Amphorae from Brockley Hill, 1975

Abstract

B BROCKLEY HILL in Middlesex lies one mile south of Elstree Village and is bisected by Watling Street, which now forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Harrow. It is generally considered to be the site of Sulloniacae which was mentioned in the Second Antonine Itinerary as lying twelve miles from Londinium and nine miles from Verulamium. Excavations from 1937 to 1974, whilst failing to confirm this, have provided evidence of a flourishing coarse-pottery industry there in the first and second centuries.' The manufacture of bowls, flagons, jars (some with lids), mortaria, platters and tazze is well attested. In November I975 a trench was cut for an electricity cable across the lawn to the south-east of the main entrance of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, on the west side of Watling Street, in the London Borough of Harrow. The trench was cut parallel to the hospital boundarywall, and at a point Io ft. east of the gate lodge (TQ 174939) disclosed considerable quantities of Roman potsherds and tile-fragments. Examination of the trench2 showed that it had been cut through part of a dump, consisting of sherds of amphorae, native ware, samian ware and tile-fragments (FIGS. I-5) contained within a layer of light-brown pebbly soil 5-6 in. thick, at a depth of i ft. io in. Immediately below the dump was a layer of pebbly grey silt from which no finds were recovered. In view of its close proximity to Roman Watling Street, this silt may represent the infill of a roadside ditch. The portion of the dump which was sectioned proved to be of considerable interest, in that it included approximately II cwt (76 kg) of amphora-sherds in the granular fabric typical of the Brockley Hill and Verulamium-region potteries and dating from the late first or early second centuries. THE POTTERY