More information : (SK 6472 2492) Vernemetum Roman Settlement (site of) (1)
Since Stukeley (2) recorded what he thought was the site of Margidunum, and Horsley (3) demonstrated that Vernemetum would be the better name, there has been general agreement that the Roman settlement had stood on, or close to, the Foss Way cross-road east of Willoughby on the Wolds (in the area SK 649 252). This position accords excellently with the two relevant mentions in the Antonine Itinerary (the form 'Vernemetum' being that considered best by Richmond and Crawford (4)); and, even without Stukeley, enough Roman finds have been made there to make the identification virtually certain. Though the precise site and configuration of the settlement have so far remained undetected.
Stukeley's evidence is that in a perambulation of the Foss Way he noticed at Cross Hill the name Broughton, and spurred by this set about looking for the site of a Roman town. This he found to his satisfaction in a field called Henings (or the black field) on the brow of the hill overlooking Willoughby Brook, where there was also a place called Thieves and a tradition of 'an old city' called Long Billington thought to have perhaps stretched from the crossroad to Wells Hill south of the Willoughby Brook and to have been destroyed by the thieves. His further enquiries evidently elicited a spate of information about finds (though whether he actually found or even saw anything Roman himself is doubtful):- the area of black soil in which finds were mostly made, on the brow of the hill was very rich and quite distinct from the poorer red soil which surrounded it; many coins (bronze and silver, but no gold) had been found; great riches were supposed to be buried; many mosaic pavements and foundations had been discovered in ploughing; 'pot-hooks' and 'fire-shovels' had been found. It is quite clear from Stukeley's account and from his prospect sketch that he placed the main find area on the brow of the hill on the west side of the Foss Way between the Cross Hill-Willoughby road and the Willoughby Brook, and that he believed that Henings, Long Billington and the place called Thieves were there also. But fields with the element Hening and a field called Theaves Close have been identified north of the Cross Hill-Willoughby road in the area SK 648 256; so if this identification is right perhaps (a) Stukeley was told that finds came from fields with these names and wrongly identified the area, or (b) he was told that finds came from a certain area and wrongly applied adjacent field-names, or (c) the finds came from both north and south of the road, but he did not appreciate this.
Air-photos (6) show the area heavily scored by rig-and-furrow,
but nothing to suggest a settlement.
See Map Diagram for the area concerned, field-names, and other evidence.
The 'Long Billington' tradition is obscure. The 'Long' implies ribbon development along the Foss Way, but a medieval village so sited between Cross Hill and Wells Hill is improbable in view of the rig-and-furrow pattern, and DMV research has so far not noticed any such village. Nevertheless the name has some documentary backing, as a gift of a small sum of money to help on his way 'a man from Long Billington' is recorded in the Stathern Church Wardens Accounts (7, date not stated). But as the man was an itinerant this does not help the siting very much (and anyhow 'Long Billington' might be a mythical name useful to needy wayfarers). The suggestion (8) that 'Long Billington' and 'Thieves' preserve the tradition of a Roman-British town and its Saxon destroyers is probably rather too inventive. (2-8)
Extensive rig and furrow in permanent pasture. One small ploughed field,at SK 64902436,has a scatter of grey ware along its western edge. (9)
Name 'VERNEMETVM' accepted for 4th. edition R.B.Map. (10)
SK 6225 Vernemetum, Willoughby-on-the-Wolds.
(see SK 62 NW 5 for excavation 1948 in locality, and SK 62 NW 5 for excavations 1964-66). (11)(12)
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