TV historians unearth village's Roman past

[Blackleaf]

TV historians unearth village's Roman past Oct 19 2006


By Mark Davison mark.davison@trinitysouth.co.uk

HISTORY books will have to be rewritten after it has emerged that a Roman settlement has been unearthed at Godstone, Surrey.​

The discovery has been filmed for Channel 4's Time Team programme, which is presented by actor Tony Robinson.​

More than 500 Roman coins, together with brooches, pottery and artefacts, have been discovered in a carefully plotted operation which has taken 10 years to complete.​

All the remarkable finds have been dug out of fields south of the village.​

The majority of finds has been uncovered by metal detectorist David Hunt, of Kent, who is in his 70s and is a prominent member of the West Kent Metal Detecting Club affiliated to the National Council for Metal Detectorists.​

Mr Hunt has meticulously reported every single find to David Williams, Surrey's finds liasion officer, who runs the county's portable antiquities scheme.​

Mr Hunt's lengthy search has enabled a map to be drawn up showing the precise location of each discovery.
Concentrations of finds showed up clearly on the map and this enabled favourable locations for a thorough archaeological dig to be suggested.​

Mr Williams, who lives in Somers Road, Reigate, contacted Time Team when he was convinced there was evidence of a Roman settlement at the site. He said this would be the first settlement to be discovered in Godstone. Surrey during Roman times was largely rural, and had no major Roman centres of population, unlike neighbouring Sussex.​

More than 40 TV staff, including cameramen, archaeologists, presenters and ancilliary workers, descended on the farmland at the end of September.​

Two-feet deep trenches were dug in the field and further finds were made.​

The precise location of the Roman hamlet could not be ascertained because the humble farm dwellings used by the occupants did not have the stone foundations found in more luxurious dwellings.​

The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD under the Emperor Claudius, although Julius Caesar made the first tentative forays to Britain in 54 BC.​

Mr Williams said: "The earliest coins are from the Conquest - 43AD - but they cover the whole span of the Roman occupancy right up to the 4th century."​

He said that a number of brooches dating back to the first and second centuries had been unearthed, along with other metal items and pottery.​

The pottery,not found by metal detectors, included shards from a number of fineware beakers and bowls, together with decorated Samian ware,made in south west France.​

Mr Williams said: "There were even chunks from an olive oil amphora - a big globular pot to contain olive oil. It would have been about three feet wide."​

He added that there was no indication as to how many Romans lived in the settlement, but he surmised it was a small farmstead or hamlet which existed for perhaps three or four hundred years, with various generations connected with it.​

Mr Williams said that in the 1930s historians had guessed the route of a main north-south Roman road through Godstone. But the results of the recent dig and geophysical survey indicated a different route more to the west, albeit one that ran parallel to that in the earlier theory.​

The survey had showed evidence of ditches alongside what appeared to be a road or lane running north-south, next to the hamlet.​

Mr Williams said the humble homes probably did not have roof tiles,as none had turned up in the ploughed fields. The dwellings would have been made of timber.​

Some items suggested a religious activity in the locality.​

A Saxon coin from the 7th century was found at the site,but this is considered a one-off.​

Mr Williams added: "Very little was found from the later periods and I assume that these fields have always been ploughed and been used for agriculture."​

He said the find had added a new settlement on the Surrey map of Roman times and that it significantly increased the knowledge of the extent of Roman life in the area more than 1,700 years ago.​

Time Team was called in with the permission of the landowner - who does not want to be identified - because it had the resources to conduct a major dig and survey of the land.​

A spokesman for the programme said: "We had a successful dig in Godstone.It is one of 13 we have done in a year. The new series starts in mid-January."​

Mr Williams praised the responsible way that Mr Hunt had conducted himself and the way he had diligently reported each and every find to enable an accurate picture of the Roman activities to be recorded for the benefit of future generations.​

Some of the finds are still to be identified by the British Museum.​

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