CPAT Regional Sites & Monuments Record

PRN 100027 (part of 100020 ) - Ffrith Roman site, Offa's Dyke, cremations

IN 1828 SEVERAL URNS CONTAINING BURNT BONE WERE FOUND DURING THE LEVELLING OF PART OF OFFA'S DYKE. ALSO FOUND WERE 26 COINS, 6 BROOCHES A MUTILATED ALTAR STONE, A STAMPED LAMP AND OTHER ITEMS.

Twenty-two of the coins were of copper and depicted the emperors Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Julius Agricola [?], and Maximilian [sic]. One was silver, of Agrippa. Also found were several 'highly ornamented' fibulae [brooches], rings of gold, silver and copper, pins of ivory and silver, beads of glass and amber, part of a lamp with the word 'NINVS' impressed on it, a votive altar with a mutilated inscription, and several urns containing calcined bones and ashes, all of which are in the possession of the proprietor of the land (Lewis, S, 1849).

The 26 coins and 23 other bronze finds found in 1928 are now in the National Museum of Wales, Davies's volume contains details of them all (Davies, E, 1949, pp234-7).

The location at which these discoveries were made is not precisely known, but was obviously on a stretch of Offa's Dyke now flattened, within Ffrith (Spencer, J, pers. comm., 2005).

Sources:-
Davies, E , 1949 , Prehistoric and Roman Remains of Flintshire , 226-38
Lewis, S , 1849 , TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF WALES , 438-9
OS record card , 1982 , SJ 25 NE 8 ,
RCAHM , 1912 , Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouth II - County of Flintshire , 55-6
Unknown , 1989 , , 135-65

Finds:-
0 / Amber / Bead / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
1 / Baked clay / Lamp / Roman / /NMW () - Part of a clay lamp (stamped 'NINVS') recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
22 / Copper / Coin / Roman / /NMW () - 22 Roman coins recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
0 / Copper / Ring / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
0 / Glass / Bead / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
0 / Gold / Ring / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
0 / Human bone / Cremation / Roman / /NMW () - Several cremations, contained in urns recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
0 / Ivory / Pin / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
6 / Metal / Brooch / Roman / /NMW () - 6 brooches recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
0 / Pottery / Urn / Roman / /NMW () - Several urns containing cremations were recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
1 / Silver / Coin / Roman / /NMW () - A silver coin of Agrippa recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.
0 / Silver / Pin / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
0 / Silver / Ring / Roman / /NMW () - Recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location. No quantity noted.
1 / Stone / Altar / Roman / /NMW () - Votive altar with mutilated inscription recovered during the levelling of Offas dyke at this location.

record created 31/12/1980 SG80 - copyright CPAT , last updated 16/07/2004
The above data are supplied by CPAT in partnership with its Local Authorities and the partners of END, © CPAT SMR partnership, 2005 (and in part © Crown, 2005 - as indicated)

CM - 11/04/2005 ( 16:40:53 ) - HTML file produced from CPAT's Regional SMR
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, Curatorial Section, 7a Church Street, Welshpool, Powys SY21 7DL.
tel (01938) 553670 , fax (01938) 552179, email trust@cpat.org.uk , website www.cpat.org.uk