ROMANO-BRITISH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Finally, in 1837, the alteration of a road from Norton to Watling Street revealed great quantities of Samian and other pottery, including an amphora handle stamped acirci and a pelvis (albinvs), a fibula, and some ' small coins of the lower empire.' ^ Evidently the locality was definitely inhabited in the Roman period, and with the evidence of the Itinerary to help us we may reasonably place a ' station ' here. But we must wait for further evidence before we can decide what kind of 'station ' stood here, whether a little town or a village, or possibly some- thing that was hardly a village. It is possible, though it cannot be called by any means certain, that Norton may possess a higher title to fame, as the early home and pre- sumably the birthplace of a celebrated man in the latest Romano-British days. The most ancient and trustworthy account of St. Patrick's life, the ' Confessio,' which claims to have been written by himself, states that he lived as a boy, and implies that he was born, at Bannavem Taberniae. As it stands that name is totally unintelligible. But it is easy to redivide it into Bannaventa berniae, and thus one recognizable name at any rate emerges. The last three syllables unfortunately remain as puzzling as before, and our suggested interpretation of the first four syllables must therefore be admitted to be doubtful. But if the occur- rence of the name Bannaventa is a mere accidental coincidence, it is a very striking accident, and it certainly deserves a mention in this con- text.^ The other ' station ' to which we alluded above, Tripontium, has often been placed on the extreme edge of Northamptonshire at Dow- bridge, where Watling Street crosses the Avon and enters Leicestershire. No Roman remains however have been found here, and it is more likely that the ' station ' was a mile further north, near Cave's Inn farm.' 3. Villas and Rural Dwellings From the country towns we pass to the country outside them. The soil of Northamptonshire has revealed to us many ' villas ' and vestiges of Romano-British rural life ; doubtless it still hides many others for future archsologists to detect. Those which are known to us, some twenty-seven in number, are distributed somewhat unevenly over most parts of the county, except the central district north of ' Morton, p. 532 (copied by Bridges, i. 541 ; Gough, AdJ. to Camden, ii. 276) ; George Baker, i. 423, 425 ; Archaologia, xxxv. 392 ; M. H. Bloxam, Vnceedings of the Soc. of Antiquaries, viii. (1880) 325. Mr. Radburne of Thrupp Grounds showed me some twenty coins (two Hadrian, two Pius, mostly Constantinian and later) found on or near his farm, and told me that he had met with founda- tions, pavements and fireplaces in the fields.
- The idea has occurred to myself (£«^yJ/A Historical Review, 1 895, p. "I i) and to others inde-
pendently, and has been accepted recently by Zimmer in his article ' Keltische Kirche in Britannien ' in the Reakncyklopddie fUr protestantische Tkeologie, x. (ed. 3, 1 901). There appear to be palaeographical and other difficulties in the way of explaining berniae as a misre.id contraction of Britanniae, nor can it stand for Hiierniae. ' Proceedings of the Soc. of Antiquivies, viii. 319-2; and reff. there given. See also the Index, /. v. Lilbourne. It may be as well to add that the Brittones Triputienses, a regiment recruited in Britain and quartered on the Rhine, have nothing to do with Tripontium. Their name refers to the place in Germany where they were quartered. 187
