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Summary

A supposed Roman well was found at Stonhill (later Page's Park) in the mid 19th century. The structure was lined with sandstone. Red deer antlers were found in the well, but no datable finds. Other depressions visible on air photos of Page's Park are likely to be the results of quarrying.

Full Description

<1> Worthington G. Smith, 1894, Man, The Primeval Savage, p. 328 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10778.

Site of so-called Roman well close to Billington Road, SE of Leighton Buzzard.

<2> William Page & H. Arthur Doubleday (Editors), 1908, Victoria County History Vol II, Bedfordshire, Vol. II, 1908, p. 8 (W. Page, Keate) (Bibliographic reference). SBD13981.

About ½ mile SW [sic] of town a 'well' was discovered, lined with sandstone, which was said to be Roman. Some antlers of red deer, etc, were found in it (Inf. from Mr W. G. Smith)

<3> Robert Richmond, 1928, Leighton Buzzard and Its Hamlets, p. 2 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10548.

(Quoting Ref. 2) A "Well" at Stonhill (now Page's Park) said to have been Roman.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Record Cards, OS: SP 92 SW 5 (Unpublished document). SBD10879.

(SP 9285 2430) Roman Well (R) (site of) (OS 6" 1938)

Site of Roman well (a). The site of an ancient well situated 20 chains north of Billington Crossing (ONB Beds 28SE 1924, a. J Brown, Asst Overseer, for Leighton Buzzard).
R1 DC 10.1.75

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 6" Map, 1st Edition (Map). SBD10573.

Marked with antiquities cross

<6> Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, Survey of Ancient Buildings, II, 1933, p. 16 (Serial). SBD11624.

About a mile SW of the town, at Page's Park, is a well lined with sandstone said to be of Roman origin.

<7> 1965, All About Leighton Buzzard and Linslade, no ref (Bibliographic reference). SBD10687.

Depressions in Page's Park are believed to be the site of Roman wells.

<8> RAF, 1945-1955, RAF Aerial Photos, TB 2-4, December 1946 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10536.

Earthworks (possibly the result of earlier quarrying) apparent in the western half of Page's Park. Are depressions.

<9> Stephen R. Coleman, Comments, April 1981 (Observations and Comments). SBD10779.

Page's Park is named after Charles Page who owned the land in the mid to late 19th century.

<10> Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service Documents, BLARS: X69/16, BAAS Minute Book, p. 269 (Unpublished document). SBD10551.

General Meeting, 15 November 1859
There was conversation about a supposed Ro well recently discovered near Leighton Buzzard; it was recommended it be examined.

<11> Angela Simco, 1984, Survey of Bedfordshire: Roman Period, p. 109 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10650.

150. A well, lined with sandstone and said at the time to be Roman, was found in Page's Park, Leighton Buzzard, though no dateable finds were reported. (See page 52).

<12> NMR/AMIE, HE NRHE Monument Inventory, 346595 (Index). SBD12367.

Site of a Roman well north of Billington Crossing.

<13> Bernard Jones and Kris Lockyear, 2014, Pages Park: Magnetometry Survey, pp. 1, 2, 4, 5 (Archaeological Report). SBD13736.

There are references in the literature dating from 1859 to a Roman well having been found in Pages Park, lined with sandstone and containing red deer antlers (Beds HER No. 20). The exact date and circumstances of this find are not known. It was mentioned by W. G. Smith in his book Man: The Primeval Savage (1894, p. 328) as a “so-called Roman well.” Later references appear to be restating this original report. However, the site is noted on old maps, in particular the1880 Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1879 and the 1926 Ordnance Survey map (Fig. 1).
The park is divided into two parts by a line of trees. The part nearest to Billington Road at first appears to be relatively level but on closer inspection it is apparent that there are a considerable number of undulations which cannot immediately be explained. The largest of these lies roughly parallel to the row of trees and at either end there are now goal posts for recreation. It is possible that this could be an old sand quarry which is not recorded on maps or in the Minerals Department at Central Bedfordshire Council.
However, close to that area is a depression measuring about 10m in diameter in roughly the position marked on the OS maps as being the site of the Roman well (Fig. 2).
By chance two groundsmen arrived on site and they commented that the depression had been deeper and that they had tried to level it by dumping hard-core into it when the car park was resurfaced.
The other undulations are possibly natural or the result of some activity before the land, then known as Stonhill, was gifted by Charles Page as a park in the mid 1800s. …….

It was decided to carry out a magnetometer survey of the Park, firstly to look for evidence of the well and any structures associated with it, and secondly to look for any other evidence of archaeology. ...….
Results:
A first glance at the results shows ferrous items, largely modern utilities, quite clearly. ….. Some of these are marked in Fig. 4.
The curving line in the top left hand corner of the plot is the result of surface undulations which were clearly shown by a topographical survey carried out using UCL’s dGPS. Similarly, the depression in which the football pitch is located to the left of the path shows in the results.
…...
Unfortunately, there was no clear evidence for the “Roman well.” However, the depression in the field illustrated and mentioned above (Fig. 2) appears as an area of magnetic “noise”. It is marked in Fig. 5 with a red dot, and is shown below in Fig, 6. This noise is the result of the mixed hardcore dumped into the hole by the Council. …...

<14> Transactions of Leighton Buzzard and District Archaeological and Historical Society, No. 9, 2015, pp. 36-8 (Serial). SBD11754.

Same as Ref. 13.

Protected Status:

• Archaeological Notification Area
• Archaeological Notification Area (AI) HER20: POSSIBLE ROMAN OCCUPATION, Page's Park

Monument Type(s):

• WELL (Roman/Romano-British - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)

Associated Finds

• FBD379 - ANIMAL REMAINS (Unknown date)

Associated Events

• EBD2219 - Pages Park: Magnetometry Survey

Sources and Further Reading

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