Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

I went on two miles to Catterick Bridge over the Swale, where are remains of a chapel. Within a hundred yards of the bridge to the south is the north rampart of the old Roman town called Cataractonium, which is about 200 yards wide. From this northern rampart, it extends about a quarter of a mile, mostly by the ditch, for a little more than the length of two fields. The farmer told me he discovered the old town wall in ploughing, as they did in the third field about twenty yards from the ditch. But no walls are to be seen, except about the middle of the east side, where the foundations of a building within the wall do appear. But the wall is visible in several places to the west on the hanging ground, probably over the river at that time, which is now gone about 50 yards further west. And he told me that they took up what appeared to have been an old gateway, and used the stone in the cornice of the house. They find a great deal of old coin which they all carry to Brough Hall to Sir Henry Lawson. I got two or three of the Lower Empire and a fine Trajan of middle brass. The legend of the reverse is S P Q RO OPTIMO PRINCIPI [to the best of princes] S.C., but the figure is so much eaten out that I could not discern what it is. I saw two small barrows at some little distance to the west, and there is a large tumulus at Catterick, a mile to the west.

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Comment

Excavating Cataractonium

Lower Empire: from the formation of the breakaway Gallic Empire in 260.

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Original

I went on two miles to Cataric-bridge over the Swale where are remains of a chapel; within a hundred yards of the bridge to the south is the north rampart of the old Roman town called Cataractonium; which is about 200 yards wide: from this northern rampart it extends about a quarter of a mile mostly by the ditch for a little more than the length of two fields. The farmer told me he discovered the old town wall in ploughing, as they did in the third field about twenty yards from the ditch; but no walls are to be seen, except about the middle of the east side, where the foundations of a building within the wall do appear; but the wall is visible in several places to the west on the hanging ground, probably over the river at that time, which is now gone about 50 yards further west, and he told me that they took up what appear’d to have been an old gateway, and us’d the stone in the cornice of the house. They find a great deal of old coin which they all carry to Brugh-hall to Sir [Henry] Lawson. I got two or three of the lower Empire and a fine Tragan (sic) of Middle Brass. The legend of the reverse is S P Q RO OPTIMO PRINCIPI S.C. But the figure is so much eaten out that I cou’d not discern what it is. I saw two small barrows at some little distance to the west, and there is a large tumulus at Cataric a mile to the west. Going half a mile further I came to the lime-kilns in a quarry of a kind of freestone in which there is much spar; especially in several cavities of it in which it forms round the cavities as christal does in hollow stones.

313 words.

Tags

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• Brough with St Giles (1) ·
• Cataractonium (2) ·
• Catterick Bridge (1) ·
• Catterick, North Yorkshire (1) ·
• Crisis of the Third Century (1) ·
• Gallic Empire (1) ·
• Great North Road (Great Britain) (7) ·
• Lawson baronets (1) ·
• North Riding of Yorkshire (51) ·
• Pococke, Richard (1704-65) (4), churchman, inveterate traveller and travel writer ·
• Richmondshire (5) ·
• River Swale (4) ·
• Roman Britain (occupation AD 43-410) (8) ·
• Roman currency (1) ·
• Trajan (1), Roman emperor 98-117, presided over one of the greatest military expansions in Roman history, the empire attaining its greatest territorial extent by the time of his death ·
• Treasure trove (1) ·

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