BALDOCK
Hertfordshire, England.
On the
line of the Icknield Way, a pre-Roman route, an important settlement for at least 50 years before the Roman
conquest. It flourished throughout the Roman period,
when the Icknield Way was crossed by roads to Braughing, Sandy, and St. Albans.
Excavations in 1925-30 uncovered an extensive cemetery and traces of settlement. The 16 ha Walls Field was
scheduled as an ancient monument, and in 1968 the discovery of a rich pre-Roman burial initiated large-scale
excavations. The burial was a cremation with two firedogs, two wooden buckets with bronze fittings, two bronze
dishes, a bronze and iron cauldron, and an amphora.
Pottery of the same period, and British coins, have been
found over a wide area, but defenses or limits to the
settlement have yet to be identified.
The Roman settlement is also large, and apparently undefended. it extends SW of Walls Field, where it is covered by the houses of the modern town, and also to the
NE where recent excavations have stripped an area of
occupation. This is represented principally by ditches,
rubbish pits, and wells, with only slight traces of timber
buildings; one of these had stone foundations to prevent
subsidence into earlier pits. Only one substantial building
has been found in Baldock—a structure with flint walls
and brick quoins—and only one corner of that could be
uncovered because of modern development.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ArchJ 88 (1931) 247-301
PI;
AntJ 48
(1968) 306.
I. M. STEAD
