Burgh Castle, Caister Fort,
and other antiquities.
A few notes of
items not well known, mainly about Roman remains:
Philip E. Rumbelow wrote a book entitled "The
Saxon Shore Fort at Burgh Castle in Suffolk 1938". This was finished ready
for binding on January 23rd. 1939. In various notebooks compiled over a long
period leading up to the writing of the above mentioned, there are some notable
remarks and observations.
"A considerable number of Roman Coins have been
found in the neighbourhood of Great Yarmouth, some within the town
itself"*3
There is correspondence with Professor J.L. Myres at
Oxford. This refers to Anglo Saxon pottery from Caister, collected and recorded
by Rumbelow. Included was a pot with saxon decoration, found in the debris of a
late Roman building. According to Myres- "The pot... shows clearly an
entire fusion of the Romano-British and Saxon techniques, and I know of no
close parallel to them, either in this country, or abroad."*4 A
description is given, of "polished black pottery, decorated with tooled
grooves and circular depressions".
A letter from Roy R. Clarke refers to "the
discoveries over many years at Lound Run.",details of which, he hopes to
publish in the proceedings of the prehistoric society in the autumn. *5 In a
letter to the Yarmouth Mercury, published 19th. August 1939, P.E.R. suggests
the origin of the idea that St. Fursey being at Burgh Castle, as of
"comparatively recent origin".*6 There is a lithograph by C.J.
Winter, of a vase found in a field at Caister by Yarmouth, 1851. The vase was
shown actual size and measured approx.4" tall, and 2" broad.*7
Aerial Photo by Derek Edwards,
Norfolk Aerial photo Unit 1996 Ó note
the mark of an encampment outside the Roman Fort.
There is (in Norwich Castle museum) a rather unusual
drawing by Mrs. E. Luscombe, Aug. 2nd. 1886, of part of the Roman encampment at
Caister Castle. This is Venta Icenorum, and said to have been navigable from
Yarmouth.*8
Caister Beach erosion, about 1935, Rumbelow. (PER,
Diary)
Towards the end of 1917, erosion at "Dinah's
Gap", to the north of Caister, uncovered on the beach, a fragment of flint
and mortar rubble with bonding tiles resembling the Roman walls at Burgh
Castle. This was 5 feet long, 2-3 feet high, and 2 feet thick, and in the cliff
there, could be seen some 30 feet of the same wall, 2 feet thick. There was
also a heap of kitchen waste including oyster shells and Roman coins.*9
Six hundred and six silver coins were reported to have
been found in an urn, together with another urn containing bones, also a six
foot run of cobblestones, all some 18 inches below the surface.*10 Later the
hoard was declared "Treasure Trove", the coins ranging from 32 B.C.,
to 360 A.D., the bones were of a dog, and the depth of the find was then
reported as 2 feet.*11
In a field north-west of Caister Church, beside the
Norwich Road, discovered in 1837, there was a pit 11 feet by 7 feet, and 4 feet
deep. This contained ox and pig bones, mixed with fragments of Roman Pottery
and oyster shells.*12
In 1851 a Roman Kiln containing two mutilated urns
came to light. These urns came into the possession of P.E.Rumbelow in 1929. The
original labels were preserved, and both give the date as 1854.*13
Roman roof tiles were noted in the walls of the church
at Burgh St. Peter.*14
A Rhenish ware Roman flask was found at Burgh Castle
in 1851*15; and another grey urn, also a one handled flagon, in a field to the
north-east about 1/4 mile from Burgh Castle.*16 Rumbelow has drawn some sketch-maps
of known roadways around Burgh to try to determine the Roman ways. The pit at
Clay Lane is apparently referred to on old maps as a sand pit.*17 There is also
reference to an old road beside the Yarmouth Road. (He would certainly have
been fascinated by the aerial photos).
Roman
Wall at Burgh Castle
A Roman wall was discovered when sinking a trench at
the Sun Vale housing estate, Acle Road, Caister, in 1935.*18 In a report of the
Suffolk Archaeology Society, a wood lined well was seen in the beach at
Covehithe, together with Romano-British pottery, found in April 1840.*19 A
considerable quantity of human bones was uncovered in a field south of the
Filby Road (Caister), opposite to the Sun Vale site. Beneath the pelvis of one
were Roman sherds.*20In some of his writings in 1927, Rumbelow remarked that
"The story of St.Fursey and his mission work has been applied to Burgh
Castle; the result will bear so little examination that it ill repays the
labour." *21 In Rumbelow's book of notes on Burgh Castle for 1930, there is
correspondence and reports relating to disputes over the closure of the public
footpath alongside the river at Burgh Castle. An original deed is enclosed
dated 1683, which is a manor court deed referring to John Rake and Charles
Rokan. The latter is thought possibly to have been the Lord of the Manor.
Fourteen Acres of tenement is referred to.*22 In an extract of Harrod's report,
there is reference to a solid mass of mortar seven feet below the Belton
footpath. There is also a photograph of the pit beside the road opposite to the
Roman fort, which is thought to be neolithic.*23
Ives’ plan of Burgh Castle, original by Henry
Swinden, in British Library.
John Ives junior, had been born in 1750, and elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Antiquaries in 1771, at which time he appears to have been
compiling his treatise "Remarks upon the Garianonum of the Romans".
This small book has some important aspects not covered elsewhere, and also is
the earliest written record of the ruin at Burgh Castle. Some of his
observations are as follows:
"In the area of the camp, and
in many of the fields around it, vast numbers of Roman coins have been and are
still found. None of them that I have met with rise higher than the reign of
Domitian, and the generality are much later."He says that he only
personally saw one coin of silver, the others all were copper, and tells that
his maternal great grandfather who owned the castle and manor, had a
considerable number of silver coins, and two gold ones. The gold ones were
presented to John Moore, Bishop of Norwich. Ives describes the foundations of
the castle as being on a deep bed of chalk and lime which had been compacted,
covered with earth and sand. Oak planks, two inches thick were laid on top, and
the flint and brick structure built upon this firm base.
He describes the mortar as being of lime, unsieved sand containing
gravel and small pebbles. He says that the lime would have come from pits in
Belton, some mortar would have been mixed cold, and some poured on boiling hot.
He refers to a description of a Roman brick by Pliny as being one and a half
feet long, one foot wide, and an inch and a half thick, equal to the dimensions
of those at Burgh.
Field east of Burgh Castle. (MR
1987)
In the field to the east of the
castle were found many funerary urns, and "innumerable pieces of them were
spread around". "They are made of coarse blue clay from the
neighbouring village of Bradwell; ill formed, brittle and porous." Ives
reports that, in 1756, a hole some five yards square was dug in the field, and
about two feet down, many fragments of urns were found, thought to have been
broken by ploughing. With them were oyster shells, cattle bones, and burnt
coals. One urn when reconstructed, was large enough to have contained more than
a peck and a half of corn. It contained bones and ashes, some coins of
Constantine, and a Roman spear head. In 1771, Urns and ashes were found under
part of the hill of the praetorium, a layer of pure wheat, blacked by burning,
and a long handled silver spoon.
Very useful, are Ives drawings of
ground plans of the castle area. He shows how the banking was laid out that had
been erected as a Norman fortification within the Roman walls. The banking can
be seen along the west side where later authors have described a
"quarry"
Plan of Burgh Castle showing
features found by Green, from Norfolk Archaeology Report.
A most important and interesting
observation is one that might easily be missed. He points out that there were
no remains at that time whatever to be seen at Caister, and remarks that Sir
Henry Spelman, the Elizabethan Historian, would not have called Caister the
"Garianonum", if there had not then been some significant remains
still standing. (p.16) Many coins were discovered in a field near to Caister
Church.*37
Ives also gives a print of a map
similar to the Hutch map. This is the map now in the Bodleian. Ives' effects
were sold after his premature death in 1776.
*37 Ives p. 17, "Many Roman
coins (now the only evidences that remain) have been found here. the earliest I
have met with was a Galba". He quotes Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia
(1658) -"Most have been found in a place called the
East-Bloody-Burgh-Furlong, belonging to Mr. Thomas Wood, from whom we have
received diverse silver and copper coins."
Roman remains were found in a garden
at Brundall, said to be remains of a villa, and including a flue tile.*24 A
hoard of saxon coins was found on 11th. November 1857.*25 A large find of Roman
coins was made at Belsted Avenue on 28th. November 1946, by D.C. Ball. This was
reported in the Numismatic Chronicle, sixth series, volume VII. There were
stated to be 847 coins, of which the latest was A.D. 260.*26
Between 1882 and 1887, buff coloured
mortarium and samian ware, and a flue tile, an iron knife, etc., were found at
Brundall, near to the station. A paper concerning this was read at the
Antiquarian Section of the Archaeological Institute's annual meeting in
Norwich, in August 1889, by G.E. Fox F.S.A. *27 The book on Caister,
beautifully illustrated, and a work suitable for publication, was finished by
Rumbelow on September 3rd. 1935. The pages are not numbered. Another small
printed book called "Finds on a Roman Site at Caister on Sea", was written
by Philip Rumbelow, and comments on the Filby Road Cemetery skull as being
ancient British, possibly pre-Roman. The luxurious ivy on the walls at Burgh
Castle which looked so picturesque, was removed by the ministry of works in
1931. In the finished book by Rumbelow concerning Burgh Castle, reference is
made to a number of old maps of the supposed estuary at Yarmouth. Ives
published a copy of the Hutch Map (the one in the Gough collection at Oxford
Bodleian Library), and Palmer re-published the same plate. There seems to have
been a copy by Basire, and in 1847 Woodward published a lithographed version in
a work on Norwich Castle. Rumbelow says that all of these are/were of "no
value whatsoever", and Harleston was even on the wrong side of the
Waveney.
Burgh Castle from the South, (MR
1987).
Documents in the Bodleian Library This may be a suitable point to insert a note about
the documents at the Bodleian Library. Peter Le Neve was an important
historian, herald, and collector of antiquities, who owned many of the
documents in this collection, and lived at a house on the site of 130 King
Street. These documents passed into John Ives' possession, and thence to Gough,
the author of a version of Camden's "Britannia". Gough had inherited a large sum of money from his
parents that allowed him to build his collection; at his death he bequeathed it
to the Bodleian. More detail is in the section on Burgh Castle. Another
interesting and useful collection of local documents was made by Bishop Tanner.
In 1731 he sent a representative to Norwich and bid a very considerable sum for
old documents and deeds. According to the story, these were after acquisition,
transported to Oxford, but en route,
they were somehow dropped from the carriage into the Thames upon
reaching Oxford whilst passing over a bridge. (presumably a very bad road?) The
documents were however rescued and dried out, and although partly damaged, are
still at the Bodleian. Included are some of the oldest deeds anywhere, various
property deeds of Lound dating from 1190.
View North across marshes from Burgh
Castle. (MR, 1987)
Bishop Tanner assisted the Rev.
Francis Blomefield in preparation of his history of Norfolk, although they both
died before it was complete. Some of Le Neve's collection came into possession
of Blomefield and was incorporated in that work. Also see my notes on Peter Le
Neve in issue 5. Bishop Tanner had been Chancellor of the diocese. Blomefield's
work was put into the hands of Parkin, who then completed the third fourth and
fifth volumes.
1. The version of the
"Hutch" map owned and reproduced by Ives, and reproduced again by
Palmer.*28
2. A copy of Domesday in facsimile,
which had been sold on 4th. March 1777, bought by Gough. It had been owned by
Peter Le Neve in 1699, then owned by Thomas Martin of Palgrave, then by John
Ives in 1772.*29
3. A register of the Hospital of St.
Mary, written in 1400, with a much later translation by Henry Manship in his
own hand. It would be exceedingly useful to compare the handwriting in this
signed work with that of the original history on vellum by Manship if it still
exists.*30
4. A History of Gt. Yarmouth written
by Henry Manship in 1619, transcript by John Mosse, 1736.*31 I suggest that these various works in their
original handwriting were all available to Le Neve and Ives, who never questioned
that they were by the same author (some have suggested that Manship was not the
author of the "Foundation and Antiquity of Great Yarmouth").
5. "Norffolk for Camden's
Britannia", by Peter Le Neve, written about 1700.*32
6. The original manuscript of the
Rev. Charles Parkins' History of Great Yarmouth, as printed in 1776. There is a
draft of an account of Gt.Yarmouth by John Ives.*33
7. The Court Rolls of Caldecott Hall
for 1751, 1753 and 1755. *34
8. Pedigree of Norfolk Families,
owned by John Ives.*35
9. Yarmouth extracts from Mr. Le
Neve's collections.*36
References:
*3 Vol.1 of notes on B.C. by P.E.R.,
p.148.
*4 notes on B.C., p. 471, letter from Myres, dated 21st.
Feb.1938.
*5 Rainbird Clarke was curator at
Norwich Castle Museum.
*6
p. 492 of notes on B.C. by P.E.R.
*7
p. 495 of notes on B.C. by P.E.R.
*8
p. 499 of notes on B.C. by P.E.R.
*9 Yarmouth Mercury, October 19th.,
1946.There is also a detailed letter on the same subject in P.E.R.'s notes, page 536, from Alice Brown to Mr.
Gerrish.
*10 report in the E.D.P., Nov. 27th.
1946, with a subsequent report*11 in Y.M. Dec. 28th.
*12 fully described in the
"Gentleman's Magazine" volume VIII,
p. 518.,
by Rev. Thomas Clowes.
*13 Norfolk Archaeology IV p.352.
P.E.R.'s notes after page 209.
*14 notes by P.E.R., p. 216.
*15 photo in P.E.R.'s notes, p. 238.
*16 notes by P.E.R., p. 315.
*17 notes by P.E.R. p. 318/320
*18 Reported in the E.D.P., April
12th. 1935. There are photos on p. 339 of notes by P.E.R.
*19 Notes by P.E.R., p. 543.
*20 p. 541 of above
*21 In a book of notes on Burgh
Castle dated 1927.
*22 P. 153 of 1930 book of notes by
P.E.R.
*23 p. 172 of above book
*24 p. 203 of above
*25 p. 207 of above refers.
*26 p. 549 refers, and there are
some very good photographs.
*27 p. 360 of book of notes by
P.E.R.
*28 Bodleian, ref.- M.S.Maps/England
a.2.30629
*29 In the Bodleian and now in
printed form, no ref.no.
*30 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 20
*31 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 19
(ref. 18075)
*32 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 16
(ref. 18072)
*33 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 40
(ref. 18094)
*34 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 42
(ref. 18096)
*35 Bodleian, M.S.Gough/Norfolk 14
(ref. 18071)
*36 Bodleian, M.S.Willis 85