Page images
PDF
EPUB

carried out, for we may assume that he was the person who made the plans, etc., as being better fitted for the work than anyone amongst the Thracians.

Now can we find any neighbouring station which would fairly meet all the requirements of the case? An altar at Binchester (Vinovium) may probably have an important bearing on this question. It is thus inscribed :—

[blocks in formation]

i.e. it is dedicated "To Æsculapius and Salus for the health and safety of the Ala of the Vettonians Roman Citizens by Marcus Aurelius (Chrys)ocomas Physician has erected this in due and cheerful performance of his vow."

The presence of the Vettones at Binchester thus seems estellished, but the most important part of the inscription is that in which the regimental physician states with pride that the Vettones were Roman citizens. This taken by itself would be of little moment, as unfortunately we are not given any direct evidence, if indeed any, as to the exact date of the dedication and hence of the presence of the Vettones in camp (Bailey). Could this only be settled we might be able to speak with a greater degree of certainty as to the exact circumstances attending the restoration of the bath at Bowes. However a certain amount of circumstantial evidence may probably be derived from the inclusion of these letters, "C.R." In the year A.D. 211 Caracalla allowed all free inhabitants of the empire the privilege of becoming Roman citizens. This being so we may assume that the actual value of this designation would then in a measure decline, i.e. so far as stating the fact on a public altar is concerned. In other words we should expect to find the letters "C.R." on altars dedicated previous to that date, rather than on those dedicated at a later date. That this is a fair assumption is allowed by Dr. Bruce in his remarks on the presence of the same letters on several of the Maryport altars. If this be admitted the inference is fairly clear. Thus the bath was restored between the years A.D. 196 and 202. This Binchester altar was dedicated probably at some date previous to A.D. 211, hence Valerius Fronto may have been the commander of the very cohort of which we have the dedication by its physician.

Nor would his official visits to Lavatræ involve any difficulty, as the distance between the two camps was only some twenty miles, and the road direct.

Granted then the feasibility of our assumption, everything seems to point to the fact that there is no real evidence that the Vettones were stationed at Bowes during the restoration of the bath, nor indeed at any other time.

This does not complete the list of altars found at Bowes, as there are two others at present in Bowes Church. We can gain nothing from these, as one of them is uninscribed and the other has only the letters "D.M.I." Probably owing to this fact they have been allowed to remain when the inscribed ones have been removed.

In January, 1850, six massive gold rings of rude workmanship were discovered at no great distance from the camp, and at a little depth below the surface. These rings though disunited could easily be rejoined into a chain, as the circles had not been welded together. Each piece of gold had been simply bent round until the ends touched. This chain, it has been suggested, had formed the torque or distinctive badge of rank of some Celtic prince or leader, and had probably been lost in battle or concealed in troublous time, the place of deposit being afterwards forgotten. As is usually the case in similar discoveries, the weights of the various pieces materially differ. The following is given as the separate weights of the respective rings by Longstaffe :

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

They are stated to have been sold to the Duke of Northumberland, but no trace of them can now be found in the museum at Alnwick Castle.

In the north transept of the church there is preserved a round stone, which has certainly in comparatively recent times. been used as a millstone. It has borne an inscription in Latin, of which a part remains. Mr. Robert Blair, of South Shields,

thinks that the stone is Roman. With the view therefore of putting it upon record and inviting its inspection by other antiquaries, I give the inscription:

[blocks in formation]

The stone is 2 feet 1 inches in diameter and 6 inches in thickness, with a round hole in the centre. The late Rev. Dr. Hoopell published a somewhat different version of the inscription. He did not think it Roman.

There is but little doubt that many interesting relics still lie buried beneath the turf, and an effort should be made to raise subscriptions to cover the expense of a systematic exploration of the station. Many altars and inscriptions testify to the occupation of this quarter of Yorkshire by the Romans. One, found on the banks of the Greta in 1702, a votive offering of two females, appears to have been dedicated to a nymph, Elaune, perhaps the Lune river, distant only a few miles :—

DEÆ NYMPHAD.

NE INEBRICA ET
IANVARIA FIL

LIBENTES EXVO

TO SOLVERVNT.

A milestone found by the side of the Roman road at Greta Bridge, very near the rampart of the castrum (concangium), is inscribed :—“ To the emperors our Lords Gallus and Volusianus (his son)," probably A.D. 253 (Gough's Camden).

[blocks in formation]

Proceedings in 1913.

The first summer meeting of the Society in 1913 took place on the 26th of June,-Barnard Castle, Bowes, and Eggleston Abbey being visited.

BARNARD CASTLE.

a

At BARNARD CASTLE Mr. W. M. I'Anson conducted party of about fifty members over the ruins. The foundation of this is usually assigned to Bernard de Balliol; but this, Mr. l'Anson said, would merely appear to be one of several instances where the credit of actually founding a certain castle is given to the man who first substituted masonry for timbering, the actual founder probably being Guy Balliol, and the date of the foundation about 1093. The castle is a good example of the gradual evolution of an earth-and-timber motte and bailey castle of the usual Norman type into a great stone stronghold. The motte or citadel is defended on the west and north-west by steep precipices; on the other sides by a deep and broad ditch, which still exists. The bailey lies to the east of the motte, and was defended on the north, east, and south by a very deep and broad ditch, which has been entirely filled up and largely built upon. These two enclosures, together with the small middle ward, constituted the castle proper. To the south of the castle was the "burgus," or communal fortified enclosure, defended on the east and south by a continuation of the bailey ditch. Within the timber defences of this burgus would grow up the original Early Norman town of Barnard Castle, a collection of timber huts, and into this enclosure, which is larger than the whole of the rest of the castle put together, the inhabitants of the surrounding district would probably drive their cattle in case of an anticipated Scottish invasion. Within this burgus was the castle chapel referred to by Leland, and in which, in 1478, Richard of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III, founded and endowed a college, the establishment to consist of a dean, twelve chaplains, ten clerks, and six choristers.

About 1170 Bernard de Balliol II commenced the work of substituting masonry for timbering, and between that date and 1190 the whole enclosure, motte, bailey, middle ward, and

burgus was walled in, the castle developing on the lines of a shell-keep fortress, the natural and logical evolution of a motte and bailey stronghold. Various alterations were made about the middle of the thirteenth century; but it was not until the reign of Edward II that the entire remodelling of the shell-keef gave to the fortress the principal features we see to-day.

Each of the four wards was capable of being separately defended, providing a system of successive lines of defence which would offer an infinity of trouble to an enemy, but which could never offer a combined and concentrated resistance. From a defensive point of view the burgus was of little use in the event of an organised siege, unless the castle were held by a very large garrison, the feeding of which would have been a serious problem in the event of a determined siege. The midce ward and the bailey could be separately assailed and captured, the citadel on the motte hardly coming into action at all until after the fall of these two enclosures. It was this inability to bring to bear, at one and the same time, all the defensive properties of a castle which eventually led to the introduction of the concentric type of fortress, the highest development of mediæval military architecture, of which we get a magnificent example at Beaumaris.

The citadel, or shell-keep, was entered from the middle ward by means of a gatehouse, fragments of which still remain. Here was the dwelling-house of which, with the exception of the juliet, only the north façade now remains. It is only remarkable for the fact that the additional private accommodation, rendered necessary by the growing luxury of the fourteenth century, instead of being contained, as usual, in a suite of rooms opening out of the solar, is contained in an early fourteenth century cylindrical tower, or juliet. Otherwise the arrangements are quite normal, the kitchen opening out of the hall at its lower end, the solar opening out of the hall at its dais end.

After pointing out the arrangements of the kitchen, hall, and solar, Mr. I'Anson remarked that the so-called keep, a juliet, was really not a keep at all, but merely an unusually large mural tower on the enceinte of a shell-keep. After referring to the Chateau-sur-Epte and Houdan, two of the earliest French towers of this type, and pointing out that this type was much better developed in France than in England, he compared the juliet at Barnard with the better-known English examples of Orford, Conisborough, and Pembroke. An unusual feature

« PreviousContinue »