ROMANO-BRITISH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE that we might expect on an ordinary Romano-British site without indications of wealth or luxury. The coins range from Claudius to Honorius and thus cover the whole Roman period, but so far as can be judged from sadly imperfect lists, only a very small proportion belongs to the first century. The occupation of the site was not limited to the walled enclosure. A road of gravel and pebbles laid on limestone rubble was traced in 1878-9 running eastward from the walls, and about 350 yards away, on the other side of Chester House, Mr. Baker found in 1878 what he took to be debris of buildings, two wells, and two stone cesspools con- nected by an underground drain with the buildings and with the river.' Still further east, near the Midland Railway embankment, ironstone diggers in 1873 broke into a cemetery of over 300 graves containing skele- tons, three stone coffins and one leaden one; no evidence of date was found in any of them. Among the graves was found also a packet of eight bronze vessels, strainers, saucers, etc., packed one inside the other and all into a bucket which was probably a copper pail edged and Fig. 13. Enamelled Fibula found AT Irchester. Ic.-.l ^ - ScaJe t - H D 107* Fig. 14. Bronze Vessels found at Irchester in 1873. mounted with iron (fig. 14). Both graves and vessels have been taken to be Roman, but it seems more likely that both, except the leaden coffin, are early English.' Such, briefly sketched, are the Roman remains of Irchester. They have usually been explained as the remains of a fort built about a.d. 48 ' Assoc. Arch. Reports, xv. 53.
- Ibid. xiii. 88; Franks, Proceedings of the So^. of Antiquaries, vi. 476. The vessels are now at
Knuston. For the leaden coffin see C. Roach Smith, Collectanea Antiqua, vii. 192, and pi. xixA. 183
