Romans – what Romans? - Provided by John Wright
Although the important Roman town of Dorchester was only 4 miles away and the main road to Alchester ran right through our villages, little evidence of their actual presence in The Baldons has been forthcoming – at least not to date.
However, there are some clues. The remains of a number of pottery kilns were discovered in a field by the Golden Balls – possibly an offshoot of the large Romano-British pottery industry at Headington – and various shards of pottery have been picked up here over time and identified as Roman. If interested, these can be inspected at the Oxfordshire Museum Store at Standlake.
Incidentally, the old roman road is thought to have run, not along the bridleway towards Toot Church, but some 300 yards to the west and up Pebble Hill.
Acknowledgments Victoria County History