The Nene

As with most hydronymy in England (such as the Ouse and Avon), the name is likely to be of Celtic origin.^[2]
The same name appears in the 'Neen', the former name of the river Rea in Shropshire, which is retained in the hamlet of Neen Savage. A.D. Mills however considers the name 'obscure' and suggests that it may be pre-Celtic.^[3]
The pronunciation of the river's name varies by locality. In Northamptonshire, it is usually /ˈnɛn/, and around Peterborough, it is usually /ˈniːn/. The spelling was "Nenn", as seen in Cole-Roper's 1810 engraving, or "Nyn", the Ordnance Survey of 1885 is 'Nene'^[4], and the point at which the pronunciation changes has been moving further inland for many years; the current edition of the Imray "Map Of The River Nene" suggests that it is now Thrapston.^[5]

Course[edit]

The River Nene is the tenth-longest river in the United Kingdom. From its source at Arbury Hill to Northampton, the river falls a total of 300 feet (91 m) in 17 miles (27 km).^[1] For the remainder of its course, the Nene falls less than 200 feet (61 m).^[6] It has a catchment area of 631 square miles (1,630 km²) and a mean flow of 328 cubic feet per second (9.3 m³/s).^[7] The final 88 miles (142 km) from Northampton to the Wash is navigable.^[8]
The river's most westerly source can be found near the village of Badby, near Daventry. On the eastern slope of Arbury Hill, and in pools between Arbury Hill and Sharmans Hill, there are three tributaries that converge at Dodford mill to form the upper reaches of the Daventry Nene. The two northern streams flow through the villages of Badby and Newnham to the convergence, whilst the southerly stream runs through Fawsley Park and through the village of Everdon before the convergence. From Dodford, the river passes through the village of Weedon where it flows under the main west coast railway line, the Grand Union Canal, and Watling Street. A little west of Weedon, the river converges with its tributary source from Yelvertoft from the north. This tributary, the Yelvertoft Nene, is formed from a great many streams. The river now flows towards Northampton, passing through Flore and Nether Heyford, where it is joined by small streams on either bank. A little past Bugbrooke Mill, the Nene passes under the M1 motorway and falls over a weir towards Kislingbury.

M1 Motorway viaduct over the River Nene just south of junction 16

Another tributary merges from the south at Kislingbury. The Nene's course is closely followed by the Grand Union Canal’s Northampton arm at Upton Mill.

Northampton[edit]

At Upton Mill, another tributary, called Wootton Brook, joins the river from the south. The River Nene now approaches Northampton town from the west, passing between the suburbs of St. James (locally known as Jimmy's End), Cotton End and Far Cotton. The Nene’s third northern source, the Naseby Source or Brampton Nene, converges at the Carlsberg Brewery. This tributary flows through the north of Northampton where several streams join. Three of these streams supply water for reservoirs at Pitsford, Hollowell and Ravensthorpe, north of Northampton, before joining the Brampton Nene. At Cotton End, the Nene passes under South Bridge, then through Beckett's Park and past the site of the former Northampton Power Station in the Nunn Mills area of the town, on the south bank of the river opposite Midsummer Meadow on the north banks.^[9] Northampton Sea Cadets is based in Nunn Mills, and uses the river for the training of boating skills. Following the training schemes of the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), British Rowing (BR), and the British Canoe Union (BCU).^[10] A short way downstream, a weir can divert some of the Nene's flow to supply the Nene Whitewater Centre.

Cole-Roper 1810 map of Northampton

South Bridge over the River Nene looking east with fast current warning notice displayed, 26 February 2010. On the south bank, the Cotton End district of Northampton

Nene Valley[edit]

From Northampton, the river flows along a broad valley, formed by the enormous amount of water released by the melting ice during the Ice Age,^[11] towards the east coast. The Nene now meanders through this wide, flat valley with flood plains, lakes, pools and mature gravel pits on either bank, a byproduct of the large glacial deposits in the valley. At Great Billing is Billing Aquadrome, a popular caravan and camping park with leisure facilities and a funfair, which is based around the river and various mature gravel pits.^[12] The park is popular with fishermen and water skiers alike. The river's landscape is now dominated by mature gravel pit lakes. Some gravel extraction still takes place along the valley's basin. At Cogenhoe (pronounced /ˈkʊknoʊ/ locally^[13]) the river passes through a watermill. The mill is a red-brick building built in the late nineteenth century, with a slate roof, from which all the machinery has been removed. Adjacent is a Mill House, built of coursed limestone rubble, and dated 1725.^[14] At Earls Barton the river again passes an area of mature gravel pit lakes, and lock gates numbers 9 and 10. Further on, the river passes through Doddington Lock No 11 and the nearby Hardwater Watermill. This watermill, mentioned in the Domesday Book, ground wheat into flour for almost 1000 years. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, used the mill as a hiding place after escaping from Northampton Castle in 1164 and fleeing down the Nene to be sheltered by the miller before fleeing to France. The watermill ceased grinding flour after the Second World War. The present buildings date from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and have been converted into dwellings.^[15]

Wellingborough[edit]

Victoria Mills and its jetty at Wellingborough

The river's course turns to the north-east, passing the town of Wellingborough on its north bank and the village of Little Irchester to the south. At Wellingborough, the river passes through Victoria Mills. Founded in 1886 by the Whitworth family, they are still run by the firm today, producing fine flours for the bakery trade. In front of the mill, there remains a jetty from the days when the river was used for transportation of goods to and from the mills. A little further on, the river is joined from the north by the River Ise. On the opposite bank are the remains of the Roman town of Irchester. The river now passes under a viaduct that carries the Midland Main Line, which links London St. Pancras International to Sheffield Midland station in northern England via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.
Passing Irthlingborough on its north-western bank, the Nene now flows past Nene Park, the former ground of Rushden and Diamonds F.C.. Further on, the river is crossed by the disused track bed of the Northampton and Peterborough Railway which was constructed in 1845. The river is now characterised by large curving meanders as it passes the villages of Little Addington, Great Addington and Denford.

Thrapston[edit]

The Nine Arched Bridge at Thrapston

At Denford the river divides into two channels, one of which is used for navigation. The channels approach the town of Thrapston, passing under two adjacent viaducts. One carries the busy A14 trunk road; the other carries the disused railway track bed. Between the town of Thrapston and the village of Islip, the Nene is spanned by a low nine-arched bridge. Just north of Thrapston the river forms part of the 180 acres (73 ha) of Titchmarsh Nature Reserve.^[16] The reserve, designated in 1989, consists of two lakes, a woodland, river banks and areas of grass and scrub in which some ponds have been dug. The reserve is operated by Northamptonshire County Council, with the approval of the Nature Conservancy Council. At Aldwincle another tributary, called Harpers Brook, joins the Nene from the north-west. Harpers Brook flows between gravel pit lagoons before converging with the river. The river flows south of Oundle passing Barnwell Country Park and Oundle Marina under a bridge of the A605 road. At grid reference TL116976, the Romans bridged the river with Ermine Street in the first century. Between Oundle marina and Peterborough the Nene falls towards Peterborough, navigation passing through 11 locks on the way.

Peterborough[edit]

River Nene from Frank Perkins Parkway, Peterborough

Crosskeys Bridge swing bridge on the River Nene before the mouth of The Wash, built in 1897, in the village of Sutton Bridge, south Lincolnshire

Having passed among the gentle hills of Northamptonshire the river enters the rural part of the City of Peterborough, passing the Nene Valley Railway and through the Nene Valley Country Park. ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) upstream of the city centre is Woodston Wharf—the site of the old sea lock—originally the extent of the tidal River Nene until the Dog in a Doublet lock at Whittlesey was opened in 1937. To the east of Peterborough city centre a branch of the river passes under the former Great Eastern Railway, now connected to the main East Coast main line and running through to Cambridge via Whittlesey and Ely. The branch terminates, for navigation, at Stanground Lock, a connection to the Middle Levels, the drainage system of the Fens through which access is possible to the River Great Ouse. Below Peterborough, the river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about 3.7 miles (6.0 km).
Continuing downstream leads to the impressive 'Embankment' area and after the cathedral city itself, passing through Whittlesey the landscape changes to the Nene Washes in The Fens and their vast horizons. Beyond Flag Fen the river flows through the port of Wisbech, then Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire, and it finally enters The Wash between two towers known as "the lighthouses".
The Nene links the Grand Union Canal to the River Great Ouse, via the Middle Level Navigations. Much of its route has been upgraded to a wide canal with locks at regular intervals. Some sections where artificial cuts run adjacent to the course of the river are known as the "Nene Navigation".

Navigation[edit]

hide [ v t e ] River Nene
Legend
The Wash Nene Outfall Cut  A17  Crosskeys Bridge South Holland main drain North Level main drain  A1101  Bridge Wisbech  A47  Bridge Wisbech Mortons Leam sluice  B1040  Dog-in-a-Doublet bridges Dog-in-a-Doublet lock and sluice Stanground Lock (Middle Levels)  A1  Bridge Peterborough  A605  Bridge Peterborough Peterborough railway station and Nene Viaduct  A1260  Bridge Orton Orton Lock Nene Valley Railway bridge Alwalton Lock Water Newton Lock Wansford Station, Nene Valley Railway Wansford Lock Yarwell Lock Elton Lock Warmington Lock Perio Lock Cotterstock Lock  A407  Bridge Oundle  A605  Bridge Oundle Ashton Lock  A605  Bridge Barnwell Upper and Lower Barnwell Locks Lilford Lock Wadenhoe Lock Harpers Brook Titchmarsh Lock Islip Lock Denford Lock Woodford Lock Upper and Lower Ringstead Locks Irthlingborough Lock  A6  Bridge Higham Ferrers Higham Lock Ditchford Lock High rail bridge Lower Wellingborough Lock River Ise Bridge Little Irchester  A45  Bridge Little Irchester Upper Wellingborough Lock Wollaston Lock Doddington Lock Earls Barton Lock White Mills Lock Whiston Lock Cogenhoe Lock Billing Lock Clifford Hill Lock Weston Favell Lock Abington Lock  A428  Bridge Northampton Nene Whitewater Centre  A45  Northampton Rush Mills Lock Beckets Park Lock Westbridge Arm Junction with Grand Union Canal Northampton Lock (GUC) to source

The Nene is navigable from just above its junction with the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal to the sea. Most leisure use is between Northampton and Peterborough, where it makes a junction with the Middle Level Navigations at Stanground Sluice, which give access to the Bedfordshire River Ouse. There is no longer any significant commercial traffic.^[17]

Above Peterborough[edit]

The first recorded attempts to improve the upper river for navigation occurred in 1567 and 1606, when the people of Northampton commissioned surveys. In 1653, a printed pamphlet suggested that 33 locks to bypass the mills could be built for £8,000, to make the river navigable. Eventually, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1713, which appointed large numbers of Commissioners, but stated that work could only proceed if any nine of them could find someone to make the entire river navigable. No-one was prepared to take on the task, although it appears from the Act that the river was navigable from Peterborough to Alwalton at the time. The Act was superseded by a second one obtained in 1724, which allowed the river to be improved in stages, the work to be carried out at the contractor's expense, with the cost to be recouped from tolls. Robert Wright and Thomas Squire agreed to these terms for the section from Peterborough to the bridge at Oundle North in September 1726, and completed the work by 1730. Squire then agreed to the same terms for the next section to Thrapston in 1736, and completed it by late 1737. This part of the river was then designated as the Eastern Division.^[18]
A failure to find anyone prepared to work on the Western Division from Thrapston to Northampton resulted in a third Act being obtained in 1756, which allowed the Commissioners to borrow money to finance the work. Lenders would become Proprietors of the Navigation, and the work was to begin at Thrapston and extend the navigable section towards Northampton. It took the Commissioners two years to agree who should carry out the work, but on 22 June 1758, John Smith jnr from Attercliffe, Yorkshire was contracted to construct 20 pound locks, 20 horse haling bridges and various other works at a cost of £14,070. The river opened to navigation in stages over the next three years, with a great celebration being held at Northampton on 7 August 1761 when the work was completed.^[19]
The proprietors had the right to use tolls as they saw fit, and the Commissioners found that they had no powers to ensure the navigation was maintained in good order. They obtained another Act of Parliament in 1794, which aimed to rectify the situation, but it was not until 1801 that Thomas Wright replied to their requests, and some repairs were made. There was little traffic and income from tolls was low, at just £488 per year between 1801 and 1804. The Commissioners were also keen to see a link constructed from Northampton to the Grand Junction Canal, but the canal company argued that there was an insufficient supply of water. It was agreed that a link would be built in two halves, but that there would be 1 mile (1.6 km) of railway in the middle. When built, the canal company constructed the entire link as a railway, which opened in 1805. In a bid to get a navigable link, the Commissioners opposed the bill to build a link between the Grand Junction Canal and the Old Union Canal, but relented when they had a firm agreement that a navigable link to Northampton would be built. The link cost £35,000, was supervised by Benjamin Bevan, and was built between 1812 and 1815. It was nearly 5 miles (8.0 km) long, and dropped 107 feet (33 m) through 17 locks.^[20]

Tolls rose to a little over £1,000 per year, but the Commissioners decided that the canal boats damaged the locks, and all traffic had to be transferred to river barges. This order was withdrawn in 1827, but the condition of the river gradually deteriorated, and the arrival of the Blisworth to Peterborough Railway in 1845 further reduced profitability. Flooding was also a problem, but the Commissioners had no powers to act as Commissioners of Sewers, to address the problems of drainage. With serious flooding in December 1848, a public meeting was held, and a committee was elected to consider Nene drainage. The main problem was a restriction at Wisbech, and the engineer James Rendel estimated that £120,000 was required to reconstruct the river below Peterborough. The Nene Valley Drainage and Improvement Act was obtained in 1852, to allow this work to be completed.^[2

The materials produced are quite unlike the early Roman pottery usually found, which has much Belgic influence

io Wollaston

in the 2nd century, and soon became surrounded by suburban ‘overspill’. In the large areas between these were very many villa-farms and smaller steads. The villa-farms generally occupied only a few acres, and so are too small to be called villages, but were rather larger than single-family modern farms. They supported the Roman Imperial economy by cattle-rearing and agriculture. Many farms were superimposed on previous Belgic or Iron Age farm sites, and probably to a certain extent used the same field systems and employed the original Celtic populace as labourers.

Proof of a continuity of Iron Age traditions came from the various hut-circle ditches found on Roman sites. At Wollaston, off Hinwick Road, a hut circle of diameter 40 feet with an entrance 13 feet wide had an off-centre hearth made of two large roofing tiles. Both of these tiles had numerals incised on them before firing. In the ditch was a large quantity of early 2nd century a.d. pottery⁴⁴.

At Deanshanger, similar penannular ditches were found⁴⁶. Gravel workings at Ringstead revealed a hut circle underlying a stone-built circular structure 30 feet in diameter⁴⁶. The most complicated stone examples known in the neighbourhood are at Bozeat. One, dating from the early 3rd century, is 48 feet in diameter with four central pier, or post, bases and a few cross walls⁴⁷.

Only a few such structures are known, and the plan is near-identical with an Iron Age wooden structure at Little Woodbury, Wilts., dating from c. 300 B.C.⁴⁸. At an estate south of Bozeat High Street there is another site with circular buildings, also of the 3rd century⁴⁹. Examples have also been discovered in Oxfordshire⁵⁰.

Villa-farms are certainly the norm of the many Romano-British sites scattered over the whole of Northamptonshire. A few of them had central heating, bath suites, mosaic floors, and painted walls. At Easton Maudit, trial excavations revealed a substantial building with hypocaust box tiles (used to conduct hot air along the walls) and a crude mosaic floor. This was substantially built with a layer of hard-core supporting firm mortar which supported a white very hard plaster in which the stones were embedded. Instead of a design composed of different coloured stones, the floor was made of small stones with a design painted on. Recently a fine floor has been discovered at Thenford⁶¹. Several have been known for many years, e.g. those at Nether Heyford noted by Morton (in 1712) and by the Victoria County History.

Bath suites are usually only recognized by large scale excavation. Total excavation of a villa at Brixworth, north of the church, revealed a complicated bath suite with hot and cold compartments⁵².

At least two of the Roman sites known at Wollaston seem likely to have been villas, according to the debris in the top soil. A fine aerial photograph of the villa site near Cut-Throat Bridge shows the plan, with a corridor and series of rooms, and some surrounding enclosures.

Painted wall-plaster does not survive in ploughsoil, and so is only known at those sites that have been excavated. At the Brixworth villa several motifs were recovered, and at the housing estate at Bozeat a considerable quantity of fine quality 3rd-century plaster survived in the building debris.

Of the Roman towns there is a very imperfect plan of Chester made by Baker, vicar of Hargrave, in 1879, showing various buildings including a temple. In the 1920s and 1930s many rich finds were found during ironstone quarrying in the cemetery east of the town. These now seem to be lost for the most part, except for some bowls in Northampton Museum. Aerial photographs show the road-plan of Chester to consist of winding lanes rather than the usual grid pattern. These probably represent a continuity from an Iron Age settlement⁵³.

Excavation and aerial photographs at Castor have led to the compilation of a very complicated plan, but again outside the town proper, and not at all regular⁵⁴.

Of Roman industry there are many remains, principally relating to potters. The invading legions brought with them their own potters, who operated wherever the military was stationed. Such a site has recently been found at Longthorpe. The materials produced are quite unlike the early Roman pottery usually found, which has much Belgic influence. Early kilns, dating from the late 1st century, have been found under the circular buildings at Bozeat. The area of the Nene valley east of Northampton was the centre of an early industry; this, however, later became less important. In later Roman times, the area north of the town of Durobrivae in the parish of Castor was the centre of a very large pottery. The main products were colour-coated wares, often with fine relief designs, finished in white on a black or red background. This pottery was traded throughout the country.

The other industry practised in the south and north of the county was iron smelting. Large areas of black dense slag can be found in fields in the old Rockingham Forest. Each represents a bloomery site where iron was smelted. Some of these sites are several miles away from the nearest ironstone because it was easier to carry the ore to the wooded areas where charcoal was made. This was because the ratio of iron to charcoal needed is about 1:5. Recent excavations of a slag patch at Wakerley⁵⁵ showed the small clay furnace to be quite miniscule, about 9 inches in diameter. Analysis of the slag shows that no flux was used, and much iron remains as dense black silicate.

Industry and agriculture meet in the process of corndrying. The sitesio Wollaston

in the 2nd century, and soon became surrounded by suburban ‘overspill’. In the large areas between these were very many villa-farms and smaller steads. The villa-farms generally occupied only a few acres, and so are too small to be called villages, but were rather larger than single-family modern farms. They supported the Roman Imperial economy by cattle-rearing and agriculture. Many farms were superimposed on previous Belgic or Iron Age farm sites, and probably to a certain extent used the same field systems and employed the original Celtic populace as labourers.

Proof of a continuity of Iron Age traditions came from the various hut-circle ditches found on Roman sites. At Wollaston, off Hinwick Road, a hut circle of diameter 40 feet with an entrance 13 feet wide had an off-centre hearth made of two large roofing tiles. Both of these tiles had numerals incised on them before firing. In the ditch was a large quantity of early 2nd century a.d. pottery⁴⁴.

At Deanshanger, similar penannular ditches were found⁴⁶. Gravel workings at Ringstead revealed a hut circle underlying a stone-built circular structure 30 feet in diameter⁴⁶. The most complicated stone examples known in the neighbourhood are at Bozeat. One, dating from the early 3rd century, is 48 feet in diameter with four central pier, or post, bases and a few cross walls⁴⁷.

Only a few such structures are known, and the plan is near-identical with an Iron Age wooden structure at Little Woodbury, Wilts., dating from c. 300 B.C.⁴⁸. At an estate south of Bozeat High Street there is another site with circular buildings, also of the 3rd century⁴⁹. Examples have also been discovered in Oxfordshire⁵⁰.

Villa-farms are certainly the norm of the many Romano-British sites scattered over the whole of Northamptonshire. A few of them had central heating, bath suites, mosaic floors, and painted walls. At Easton Maudit, trial excavations revealed a substantial building with hypocaust box tiles (used to conduct hot air along the walls) and a crude mosaic floor. This was substantially built with a layer of hard-core supporting firm mortar which supported a white very hard plaster in which the stones were embedded. Instead of a design composed of different coloured stones, the floor was made of small stones with a design painted on. Recently a fine floor has been discovered at Thenford⁶¹. Several have been known for many years, e.g. those at Nether Heyford noted by Morton (in 1712) and by the Victoria County History.

Bath suites are usually only recognized by large scale excavation. Total excavation of a villa at Brixworth, north of the church, revealed a complicated bath suite with hot and cold compartments⁵².

At least two of the Roman sites known at Wollaston seem likely to have

Attrebatti and Belgae

BERKSHIRE

THE irregular shape of the inland county of Berkshire

lends itself to convenient subdivision. The northern
boundary is formed by the winding Thames which, in the course of a hundred miles, provides many towns and villages with a superlative setting in this, as in the shires of Oxford and Buckingham on the opposite bank. The county’s greatest length, as the crow flies, is just over fifty miles from Wiltshire to Surrey ; the widest part is in the west (about thirty miles across), whereas from Reading it is no more than seven miles into Hampshire.
The ancient inhabitants were the Attrebatti and Belgae tribes of Britons, before the Romans came. The West Saxons gained it in the sixth century, and in their time the principal boundaries of the shire were established. It is a geographical unit, comprising 23 hundreds, yet deriving its name neither from the people nor the chief town but from the “ barked shire oak ” already described in our introduction to Wessex. The analogy is a sound one, for this leafy county is adorned with oak and beech trees.
Windsor Castle and St. George’s chapel are the chief monuments. Bisham Abbey is an Elizabethan mansion, and Reading Abbey the ruin of one of the earliest and greatest monasteries. Abingdon and the vale of White Horse, Newbury and Wantage, are ancient centres from which many others are easily reached. Perhaps The Bell at Hurley is the oldest inn in England, but there are many riverside inns and taverns that are very old. Among churches, ancient and noble, the beautifully preserved thirteenth-century wall paintings at Ashampstead and Hampstead Norris arc the most remarkable recent discoveries.
From the Thames valley the land rises towards a spur of the Chilterns in the south and south-west; to the White Horse hill (856 feet), and Inkpen Beacon, which at ion feet is the highest chalk down in England. From “ the fruitful vale of White Horse, not plentiful of wood,” but watered by the river Ock, to the valley of the Kennet, which skirts Inkpen and flows eastward to the Thames and Reading, lie the rich agricultural and dairy farming lands for which the county is famed. The river Loddon, another Thames tributary, east of Reading, marks off the only barren portion covered by Windsor forest.
BERKSHIRE
Berkshire is among the drier districts of England, and, in the fertile regions, oats and wheat are grown ; sheep, pigs and dairy farming generally prosper, and agricultural machinery is manufactured in the larger towns; in Reading, the largest, biscuits and seed are produced by world-famous firms.
221
Administration. The county town is Reading, which has also its university. The royal borough of Windsor is within the county, which comprises 23 hundreds and 192 civil parishes in all.
Communications. The best-known highway is the Bath road (A4) which traverses the entire southern section of the county for over fifty miles, from Maidenhead to Hungerford. On this old road are the famous coaching inns which, in these motoring days, are regaining something of their former bustle. The riverside road to Wallingford and Abingdon touches some of the loveliest reaches of the Thames.
The Great Western railway—the old London and Bristol has just passed its centenary—serves the county, and all its main lines, except the new Birmingham route, pass through it.
Earldom. The earls of Suffolk and Berkshire have combined, since 1621, the titles that have descended from a younger branch of the Howards of Norfolk, and are described in our reference to that county, and to Suffolk.
Regiment. The Royal Berkshire Regiment is the 49th (Hertfordshire) Foot, raised in 1714, formerly the Jamaica Volunteers who fought in the American War, and the 66th (Berkshire) Foot, raised in 1758. The regiment saw service in Holland, and then at Copenhagen, and the dragon and the word “ China ” in their colours were conferred for services in the war with China in 1841. In 1881 they were united, and the depot is Reading.
County Badge. Having no arms, the device is used of a shield, on it a stag plucking leaves from the lower branches of a tree. Above the shield a royal crown, with sprays of laurel and <>ak, and, beneath, a scroll inscribed Berkshire.
The allusion is to the barked oak, from which the name of the county is derived. The royal crown denotes Windsor Castle and Forest.
Newspapers. The Berkshire Chronicle, founded in 1770, and issued at Reading, is the oldest newspaper of the county, but the Reading Mercury dates from 1723, and this, with the more recently established Reading Standard (1885) cover the chief centres of news.

, intelligence of a pearl fishery, attracted their avarice

The only accession which the Roman Conquest of Bri- empire received,

 during tain was the first the first century of the exception to it. C hristian ^ wag the province of Britain.

 In this single instance, the successors of Caesar and Augustus were persuaded to follow the example of the former,

 rather than the precept of the latter. The proximity of its situation to the coast of Caul seemed to invite their arms ; the pleasing, though doubtful, intelligence of a pearl fishery, attracted their avarice ;2 and as Britain was viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated world, the conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general system of continental measures. After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the most stupid,3 maintained by the most dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the emperors, the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman yoke.4 The various tribes of Britons possessed 1 Germanicus, Suetonius, Paulinus, and Agricola were checked and recalled in the course of their victories. Corbulo was put to death. Military merit, as it is admirably expressed by Tacitus, was, in the strictest sense of the word, imperatoria virtus. - Caesar himself conceals that ignoble motive;

 but it is mentioned by Suetonius, c. 47. The r.ritish pearls proved,

however, of little value, account of their dark and livid colour. Tacitus observes, with reason (in Agricola, c. 12), that it was an inherent defect. “Ego facilius crediderim, naturam margaritis deesse quam nobis avaritiam.” 3 Claudius, Nero, and Domitian. A hope is expressed by Pomponius Mela, 1. iii. c. G (he wrote under Claudius), that, by the success of I lie Eoman arms, the island and its savage inhabitants would soon be better known. It is amusing enough to peruse such passages in the midst of London. 4 Bee the admirable abridgment given by Tacitus, in the life of Agricola, and copiously, though perhaps not completely, illustrated by our own antiquarians, Camden and Horsley.

valour without conduct, and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage fierceness ; they laid them down, or turned them against each other, with wild inconstancy ; and while they fought singly, they were successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of Caractacus, nor the despair of Boadicea, nor the fanaticism of the Druids, could avert the slavery of their country, or resist the steady progress of the Imperial generals, who maintained the national glory, when the throne was disgraced by the weakest, or the most vicious of mankind. At the very time when Domitian, confined to his palace, felt the terrors which he inspired, his legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola, defeated the collected force of the Caledonians, at the foot of the Grampian hills; and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and dangerous navigation displayed the Roman arms round every part of the island. The conquest of Britain was considered as already achieved; and it was the design of Agricola to complete and ensure his success, by the easy reduction of Ireland, for which, in his opinion, one legion and a few auxiliaries were sufficient.1 The western isle might be improved into a valuable possession, and the Britons would wear their chains with the less reluctance, if the prospect and example of freedom were on every side removed from before their eyes. But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his removal from the government of Britain ; and for ever disappointed this rational,* though extensive, scheme of conquest. Before his departure, the prudent general had provided for security as well as for dominion. He had observed that the island is almost divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs, or, as they are now called, the Friths of Scotland. Across the narrow interval of about forty miles, he had drawn a line of military stations, which was afterwards fortified in the reign of Antoninus Ptus, by a turf rampart, erected on founda

For besides King Arthur, and Lancelot du lake,

ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND.

 THE FIRST PART. I 

(Tills ballad is given from an old black-letter copy in the Pepys collection.] | 

W h y doe you boast o f Arthur and his knightes, 

Knowing ‘ well ’ how many men have endured fightes ? 

For besides King Arthur, and Lancelot du lake, I 

)r Sir Tristram de Lionel, that fought for ladies sake;

 It cad in old histories, and there you shall see I low St. George,

 St. George the dragon made to flee, hi, George he was for England;

 St. Dennis was for France j

 Sing, IToni soit qui mat y pense. 

Mark our father Abraham, when first he resckued Lot I inely with his household, what conquest there he got:

 I hivid was elected a prophet and a king, I le slew the great Goliah, with a stone within a sling :

 Vet these were not knightes of the table round; I Nor St. George, St. George, who the dragon did confound. Ill, George he was for England ; St. Dennis was for France ; 

Sing, Honi soit qui mal y pense. 

.biphthah and Gideon did lead their men to fight,

 I hey conquered the Amorites, and put them all to flight I (ercules his labours ‘ were ’ on the plaines of Basse;

 J And Sampson slew a thousand with the jawbone of an asse,

 * Suffer.

4000 years

(1)

Dartmoor is an area unequalled in Southern Britain for its collection of visible remains of human occupation covering some 4000 years.

The preservation of these remains has been due to their existence in a large area of high moorland, but little disturbed by later agricultural or other activities, that involve the breaking of the soil.

The nearest comparable collection is on the western slopes of the mountain mass of Merioneth in North Wales.

But Dartmoor, which lies nearer to the Continent from which successive groups of settlers came, is likely to yield the more valuable information.

Scientific study requires that the area be considered as a whole.

Irreparable damage has already been done in the part farther north, including the Tavy Valley, and it is therefore the more necessary to preserve what remains. (2) The Plym valley is one of the richest areas in the whole of Dartmoor in respect of antiquities. Detailed evidence is being Submitted on behalf of the Council of British Archaeology and the Devon Archaeological Exploration Society.

Their schedule and map list over 60 sites of pre-Roman date.