, p.52 contradicting Richard Hodges, Box Parish: A Short History, 1975
[8] Barbara Yorke, Wessex in the Early Middle Ages, 1995, Leicester University Press, p.326
[9] William Camden, Britannia, Wiltshire and Hampshire, Ancestry.com
[10] Barbara Yorke, Wessex in the Early Middle Ages, 1995, Leicester University Press, p.22
[11] Edward J Burrow, The Mystery of Wansdyke, 1926, p.79
[12] Michael Aston & Carenza Lewis, The Medieval Landscape of Wessex, 1994, Oxbow Books, p.23-4
[13] Jonathan Erskine, The West Wansdyke: an appraisal of the dating, dimensions and construction techniques in the light of excavated evidence, Archaeological Journal 164, 2007, pp. 80-108
[14] Clare Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, 1985, p.14
[1] R Henry, D Roberts, MJ Grant, R Pelling and P Marshall, 2019, ‘A Contextual Analysis of the Late Roman Pewsey and Wilcot Vessel Hoards, Wiltshire’, Britannia 50, 177
[2] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh: Britons and Saxons in Post-Roman Wiltshire, 2002, Landscape History, 24:1, p.34, published on-line: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01433768.2002.10594537
[3] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.29 and 33
[4] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.12
[5] Simon Draper, Old English wīc and walh, p.35
[6] Mark Corney, The Roman villa at Box, 2012, Hobnob Press and The Romano-British villa at Box, Wiltshire: A reappraisal and assessment of the archaeological evidence, undated
[7] Mark Corney, The Roman Villa at Box, 2012, Hobnob Press, p.107; and Barry Cunliffe quoted in Draper, Simon Andrew (2004) Landscape, settlement and society: Wiltshire in the first millennium AD, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3064/, p.52 contradicting Richard Hodges, Box Parish: A Short History, 1975
[8] Barbara Yorke, Wessex in the Early Middle Ages, 1995, Leicester University Press, p.326
[9] William Camden, Britannia, Wiltshire and Hampshire, Ancestry.com
[10] Barbara Yorke, Wessex in the Early Middle Ages, 1995, Leicester University Press, p.22
[11] Edward J Burrow, The Mystery of Wansdyke, 1926, p.79
[12] Michael Aston & Carenza Lewis, The Medieval Landscape of Wessex, 1994, Oxbow Books, p.23-4
[13] Jonathan Erskine, The West Wansdyke: an appraisal of the dating, dimensions and construction techniques in the light of excavated evidence, Archaeological Journal 164, 2007, pp. 80-108
[14] Clare Higgens, Box Wiltshire: An Intimate History, 1985, p.14