ROMANO-BRITISH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE tion of Britain, while its bungled copy of Medusa's head may be due to provincial ignorance.* A fragment of a fourth statue seems to have been found at the same spot and about the same time — a hand, some- what larger than natural size, holding a patera.* In consequence of these discoveries Artis excavated further, but found no buildings or other noteworthy objects of the kind already described. He met with some curious potters' kilns, to which we shall return (p. 207). It may be proper to add here that a cemetery was met with in the construction of the high road in 1739 somewhere not far from Sibson.' (5) Stibbington, at the crossroads near the present schoolhouse. Here Artis marks buildings and potters' kilns in his map issued in 1828 ;* he also found kilns here in 1844. (6) Wansford, on the south side of the Nene, between the high roads to Oundle and Chesterton, close to their union. Here Artis marks buildings. (7) Yarwell, on the north (west) side of the Nene, near the water. Here Artis marks buildings. (8) On the south (east) side of the Nene, opposite Yarwell. Here also Artis marks buildings. (9) East of Wansford on the north bank of the Nene. Here Artis marks buildings close to the village and half a mile east of it and again half a mile east of that, all three sites being immediately north of the Wansford and Peterborough road. The middle one seems to have been the largest house. (10) Alwalton, south of the Nene 'and east of the Castles. Here remains of bricks, pottery and coins have been several times noticed and a ' fortification ' has been conjectured. But a ' villa ' seems most prob- able.^ The Romans, like later builders, quarried and used the Alwalton marble. We might extend this list by the inclusion of other dwelling houses in the neighbourhood — in particular, a large villa in Bedford Purlieus, two miles west of Wansford ; and a villa at Longthorpe, two miles east of Castor. The area which we have been considering has no definite bounds : the thickly inhabited sites at Castor and the Castles fade imperceptibly into open country. In such a case compromise is inevitable, and we have fixed our limits so as best to illustrate the district. Before we pass on to estimate the general character of that district, we have to describe briefly various lesser finds made in it which possess 1 Now at Woburn Abbey, where, by the kindness of the Duke of Bedford, I have been able to examine it. See Arckaologia, xxxii. 13 (the illustration on pi. iv. is not at all accurate); Pmeedings of the Soc. of Antiquaries, ser. 1, i. 60; Mich.ielis, Ancunt Marbla in Great Britain, p. 724; A. H. Smith, Catalogue of the Sculptures at ff'oium Abbey, No. 60, the two latter with excellent descriptions. I had thoughts of introducing here an illustration of the statue as a specimen of provincial art ; it is however too much weathered for the purpose.
- Proceedings of the Soc. ej Antiquaries, ser. I , i. 71.
- Stukeley, Letters, ii. 222, iii. 60.
- Artis' map is coloured by hand, and in some copies some of the following (5-9) are omitted.
- Gibson's Castor, pp. 62, 171.
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