Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/211

 REMAINS OF THE ANGLO-ROMAN AGE. 115 Again, in his " Letter on Antiquities between Windsor and Oxford," '^ appended to the fifth vohime of his edition of " Leland's Itinerary," Hearne enlarges more particularly on the subject : — "Leaving Shottesbrokc, about half a mile on this side you stopped at a village call'd Laurence Waltham, that for- merly belonged to the Abbey of Hurley. Here you told me you were shew'd several coyns of the Lower Emperors, found in an adjacent field, which you took the more notice of, because Mr. Camden tells us that in that field was a Roman Fort, as he gather'd from the coyns frequently found by the husband- men, I have been shew'd divers of these coyns, and I was once of opinion, that 'twas built about the time of Constantius the Younger, but I have since chang'd that opinion, and I now believe 'twas founded many years before. I have, amongst other coyns, seen one that was dug up here of Claudius Gothicus." Whence he argues, that " this Roman castle was in a flourishing condition after the year cclxx., and perhaps it might continue so till very near the invasion of the Saxons. 'Tis not unlikely but that it had a great dependance upon Silchester in Hampshire, which is at no great distance from it, and had a very considerable command over this part of the island, being a very large place, &c. But omitting this, which is nothing more than conjecture, 'tis certain, from the vast number of old bricks and other mines, that this fort in the parish of Laurence Waltham was of considerable extent, and of no small strength. The field in which it stood is now call'd Weycock, which tho' in the first draught of this letter," (in 1708) "I thought it to be nothing but a coi-ruption of the Saxon word Wig-stow, i.e., a place of incamping, or a fort, yet I have since that time alter'd my opinion, as I have noted in my Preface to the first volume of Mr. Leland's Itine- rary." ^ The supposition of Hearne, that We^^cock was occupied towards the time of Saxon invasion, w^ould seem to be most probable, and indeed, judging from the character of the remains, the fortress may possibly have been occu- pied at that epoch, usually designated the " transition period." . But whatever the precise date of the building, it certainly gave a name to the locality, that particular portion of common land covered by the foundations, being called, previously to its enclosure, " Castle Acre," an appellation the - Published first in the " Memoirs for the Curious," for Nov., 1 708, and .Ian. 170fl ; also separately in 173.'), (Jvo. ■' Leland's Itin., vol. v., p. 1.t4.