Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
I've been trying to find a bit more information about this site. As Deryk mentioned above, there have been surveys of the area around Cow Roast, with some tempting finds and some less tempting possibilities.

This paper gives a good summary of (official) finds so far.

With regard to the Coolus E helmet, the paper notes that the stated find date is unlikely, as no work on the canal was ongoing in 1813; 1798-99 is more likely. It estimates the find spot as 'Grand Junction Canal, in the vicinity of Dudswell Locks', which looks about right. This would possibly have been wet ground even if the stream was low, and debris left here (perhaps following the hypothetical rout!) might have been lost in pools or muddy areas.

The paper also states that excavations at the 'Esso site' (presumably now the Texaco garage on the south-east edge of the village, backing onto the canal) turned up an iron pilum head, together with some British coins. The Fendley House orchard across the road turned up a bone sword grip.

There's an intriguing mention of a 'putative temple in the field near Newground... known only from an aerial photograph'. I've been wary of the ideal of battle memorials, but hmm... [Image: tongue.png]

There's also a suggestion (on p.8) that the area to the north of Cow Roast (between Aldbury and Tring Station, maybe?) was wooded - the timber later used as charcoal for ironsmelting. Could be Tacitus's 'closed in the rear by a wood'?

However, there has been quite a lot of surveying in this area, including geophysics, and nothing of a more obviously military nature seems to have turned up. Most of the finds relate to the iron smelting works that was apparently established here in the later 1st century - although much of it seems to have been deliberately dumped in pits.

There's a brief point about 'metal detectorists... active in the fields around Newground Farm' turning up coins and 'small metal objects' - possibly this is the source of the 'arrowheads and sling bullets' that appeared on ebay?

I also had another look at Steve Kaye's last paper (2015) - the site is given as 'New Ground Road' and listed as numbers 10 and 11 on his list of plausible locations, which is reassuring. Interestingly, he suggests that the Roman water supply for this site (and another possibility at Tring Station) could have come from the Thame headwaters, to the north-west, rather than from the Bulbourne.
Nathan Ross
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 02-14-2016, 07:51 PM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Armchair Wall walking mcbishop 3 3,481 01-11-2012, 03:22 AM
Last Post: Vindex

Forum Jump: