ISSUE 13       2^nd November 1999

 

 

Inside this Newsletter

 

 

 

THE LEGAL DAM

 

By Fred Mitchinson

 

Several months ago, some of the group met in the local studies room of Sunderland Central Library to examine an original of “A Plan of the River Wear from Newbridge to Sunderland Barr as it appeared at Low Water”.  This was published by Burleigh and Thompson in 1737.  The map is ninety four inches long and twenty-two inches deep.  This was not a navigation map because it showed the river at low tide, when ship movement was almost impossible, with a narrow channel winding it’s way through mudflats and sandbanks.

 

This plan was intended to form the basis of a legal document to determine parish boundaries and land ownership, to enable the recently formed River Wear Commissioners to prosecute those whose actions made navigation hazardous by the dumping of ballast and the ill-considered building of quays and jetties.

 

One of the main features of the map, therefore, is the marking of the depths in the centre of the main channel, starting at the bar with a depth of nine inches, which confirms the old tales of being able to walk across the mouth of the river at low tide.

 

 

 

 

The first job of these densely packed depths markings was to show parish boundaries, so, in later years, when a channel had been blasted through the rock down the centre of the river, the Parish of Sunderland was able to claim part of the land on the Monkwearmouth shore because the ancient channel had once meandered that way.

 

With the importance of these figures having been established, their omission from a long stretch of river is very obvious.  In the river between north and south Hylton, five miles from the bar, an upper case letter “L” is placed.  In the box headed “References to Sands and other Remarkable Places in the River” the letter “L” is captioned as “The Briggstones”.

 

 

 

 

The depth markings cease at the point and do not resume until North Biddick is reached – almost half a mile above the present Biddick-Fatfield bridge, where an upper case “A” denotes “The Crossings”, after which the markings continue at the same density to Newbridge.

 

What the mapmakers are telling us is that for a distance of four and a quarter miles, there is a body of water which does not conform to normal tidal movements – there is a high tide, but no legal low tide.  In the absence of a low tide channel, land ownership would be decided by a simple bank-to-bank measurement.

 

The acceptance of this map by the River Wear Commissioners represents the legal existence of “The Briggstones” and it’s effect on the river.  The eyewitness description given in “The Piercebridge Formula” is more evocative.  It is possible to picture the solid stone-built “causeway” with its 12-14 foot wide channel in the south side “through which the water rushed with great velocity”.  The real testimonial to it’s Roman builders is that in 1737, in a ruinous state and with missing sluice gates, it could still hold back the River Wear for a distance of four and a quarter miles.

 

The removal of the dam is more difficult to trace.  An exhaustive search of the RWC minute books from

1717 to 1822 does not reveal any direct action.

 

It is possible that proceedings were not recorded because the bed of the river belonged (and may still belong) to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners who, on learning of the removal of valuable stone blocks from their river bed, would certainly have demanded some payment.

 

It may have been that the most readily available stones were privately removed because an RWC minute of 4 April 1916:-

 

Ordered that 1/3d per ton to be offered to Captain Maling for the stones lying too near the edge of his quays for the use of the works in the harbour, in which case the engineer is to remove those stones.  But in case Captain Maling will not agree to take 1/3d a ton for such stones it is ordered that he begin to remove the same within 14 days from this date and to continue until all the said stones are removed.  ITEM.  Mr Gray was present at that meeting and was acquainted with the above order and acceded thereto.

 

John Davison, Chairman.

 

Captain Maling and Mr Gray owned the land at both sides of the river at Hylton.

 

By the time of the next RWC survey by John Rennie, published in 1826 and showing the river at high tide, the dam has clearly gone.  The depth markings carry on past Hylton and there is no variation in the depth as they pass the site, which there would have been had the Briggstones still been in position.

 

However, the words “BRIDGE STONES” are printed lying parallel to the north bank beside the Shipwrights Inn.

 

Taylor Potts, the Sunderland keelboatman and historian who was born in 1820, tells us that “the foundation of “the bridge” on the north side could be distinctly traced”. The remainder of the stones were removed later in the century using brute force by the steam dredger “Hercules” which broke some of the teeth on it’s buckets while doing so.

 

A copy of the 1737 map may be examined in the Archives room at Blandford House, Newcastle, or purchased at a cost of £11.50 including post and packing.  Due to it’s great length it is split into four parts for copying.  The 1826 map is also available.

 

 

       

 

 

A PUZZLING ARTEFACT

 by Peter Dewart

 

In 1978 Victor Gollancz published the book "Gods, Graves and Scholars", by C.W.Ceram. An illustration in the book depicts the peculiar bronze object shown below.

 

 

 

Basically, it is a hollow, twelve-sided object with a hole in each of its pentagonal faces. No sizes are given but apparently all the holes are of different diameters. All of the known examples have been found in northern Europe, and date approximately from Roman times.

 

 

But what is it? Have any recent developments identified its purpose? Tentative explanations in the book ranged from it being a toy, a gaming device, a musical instrument and a teaching aid. I wondered if it might have been used to sort out coins according to size, when trading - were coins ever demonetised and withdrawn during Roman times?

 

However, another possibility has come up. In his book, "Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms", Alistair Moffat describes a Draconarius. This was a Roman cavalryman who carried a lance on the end of which was a Draco - a hollow, mock up of a serpent's head with open mouth. Behind the head, a sock of coloured material billowed out as the horseman galloped. "Draco" might be the origin of our word "dragon". Inside this dragon's head, reeds were inserted, which hissed when air passed through them.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the puzzles of the Dodecahedron was the peculiar keyhole shaped hole. However, if the lance end held a spigot with a lug, as sketched, then the dodecahedron, inside the Draco, could have been fitted to the lance and twisted to lock it into position. The variously sized holes could then have been used to take a range of different reed sizes.

 

 

 

This is all just speculation, of course. But perhaps more recent discoveries have positively identified the purpose of the dodecahedron - does anyone know?

Ref: - "Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms" by Alistair Moffat, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson, August 1999.

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

ROMAN WALL, BUILDING-STONE PROJECT

 

by Raymond Selkirk, BA(Hons), BSc(Hons).

 

These notes are the precis of some which were written at the request of a university professor to help guide a student through his degree dissertation. The subject may interest some of our own members.

 

The object of this project is to locate the sources of the building stone used in the Roman Wall forts and associated structures.

 

From the air, dozens of old quarries are obvious and many of these are grassed over, thus demonstrating their great age. Examples can be seen on the ridge a kilometre south of Housesteads and Hadrian’s Wall. Typical ones are at map refs NY 798 683, NY 798 686 (both to the south of the B6318 modern road) and at NY 801 789, just to the west of Moss Kennels, and a few yards south of the B6318.

 

The Stanegate Roman supply road runs east-west at varying distances south and sometimes north of the B6318, and this Roman road which is often followed by modern roads or cart tracks, also has old quarries on both sides. Roman quarries which have been officially investigated (but no samples ever taken) are marked on the Ordnance Survey map of Hadrian’s Wall at NY 714 663 on the west side of the Haltwhistle Burn Roman fortlet, and between the fortlet and the Haltwhistle Burn; and to the north of the Wall on the cliff on the south side of Greenlee Lough, just north-east of the Roman temporary camp, at NY 775 697.

 

A peculiar quarry is immediately north of the Roman Wall on the east side of the Knag Burn at NY 791 690. This looks like a large grassed-over bomb crater and was once thought to have been a tiny amphitheatre. It is of course far too small for that.

 

There is a Roman lime kiln (site of) to the east of Housesteads fort on the west side of the Knag Burn, opposite the site of the bath-house, at NY 793 688. The finding of the sources of limestone would make an interesting subsidiary project.

 

In places, the cliff along which the Roman Wall runs, looks as if it has been quarried for stone.

 

There are three beautiful lakes to the north of the Wall in the central sector of the Wall, and all have been used as reservoirs for various forts. A six mile well-known aqueduct leads from Greenlee Lough to Greatchesters (Aesica) fort; Crag Lough has been tapped as a water supply for Vindolanda and recently, an aqueduct has been found from Broomlee Lough to the Knag Burn bath-house in the defile to the east of Housesteads. The Romans have made a cutting for the aqueduct through the hill on the south side of Broomlee Lough. This can still be seen at NY 693 789.

 

Broomlee Lough was five metres deeper in Roman times as the intake of the aqueduct is that height above the present surface of the lake. The remains of a 200-year-old stone boat-house and jetty on the west side of the lough are out of the water by 1 metres. The modern boat-shed on the north shore sits at the lake’s present level. It also looks as if the outflow of the lough (Jenkins Burn) has been dammed by the Roman at NY 783 696. The Rapishaw Gap Roman road runs north past here and a stub-road branches off to the suspected dam site. Nothing remains of the dam except the position of a suspected abutment.

 

To the south of the Roman Wall, the bed of the Knag Burn is paved and after the water had been used in the bath-house and other facilities, it drained away to the south to Grindon Lough which has been used by the Romans as a waste-water sump. There is no visible outlet from Grindon Lough and the water percolates through the porous rock and emerges on the south side of the lake further down the hill, to the south of the ridge along which the Roman Stanegate road runs.

 

By the side of the Rapishaw Gap Roman road, near the east end of Greenlee Lough is a carving on a stone which seems to be an ancient map of Broomlee Lough and Greenlee Lough. It also shows the interconnecting Jenkins Burn.

 

There were more lakes in Roman times and Caw Lough and Peel Lough, still marked on medieval maps have now disappeared completely.

 

On the slope to the south of Housesteads are cultivation terraces and it is possible that the Romans grew rice on these.

 

Rice pollen has been identified at the Lunt Roman fort in Coventry. Rice is grown in northern China which has a much worse climate than Britain and the acid soil around Housesteads is suitable for rice growing. The Romans mention that rice (oryza) was twice the price of wheat.

 

The swamps to the south of Housesteads could have served as paddy fields as well as extra defences south of the south-facing Vallum; likewise, the swamps south of Greatchesters (Aesica) which are marked on 18^th and 19^th century maps as lakes. Britain is drying out and has been doing so for a very long time. Take the now dry River Og, on which a Roman villa has been excavated recently. Jetties and a boathook were found at this villa site.

 

The now disappeared Og flowed into the Kennet, which is also almost dry at times. The Roman town of Cunetio lies on the shrunken Kennet, but Roman barges once plied there.

 

Whenever we find a Roman road, there are ancient quarries along both sides so I am sure that building-stone for the Wall did not travel great distances. I therefore think that the quarries in the vicinity of Housesteads will be the best search areas. With regard to Roman roads, the foundation stones are usually of rough local stone but the cobbled surfaces are more often of river-washed pebbles about the size of oranges, often as large as melons. It may be difficult to find the sources of these.

 

At Corbridge, there is a Roman jetty on the north side of the River Tyne, just downstream from the site of the Roman bridge. It looks as if the Romans have transported fools’ gold (iron pyrites) by river to this jetty - part of a cargo of this substance is still lying on the river bed. The Romans used iron pyrites in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.

For some strange reason, the authorities have labelled the Corbridge Roman jetty as a “Saxon Watermill.” The archaeologists’ own convoluted arguments destroy their own theories and they talk about the river having moved south since Roman times. If that had been the case the southern Roman Corbridge bridge abutment would have been in the middle of a field on the south side of the river and the so-called Saxon mill in the middle of the river. In addition to that, just 50 metres upstream from the Roman bridge is a solid Roman weir, almost intact, spanning the present course of the river. Fryer’s map of 1779 marks a by-pass canal in the north bank just opposite this structure and this is how the weir was located by our expert divers.

 

Further west, the Romans mined lead and they knew how to extract silver. Ingots of lead which have had the silver removed are stamped “EX ARGENTIUM”. It is also extremely likely that the Romans mined coal in the area, as half full coal bunkers have been found when excavating several Roman forts including Housesteads. The Romans usually obtained their coal from small shallow open-cast diggings. If there are coal measures in the area, evidence may be found.

 

The Romans extracted their rough stone from quarries by drilling a line of holes with a star chisel. The stone then broke off along the line. The star chisel was about four inches in diameter and it was rotated slightly after each blow of the hammer. Stones of this type can be seen lying on the north side of the Inner North Mole at Roker, Sunderland, not far from the yacht club. Some of the stones also have lewis holes (for the forfex lifting device of a Roman man-wheel-powered crane). Others have horizontal dove-tailed holes (opus revinctum) for butterfly joining cramps. The Roker stones were dumped here when the huge Roman dam at Hylton was dismantled in the early 1800s. There are hundreds more Roman stones to the south of the Napoleonic battery on the South Inner Mole at Sunderland harbour. Experts from all over the world have been invited to view these stones. Mike Hodgson is in the process of moving one of our Sunderland “opus revinctum” stones to the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, for comparison with their stones rescued from the Roman bridge over the River Kelvin at Balmuildy.

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

Rothley Road

 

 

This photograph (care of Neil Patterson) shows the long-lost Roman “Rothley Road”, north of the Simonside Hills. Simonside Hill are to the south on the horizon.

 

 

       

 

 

 

THE LADIES TEAM

 

By

Brenda R Ludvigsen

During the school summer holidays three female members of the NAG decided to take up our dowsing implements, leave the housework behind and see what Roman remains were waiting for us.

 

Our first trip was to Catton Beacon to check on a water feature in a field opposite Beacon Rigg farm.  The water trough had been replaced with an old bath but the shaped stones surrounding it were very similar to those of the water feature at Staward Camp.  We also picked up the imprint of a fort although only a few stones were visible.  At the Beacon itself, the public paths surrounding the area appeared to be Roman, and the agger of a possible Roman road could be seen crossing the hill near to the trig point, which was standing on an old quarry, and again may have been used by the Romans.  Near to the masts could be seen right-angled embankments of a possible fortlet and signal station, which were in view of the main fort and would have had fantastic views along the Tyne valley.  In the field behind Round Meadows Farm we came across more embankments of a possible fort, although when speaking to the farmer at the start of our trip he could not think of any special features on his land.

 

On a trip up the Tyne valley we stopped at Bridge End Farm and walked along by the river where there were interesting lumps and bumps on the riverbanks, and also in front of the farm itself.  We think there may be two Roman bridges - large shaped stones could be seen in the bank side, jetties and possible warehouses.  If only we could excavate!  Please be aware of the farm dog here.  It gave me a nasty nip on the ankle - luckily my wellies stopped any injury.  Over the main road at Acomb, the public path along the stream was possibly Roman.  We inadvertently missed the path and walked through the Mill grounds, which could be on a Roman site.  However the lady of the Mill was kind enough to show us the correct way - but not before we saw a paved ford which again could be of Roman origin.  The public paths to the south of the village form a rectangle and we think these were the remains of Roman roads around a fort, the aqueduct of which drains into a water trough at the bottom of one of the paths near to the stream.            We continued up to Wall on the A6079, which could also be a Roman road. Again the roads around the village green could be Roman, and the green may be on the site of a fort. At Halton Grange we picked up a Roman road under the track heading west down to the river, with Walwick Grange directly opposite on the other side. It would have been interesting to know whether there were any remnants of a river crossing at this point. We decided to investigate Walwick Grange at a later date.

 

On the way to Walwick Grange we stopped at the Saxon church at Warden and found the tower contained several stones with lewis holes. The road up to the Grange could be Roman and on the way we passed the remains of an old cross, which stands near Stanegate.  On inspecting the broken shaft of the cross we found seven 2p pieces probably a votive offering left by a believer.  On nearing the T-junction at Walwick Grange we could see in the field ahead of us the remains of a long wall about 3 - 4 courses high and in chorus we all shouted, "there's a fort!!!" This feature is marked on the map as 'fishponds' which may have been its use in medieval times but we think originally was a Roman fort; the walls look very similar to Lanchester fort.  A straight stream, with corners, possibly an aqueduct runs in front of the site, having large shaped stones on either side of the water.  A modern culvert has been made for farm traffic but near this crossing was another huge shaped stone.  We think a Roman road goes into an entrance on the south east side while on the left we could see the agger of another Roman road going towards the fort.  On leaving the field we were approached by the farmer who was interested in our antics and who also turned out to be a dowser, but only for drains.  We were told that the owner of Walwick Grange is a local historian and who says that there are Roman stones built into the Grange, but they were thought to have come from Hadrian's Wall.  Most likely they came from his front field.  It was also understood that the Grange was a monastery in medieval days and the monks built the fishponds.  The field is protected by English Heritage who does not know what the structure is.  We were told that the owner would be interested to hear of our theory of a Roman fort. We were also shown the barn walls and think there are possible Roman stones in their structure. Regarding the broken cross, it is known locally as Queen Eleanor's Cross and used to stand in front of the Grange.

 

I think the highlight of our discoveries however was our visit to Corbridge, and on this occasion my husband was made an honorary lady and joined our group. We followed a public path, which was probably Roman, down to the river passing through a collection of very nice houses; being only two fields from Corstopitum. On our way back from the river the owner of the large mansion was standing in the lane and asked very sceptically if we had found anything.  We explained who we were and what we were looking for but apparently the English Heritage people from the museum told him that there were no Roman remains on his land as everything had been washed away when the river was in flood.  He then asked me to dowse for a Roman stone built into the wall of the house, which I and the other members found, and it turned out to be a Roman altar with a barely legible inscription. After this discovery his whole attitude changed and we were invited into his very large garden to see what we could find. We all picked up the imprint of buildings and roads under the lawns although nothing could be seen. There were also many shaped stones in the garden of obvious Roman origin. We were also shown the great collection of pottery found in his garden, together with a spearhead, and again he had been told none of it was Roman, although we did recognise Roman pottery similar to pieces we had found on previous excavations in other areas in Northumberland.  By this time we had been in his house about 3 hours and were on friendly terms so we asked if we could excavate at the bottom of his garden.  He was very keen for us to do so.

 

About two weeks later a full contingent of diggers turned up and after further dowsing, prodding, and outlining the shape of one of the buildings with coloured sticks excavation began.  It was not long before we started to uncover cobbles and over two weekends were able to reveal the floor of a Roman building made of cobbles pressed into clay.  From the discoveries made i.e. pottery, coal, charcoal, and slag we think this was a blacksmith's workshop. We also found glass and a gaming marble. Needless to say the owner of the house was delighted and certainly believes in dowsing now. He contacted the local paper, which in turn got in touch with BBC TV, and Ray gave an interview from the garden on Look-North recently.  There are a lot more finds to be made here and we are very pleased to have permission to return whenever possible.

 

Incidentally, at the end of our first session we went to explore Corbridge and on returning to our cars, which were parked near to the garden, we met a lady from English Heritage photographing our dig.  Apparently a passer-by had informed the museum of our work.

 

Recently Ray Selkirk, our Secretary, appeared on BBC TV Look North news programme and was also interviewed on Radio Newcastle regarding the Corbridge excavation.  More publicity for the Group!!!

 

We have had a very enjoyable summer of discovery.

 

Pauline Magee

Joan Wilkinson

Len & Brenda Ludvigsen

 

31 October 1999

 

       

 

 

FINCHALE ABBEY

 

 

The first picture is of Finchale Abbey, it is a detailed drawing from 1728. Directly relevant to our ongoing work on the river Wear is the view of it behind the Abbey ruins.

 

Immediately behind the Abbey, on the right of the picture is a feature seen more clearly in the next view. In the enlarged version of this section of the picture it is possible to see water is pouring over the top of an obstacle, which could prove to be one of the series of dams on the river.  Further examination and exploration will be necessary, so please have a look at it and let us know of anything interesting that you may find.

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

Port that fed the Empire

 

The Guardian, on 30 November 1999, reported the finding of a gigantic ancient seaport under the Italian Leonardo da Vinci airport. It was reported that british archaeologists have revealed that this seaport had saved inperial Rome from starvation and enabled it to build a mighty empire.

 

The population of ancient Rome balooned to exceed 1 million and this port (Portus) has helped to explain how that population explosion was supported. Work so far has revealed canals, warehouses, arches and aqueducts through which supplies were pumped nonstop. The scale of need of supplies was enormous and could only be satisfied by a large and intense delivery system. Experts have suggested that the city would have collapsed centuries earlier than it did, without the benefit of Portus.

 

The port, some 12 miles from Rome, was serviced by ships from Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Britain and the Middle east. Goods were offloaded, then transferred to a fleet of barges on a canal, 130 feet wide.

 

Transporting supplies by land from Puteoli, a port near Naples, 120 miles to the south, was too slow so in about AD50 Emperor Claudius ordered a giant construction at the mouth of the Tiber river. Inside the port his successor, Trajan, built a smaller harbour, almost 2,000 feet wide, which spawned cranes, shipyards and warehouses.

 

Work at Portus is being performed by a team from Southampton University, the British School at Rome, and Italy’s Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Ostia. They are using a revolutionary survey technique, involving geophysics and computer software analysis. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, director of the British School, is quoted, “The harbour was designed in heaven. It was beautifully geometric, the vast machine of a state that really had its act together. Rome was the most populated city in antiquity. What we see at portus is an extraordinary logistical feat: a permanent procession of barges, seven days a week.”

 

Simon Keay, professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton was quoted, “These results will revolutionise our understanding of Rome’s complex trading structures.”

 

This is yet another large piece of evidence, pointing toward the great significance of water transport to the Romans.

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

Roman Word Square

by Peter Dewart

 

Just for fun……….

The names of twenty Roman emperors were used, in assembling the word square below.

 

 

See how many you can spot first.

 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SOLUTION

 

       

 

 

 

Roman Plumbing

In the Daily Mail, 2 August 1999, there was a question, “How did the Romans keep their swimming pools fresh in the days before circulation pumps and chemicals?”

 

The answer was provided by Susan Fox, Keeper of Collections, Roman Baths Museum & Pump Room, Bath.  She declared that the ancient Roman secret of keeping baths and swimming pools hygeinic was not a secret at all, but was the same method as used today: regular emptying and cleaning, while a continuous flow of water in and out helped to was away quite a bit of pollution.

 

The great bath at Aquae Sulis (now Bath), which was the swimming pool in the bathing complex, holds 290,400 litres of water. In Roman times - and today - it is replenished by water piped directly from the hot spring next to it. The output flow from the spring itself is 13 litres a second, though the flow into the great bath is only just over 2 litres a second.

 

In Roman towns where there was no local supply of water, baths relied on the public water supply brought in by constantly flowing aqueducts, conduits and pipes. The water supply to baths, a public amenity, was the first priority and the last to fail if supplies diminished in times of drought or flood.

 

Apart from this, the largest baths had their own reservoirs to store water. The baths of Caracalla in Rome had a 40,000 cubic metre reservoir in underground vaults, nearly 30 times the quantity needed to refill its great swimming pool.

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

The Sunderland Antiquarian Society

 

The Sunderland Antiquarian Society was established on the 21st of November 1899 and held its inaugural meeting on the 1st of february 1900. Since then it has continued to serve the cause of local history in and around Sunderland. It remains the only society of its kind, which is devoted to the history of our entire local community.

 

Membership is open to all.

 

Subscriptions for one year:

                Individual              £7.00

                Husband & wife   £10.00

                Junior (under 18)  £1.00

(visitors to Lecture-Meetings 50p per meeting)

 

The Sunderland Antiquarian Society use rooms at Southmoor School in Sunderland. The rooms are open for research on the following dates:-

 

1999

November 6th

December 4th

 

2000

January 8th

February 5th

March 4th

April 1st

May 6th & 20th

June 10th & 24th

Closed during July & August.

 

The Society also holds lectures and meetings in the Southmoor School, on Tuesday evenings at 7.00pm:-

 

November 9th 1999

The Invention of Christmas

Mr. G. Linton

 

January 11th 2000

Women at War

Mr. A. Gavaghan

 

February 8th 2000

The Origin of Place Names

Mr. A. Lawson

 

March 14th 2000

Sunderland Pubs

1670 to the present day

Mr. R. Lawson J.P.

 

April 11th 2000

Annual General Meeting and film:-

A Beacon in the North

 

An order form for the Society’s Centenary publication 2000 is attached on the back page.

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

Word Square solution.