This page was last updated 24/04/06
Elmet's Roman Era
A.D. 50 - c410
Roman milestone found at Castleford
To include maps, roads, sites, finds, history.
Especially the latest finds yet to be published elsewhere.
Castleford Roman Fort.
Tadcaster Roman Fort.
Cawood Fort.
Kirkby Wharfe villa site.
The Romano sites around Lotherton.
Aberford Fort.
Adel Village.
South Milford Villa.
The Legend of the Ninth Legion.
Ilkley Fort.
The Roman period in Britain set the scene for all that followed. Whether it set the case for later politics or just for transport via its road system - it must be accepted that the Roman empire's influence on Britain was colossal.
Before the Roman invasion a great swathe of central Britain was held by a Celtic people known as the Brigantes. This name is likely derived from their celebration of Brigit. The capital of this federation of clans was seemingly based at Isurium Brigantum, modern day Aldborough. The region stretched all across the north of what is now England from Liverpool to Newcastle and from the Peak District to Selby and the east coast. A smaller area now covered by north Humberside was under the separate rule of the Parisii.
The local lads were less than pleased by the Latin tourists and started raiding the supply lines and outposts of the Roman Legion XX as it was pushing through north Wales (as now is) to assault the Druidic centre on Anglesey in AD47/48. Tacitus tells us that these actions were soon put down and the Brigantes came back under the lordship of Queen Cartismandua and her Carvetii boyfriend Venutius who it would seem had held their posts as clients of Rome since around AD43 when the Romans invaded under Aulus Plaitius Silvanus with four legions.
Four quiet years went by for the Brigantes but not for the Romans. To the south the Celtic chief Caractacus was being a real thorn in the side of Rome.
Caractacus
'For nine years Caractacus, prince of the Silures, whose country was watered by the beautiful Severn, defied the power of Rome in the storm of siege and battle, but in the end was beaten in his gallant combat with the superior power of Rome and so fled for his life.'
Just after the birth of Christ Rome recognised one man as King of Britain. He was Cunobelinus or Cymbeline. He likely ruled most of south east Britain. He had three sons. He seems to have been friendly enough with distant Rome and likely died around AD40. The Roman Emperor Claudius ordered a full scale attack on Britain in AD43 under Aulus Plaitius Silvanus.
Caractacus was brother to Togidubnus king of the Cartevaulauni and Adminius king of the Trinovantes. Both set out to resist the Roman invasion. A battle was fought on the Medway and the British were routed. Caractacus and brother Togiidubnus escaped across the Thames at Tilbury but Togidubnus died soon after. Now king of the Tinovantes he made his way to Camulodonum (Colchester) but was forced to vacate and make for the Welsh marches where he settled into guerrilla tactics.
The south east fell town by town. Even Claudius himself turned up to join the victory parade on an elephant through the new town of Londinium. The Romans turned to an early version of EU grants and bribed the rulers of eleven kingdoms to join them and be at peace. These included Cartismandua and Antedios of the Iceni.
'Cartismandua was Queen of Brigantium and dwelt at Isurium, and to her dominion, to crave assistance, fled the fugitive king, hoping to have another opportunity of assisting to stem the wave of Roman conquest in Britain, but alas; his hopes were cruelly dispelled. The false hearted queen had not the same gallant and patriotic spirit as her kinsman, and, unlike Boudicca, that other famous British queen, who a few years afterwards nearly exterminated the Roman army in Britain, she delivered Caractacus a prisoner into the hands of the enemy.
This happened on the banks of the Yore somewhere about the year AD50, and thus, as it were at the first dawn of Northumberland's history, this deed of base treachery was committed by a queen which, along with her other wicked deeds, has rendered her name infamous, whilst the noble captive, a grand type of barbarian soldier, towers like a giant above his people, and his words and deeds shine out with a brilliant lustre across the gulf of nineteen centuries.
See the kingly bearing of the noble prisoner, as he is led captive through the streets of imperial Rome. The whole population have turned out en fete to see the veteran troops return in triumph, laden with trophies and spoils of war; but see, all eyes are turned on that manly figure! "Alas," he said, as he gazed undismayed on the immense multitude and the magnificent architecture of the purple city, "alas that a people so wealthy and luxurious can envy me my humble home in Britain!"
Calm and unsubdued he stood before the tribunal of Caesar, and spoke of his downfall with such a manly spirit and bearing, ending with the ever-memorable words: "Had I yielded sooner my misfortune would have been less notorious, and thy conquest much less renowned, and oblivion soon would have followed my death. If now, Caesar, thou sparest my life, I shall be an eternal monument to thy elemency," and, in the words of the poet, he saith:-
"Think not, thou eagle-lord of Rome,
And master of the world,
Though victory's banner o'er thy dome
In triumph be unfurled,
I would address thee as thy slave,
But as the bold should greet the brave.
But can't thou marvel that, free born,
With heart and soul unquelled,
Throne, crown, and sceptre I should scorn
By thy permission held?
Or that I should retain my right
Till wrested by a conqueror's might?
Rome, with her palaces and towers,
By us unwished, unreft,
Her homely huts and woodland bowers,
To Britain might have left;
Worthless to you their wealth must be,
But dear to us, for they are free!
I might have bowed before, but where
Had been thy triumph now?
To my resolve no yoke to bear
Thou ow'st thy laurelled brow;
Inglorious victory had been thine,
And more inglorious bondage mine."
He ceased: from all around unsprung
A murmur of applause;
For well had truth and freedom's tongue
Maintained their holy cause.
The conqueror was the captive then,
He bade the slave be free again.
Claudius was so charmed with the speech of the captive, that he ordered him to be set at liberty and treated with great respect.
Tradition says that 'Vyran the Blessed', father of Caractacus, first introduced Christianity into Britain, and he received the doctrine from the lips of St. Paul during his seven years of exile in Rome.'
The queen of the Brigantes was the wife of Venutius, prince of a tribe named the Carvetii some fifty miles to the south of her nation. Added to her base treachery of Caractacus was her desertion of her own husband and her adultery with a more polished Roman. Mainly owing to these causes a civil war broke out among her own people, and the battle going against her she appealed to the Romans for aid, who for some time, propped up her failing power.
We know not if the Romans were too few at this era to hold their ground in the north, but about the year 55 AD the false-hearted queen split up with Venutius who formed an anti-Roman grouping within the Brigantes. Cartismandua continued in reduced power with her armour bearer Vellocatus. Venutius attacked Cartismandua in AD56 and the queen had to shout for Roman help. Some think the battle may have taken place around Barwick in Elmet but this is not confirmed. She had no part in the rebellion by Boudicca in AD61. Her popularity didn't seem to improve because the Romans finally had to rescue her with a cavalry troop in AD70 and the Brigantes for some little time rolled back the wave of Roman conquest from their doors. But it was short lived and Rome moved to take the Brigantii region under direct control the following year when the Legion II under Cerialis headed north to hold Lincoln freeing the IX Legion to cross the Humber near Hull while the XX Legion moved in to attack the western border from their base at Chester. . Tacitus tells of many bloody battles and a large area of the Brigantes land was taken by Rome. Agricola having the job completed around AD79 and in AD80 the Roman general Agricola is found with his army on the River Tay.
Roman Roads
Indeed recent work for a proposed housing development south of Sherburn-in-Elmet has found the north-south track of a main Roman artery. This possibly took the York bound traveller across the Aire at Ferrybridge and direct to Tadcaster. Such a route would also explain the 15th century armies of York and Lancaster moving from the south towards York and ending at the battle of Towton just north of Sherburn-in-Elmet. It fits perfectly with the alignment of the Roman road that exists just withing the walls of Grimston Park to the north. This road was known as Roman over two hundred years ago and during the enparking of Grimston around 1830 the landscaper asked to be able to incorporate that deep track into his circuit around the grounds. This was granted and he lined the section with Roman Busts and statues, some from the site of the Roman villa on the east side of the park. He named it The Emperor's Walk.
Just south of Pontefract a recent (2000) find of a Roman road revealed a 3rd or 4th century cicilian highway set on top of a 1st century 66 foot wide military road. The direction of the road connects no obviously known Roman settlements and its direction is also at odds with any previously known Roman road in the area.
But life in the Elmet area during Roman rule wasn't confined to the main Roman roads, no more than life today is confined to motorway routes. Investigations into the battle of Towton (1461) between the villages of Towton and Saxton have revealed many Roman coins among the finds.
The grey are the earlier roads, the green those added in the 20th century and the brown is the approx. trackline of the find.
Late British or early Roman period track, stone surfaced within shallow ditch running east-south-east to the south-east of Sherburn-in-Elmet village center. Discovered Spring 2002.
The track of a pre-Roman or very early Roman lane (this is going by finds upon it), set some four feet below the present ground surface in what was a shallow ditch with an added stone surfacing. To the north side of it are, seemingly, much later pits of varying sizes and depths but appearing to hail from the mediaeval period. No obvious reason, presently known, would indicate where this track once went to, or indeed came from, unless Sherburn-in-Elmet is much older than previously thought. Or as old, as I earlerly mentioned above, that local tales says it was. Doubtless there is much more to be discovered.
Work on the A1M motorway section revealed a Roman villa alongside the old Great North Road to the south of Micklefield. This has been recorded before being covered by the new road workings.
Recent digs in the area to the west of Sherburn-in-Elmet have uncovered a large pre-Roman farmstead or similar which appears to have lasted into the early Roman period.
Archaeological Services WYAS completed their advanced Archaeological Investigation Works close to Ferrybridge Henge in October 2002, where they have excavated a number of Iron Age and Roman Period ditched enclosures as well as early prehistoric features (see photograph showing the extent of the excavations). The contractor is now working on the reporting stage of the contract, including the production of a popular publication, for completion in May 2004. Nothing has yet been seen by Oldtykes.
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