Sir,—Dr. Evans’s kind remarks disarm criticism, but demand a reply. Facts are stubborn; and, moreover, the facts in this case are clear and consistent. I hoped I had succeeded in showing this in my original paper, published (with a large-scale map of the Celtic fields in Hants and a diagram of Celtic and Saxon villages on Salisbury Plain) in the “Geographical Journal” for May. The facts are—that the Celtic fields belong to the Celtic villages (both upland), that these villages came to an abrupt end when the Romans left, and that the Saxons instituted the first (still existing) valley villages. That this was the order of events in Wessex is quite certain, and there is no evidence or probability that the Saxons continued to cultivate the Celtic fields. The “great revolution in agriculture” occurred not during the Roman occupation but after it.
That the Saxon invaders behaved as “savage hordes” is clear from the almost contemporary record of Gildas, and from the violent end revealed on every Roman villa site. The later Saxons themselves admitted it, both in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in the poem called “The Ruin,” describing the desolation of some Roman baths.
Mr. Seebohm’s book on “The English Village Community” is a classic, but his attempt to prove the evolution of the Saxon manor from the Roman villa-estate is regarded as a failure. It was based upon the feeblest possible arguments, and he produced nothing worth calling evidence in support of them. For the discovery of Roman remains on the site of a single medieval homestead proved nothing. Against such theories must be set the whole of the relevant facts and the weight of expert authority, both of archæologists like the late Professor Haverfield and of historians like Sir Charles Oman and Sir Paul Vinogradoff.
Mr. Newman’s valuable suggestion to photograph Wroxeter (Uriconium) from the air will be followed up. There is no connection, however, between the Roman name and Corinium. Inconsistent, but quite possible, explanations of the word “Uriconium” are given by the late Sir John Rhys himself on the last pages of his “Celtic Britain” (S.P.C.K., 1908), and by the late Dr. Henry Bradley, following another idea of Sir John’s, in “Essays and Studies,” 1910, p. 22. Corinium, according to Mr. W. H. Stevenson, is connected with the name of the river on which Cirencester stands, the Churn (see “Archæologia,” lix., 203.).
The evidence for pre-Saxon watermills cited by Mr. O’Branagain is new to me; Celtic manuscripts and legendary history are dangerous ground for the Saxon. My statement was based mainly upon negative evidence, but also on the presence of hand-querns in the upland pre-Saxon villages (where watermills were, of course, an impossibility). The discovery of Roman pottery in Herts is evidence for a settlement; but only systematic excavation could show whether it was a village or a villa.
May I thank you, sir, for the space you have given to the discussion of this fascinating development of air photography;
your correspondents for their criticisms and suggestions; and, above all, may I express my gratitude once more to the
Air Ministry and the members of the Royal Air Force for their helpful and sympathetic attitude?
O.G.S. Crawford,
Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton.
Source info: Checked in library.
The heading of this article is incomplete in the cutting and has been supplied from a library copy.