Bromfield

Article written and researched by Mr John Boot, DSH volunteer.

Bromfield Through the Ages

Bromfield quarry is located on a gravel terrace 3km Northwest of Ludlow. Rescue archaeology revealed that the quarry area had been a centre of human activity for at least 6 millennia.

Early Bronze-Age Barrows and Cemeteries

The earliest indications of man found on the site were some Neolithic pot sherds dating from 3500BC. The Bromfield site lies at the confluence of the rivers Teme and the Corve and it has been noted that river junctions were always important in prehistory, possibly symbolic but also attractive because of the ease of movement of people and goods by river using rafts or hollowed logs and lighter alluvial valley soils to farm. The most conspicuous evidence of early activity was the presence of a group of 20 barrows some only recognisable as crop marks. Three of the barrows still exist as significant monuments on what is now the Ludlow golf club and racecourse. The Robin Hood Butt barrow is the most impressive being 28m in diameter, steep sided and over 4 m high. Several of the barrows were excavated in 1884 before being landscaped by each having a tree planted on them.

The presence of so many barrows would suggest that Bromfield was an important ritual site. Dating evidence indicates that the barrows were constructed and used for burial purposes from 2500-1000BC. There seem to be several types of barrows; there are low mounds with no obvious ring ditch, small barrows (10m diameter)with a low mound surrounded by a ring ditch, and other larger barrows (20m diameter) surrounded by a ring ditch which had the spoils from the ditch piled in the centre to form a bell shaped barrow. Some of the barrows had individual features; one had a pair of stones, possibly standing stones, on the south-east edge (indicating the point of sunrise), another appeared to have posts set in the ring ditch and a third seemed to have a boat shaped depression in the top of the mound. These differences may indicate different types of monuments. At Bromfield and other sites nearby, excavation of the barrows and ring ditches point to 3 types of burials.

1. A single body buried under a barrow, associated with 3rd millennium dates and Neolithic pottery.

2. Single or multiple cremations under a barrow often associated with charcoal from the funeral pyre accompanied by collared urns or Food Vessels dating from the early 2nd millennium.

3. Multiple cremations in the top and sides of an existing or newly-made barrow, again with Collared Urns or Food Vessels dating from the early to mid 2nd millennium.

In a majority of cases the graves contained only a small proportion of cremated body and only a token handful of urn fragments.

Two of the barrows at Bromfield appear to be the focus for clusters of satellite burials, suggesting a change in funerary practises. It may be that these barrows dominated the landscape, which made them more venerated and more attractive as burial sites. These flat cemetery sites, often clustering around existing barrows, became the common practise in the late 2nd millennium and early 1st millennium.

Iron Age Farmstead

By the mid 3rd century BC, there was a movement away from living in hillforts towards establishing lowland farms. It was about this time that the undefended Bromfield Iron-Age farm was built. Initially there were 2 huts: the larger round house was supported by four large posts which were 3 x 3.4m apart, and a smaller hut which was probably a store hut. The larger hut, which would have been thatched had a doorway facing south-east and a central hearth and was the family dwelling. There were numerous post holes nearby suggesting an array of posts that could be used to dry crops and skins.

About 200BC the farm was moved within a rectangular enclosure. The enclosure measured 30 x 28m and was surrounded by a ditch, 2.5mwide and 1.3m deep, with the spoils piled up to make a bank on the inside of the ditch, which was topped by a fence. Access was by a single causeway 6.3m wide into the south-east side which could be closed by a double gate. There were 2 huts in the enclosure, a larger dwelling round-house with 4 post-holes measuring 2.8 x 3m positioned on the west side opposite the gateway. A second smaller hut again thought to be granary or store house was close by. As with the previous farmstead, the huts were surrounded by a series of strong posts, some in pairs which were probably used for drying corn, hay and skins, or for hanging carcases for skinning or butchering.

Across the site were found numerous heat-cracked boiling stones which were probably used to cook meat in clay-lined pits. Salting of meat was also important and sherds of salt containers, typical of those from Droitwich and Cheshire, were found within the enclosure. It is likely the farmstead was abandoned just before the establishment of the Roman marching camp nearby.

Roman marching camp at Bromfield

The Roman marching camp outline was recognised from the air. It is likely to have been built during one of the numerous military campaigns into Wales between AD 48-75. The marching camp is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and with a single gateway in the middle of the south-east side. The sides measure 323 x 258m and enclose an area of 8.32hectares (20.5acres). A camp of this size would have been appropriate to house a legion of 4500 men under canvas. It is likely that it was used as a temporary military base for a summer campaigning season.

Archaeological evidence suggests it was surrounded by a deep V-shaped ditch with turf ramparts at least 3.5 metres thick. Historically these ramparts would have been 3m high surmounted by a wooden palisade. A Roman road from Wroxeter via Craven Arms ran alongside the south-east wall of the fort and by the gateway. The gateway itself would have been protected by towers and walkways made of wood which would have been prefabricated and bought to the site by the engineers.

Archaeological excavation of the interior of the fort revealed the presence of several bread making ovens with traces of charred bread and cereals (spelt and rye) associated with them. Also across the site were pieces of iron slag suggesting that iron-smelting and iron working were taking place. Apart from a small piece of Samian ware there were no other Roman finds.

Hyginus, a first century writer describes the tented accommodation in a marching camp. Eight tents 3m square, each for eight men were set up in a line with a larger tent for a centurion at one end (a century consisted of eighty men) hyginus omits tents for sixteen men assuming that number would be on duty at any one time. Space was allowed in front of each tent for the stacking of arms and equipment and beyond that was an area for the tethering of the baggage train. The camp when used would have been filled by over 500 leather tents which housed the soldiers; there would have been an area to corral the horses belonging to the cavalry section and a group of larger tents for the use of the staff officers. When the camp was no longer needed, the gateway and tower complex were dismantled to be used again elsewhere and the turf ramparts were pushed into the ditch (there is evidence for this from the archaeology of the ditch infill).

There are descriptions in the literature of the equipment the ordinary Roman soldier carried. ‘A foot soldier is equipped with a breastplate, helmet and a blade on either side of his body. The one on the left (the gladius) is much the longest, and the other one is only nine inches long. He has a javelin, a long shield, saw, basket, axe, pick, a strap, a crop-harvesting hook, chain and enough food for three days. The military soldier looked like a baggage mule. Josephus, The Jewish War, iii 3-6.

Between Ad 43-69 Britain had a least four legions on her soil, approximately 20% of the total Roman army, indicating that Britain was very much regarded as a frontier province. The four legions present in AD60 were the II Augusta, IX Hispana, XIIII Gemina and the XX. In the first century each legion consisted of 5,500 men, made up of 5,000 citizen legionnaires, 120 cavalry, officers and others. The legion was divided up into centuries of 80 men commanded by a centurion. The centuries were organised into cohorts. The 1st cohort was made up of 10 centuries (800men), the remaining nine cohorts were each made up of 6 centuries (480men). During the first century the amount of time served was 20 years, although this did get longer in the following centuries. It is likely that in Britain there was a similar number of auxiliaries both infantry and cavalry. Auxiliaries were mainly used as frontier garrison troops but were also placed in the front line on the battlefield. They were less well paid than legionaries and had to serve 25 years to earn an honourable discharge and citizenship.

Early Saxon Cemetery

Saxon cemetery Bromfield (image) [+]
Excavation of the Early Saxon Cemetery at Bromfield (c) Dr Paul Stamper

Initially the Saxons tended to site their cemeteries in marginal land away from their settlements. At Bromfield they clearly recognised the ancient earthworks and barrows as a site for burials and continued the tradition.

The cemetery itself contained 31 graves sited within the enclosure that once contained an Iron-Age farmstead. All of the graves were orientated in an East-West direction with the head towards the East, possibly indicating Christian burial practises. Only small amounts of bone were recovered from the graves, but enough to indicate the cemetery contained adults and children and there were signs that some of the bodies had been buried in wooden coffins. The small number of graves might suggest that this was a family cemetery.

Three of the graves contained grave goods, a small knife and buckle in one, a small knife in another, and a brooch and an amber bead in a third. The dating evidence suggests that the cemetery was in use from 650-750AD. It was in the 8th century that land usage was reorganised and settlements moved towards their medieval location at which point cemeteries were placed next to the church.