Introduction
In common with much of England, the Baldons is a place where, some 2,000 years ago, Romans lived, worked and travelled. The area is rich in Roman sites, such as the fort and settlement at Dorchester on Thames, the stone villa and bath house on Castle Hill between Wheatley and Cuddesdon, and a Romano-British settlement between Garsington and Littlemore. A Roman road passes through the Baldons. It is therefore not surprising to find plenty of evidence of Roman activity.
The Roman Road
The Roman road ran from Dorchester-on-Thames, passing through Berinsfield (including the street named Roman Road) to Little Baldon, then across fields to the south-east corner of Marsh Baldon Green. From here it is believed that it passed up Pebble Hill and along, or close to, Tinny Lane, to the top end of Baldon Row, then bearing slightly east and heading north to Oxford, eventually passing through Barton, past the crematorium, on its way to Alchester, a Roman settlement a few kilometres south of Bicester. (There is some dispute as to the exact route the road took through the Baldons, but this seems the most likely. According to the Victoria County History there may also have been a small offshoot going east to Baldon Row and the site of St. Lawrence’s Church.)
A boundary bank and ditch adjacent to the main Roman road has been described as a possible second Roman or a Saxon road, or perhaps a settlement boundary. This has not been excavated or studied in detail.
Figure 1. Map of the Baldons area with locations of Roman activity
Kilns
There is evidence of a well-developed and extensive Roman pottery industry in the area, with kilns having been found at several nearby locations including at Garsington, Blackbird Leys and Littlemore. The area was probably chosen because of the abundance of the necessary natural resources for making pottery - clay, sand, water and timber, as well as good communication routes and the availability of nearby markets.
Two kiln sites are particularly close to the Baldons – those at Lower Farm, between Toot Baldon and Sandford, and at the “Baldon” site (as it is referred to by archaeologists) between the Golden Balls roundabout and Little Baldon Farm.
It is believed the kilns date from between the 1st and mid 4th Centuries CE, and that the local pottery industry had collapsed well before the period of widespread Saxon settlement in the 5th Century. The pottery produced in this region was mostly fine tableware and mortaria (hemispherical or conical bowls, commonly with heavy flanges, and with coarse sand or grit embedded into the internal surface, which were used for pounding or mixing foods).
The Lower Farm kiln site is approximately 2.5km west of Wilmots in Toot Baldon, and has been extensively studied by archaeologists. It is thought there may have been more than 40 individual kilns here, covering an area of roughly 12ha and sited within a set of enclosures defined by trackways and ditches. Ceramic evidence suggests that there may have been two distinct phases of pottery manufacture at Lower Farm: early Roman (early 1st to mid 2nd Century CE) and mid-late Roman (mid/late 2nd to 4th Century). A wide range of forms were produced, including fine wares in the 2nd Century. The scale of production increased in the later part of the 3rd Century with the expansion of mortarium output and the introduction of colour-coated wares, but it apparently declined again in the early part of the 4th Century. Notable characteristics of the industry included the use of semi-literate potters’ stamps on colour-coated vessels. The excavations also found evidence of a small settlement, a workshop, a pot dump and a trackway.
The Baldon site is 1km south-west of Little Baldon Farm, a few hundred metres from the Golden Balls roundabout. It was discovered in 1969 and has not been excavated, but surface finds, mostly turned up by deep ploughing, indicate there were several kilns (perhaps 8 or 9) along with waste heaps and possibly a workshop. It is thought the Baldon site did not begin until well into the 4th Century, although it may have been a replacement for an earlier site. The site seems to have specialised in colour-coated wares, both white and red. It was the only site in the area to produce large quantities of rosette or demi-rosette impressed bowls.
Finds
In October 1970 the South Oxfordshire Hunt was crossing a field on Little Baldon Farm when one of their number observed some sherds of pottery lying on the newly-ploughed surface. One of the first pieces to be recovered was a fine example of a moulded face from the neck of a flagon. The sherd is approximately 11 cm high and 9 cm wide and is on display in the Ashmolean Museum’s Roman gallery – see Fig.2.
Figure 2. Part of a flagon, found near Little Baldon Farm
Image Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Roman coins also have been found at the Lower Farm site. Some were from the Valentinian dynasty (mid 4th to the mid 5th Century), others from the Constantinian dynasty (early to mid 4th Century). Coins have also apparently been found closer to Toot Baldon, just south of Nineveh Farm – however this record has yet to be verified.
A Roman nummus (these were small coins of copper alloy or sometimes low-grade silver, widely used during the late Roman Empire) from the period of Constantine I, 307-318 CE, has been found at Marsh Baldon - see Fig.3.
Figure 3. 4th Century nummus found at Marsh Baldon
Image Courtesy of The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum
Also, a Roman “token” was found in Marsh Baldon in about 2013 – see Fig.4. It is a large lead alloy disc about 4cm in diameter, with a crude depiction of a man’s head in profile, wearing a crown. The reverse side has no markings. Its purpose is unclear, but it is speculated that it may have been used as a seal, or else as a means of identification to gain access to buildings such as baths or military sites.
Figure 4. Roman token from Marsh Baldon
Image Courtesy of Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society, Oxoniensia
The Portable Antiquities Scheme database, referred to below, records other Roman finds in the Baldons area.
Sources
· Archaeological Work in Oxford, 2013; Oxoniensia 2014, (c) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society; https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/2014/Notes.pdf
· Beesley A. History of Banbury 1830 – 1850 (extra illustrated copy), Vol 2
· Booth P, Boyle A, Keevill G D. A Romano-British Kiln Site at Lower Farm, Nuneham Courtenay, and other sites on the Didcot to Oxford, and Wootton to Abingdon water mains, Oxfordshire Oxoniensia, Oxford Architectural and Historical Society, 1993 no.58 (1993)
· Munby J, Some Moulded-Face Flagons from the Oxford Kilns, Britannia , Volume 6 , November 1975 , pp. 182 - 188. Cambridge University Press, online, November 2011
· Portable Antiquities Scheme database https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/661140
· Skoda, H, 2024, unpublished. Lower Farm, Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, and the Oxford Roman pottery industry
· The Victoria History of the County of Oxford , Vol VIII (8) 1964-1st, Oxfordshire
· Young, C J. The Roman Pottery Industry of the Oxford Region, British Archaeological Reports Ltd. (New Edn, 2000)