east from near Wheallep Castle to Caer-vorran, near Thirlwall Castle (Magna), on the Great Wall of Hadrian, passing en route an intermediate station by Whitley Castle (Alione), where the third cohort of the Nervii erected a palace for the Emperor Caracalla.* Between Kirby Thore and Brough, by the Roman road, and near Sandford field corner, several considerable tumuli appear, varying from ninety to forty paces in circumference, from the largest of which a sword with curiously engraved handle, and spear heads, with the remains of a helmet and shield, were excavated in 1766, two small camps or outposts lying near upon elevated situations. On this, the western side of the station, the cemetery would be located, and the tumuli may be regarded as the sepulchral mounds raised over bodies of superior officers. Having thus heralded the remarkable approaches to Verteræ, though necessarily in a very cursory manner, the place itself might with good reason be supposed by readers to have received considerable attention at the hands of antiquaries. Such, however, has by no means been the case; and were it not for the occurrence here of a certain class of objects of great rarity, if not peculiar to this station, we should probably possess no recent notice or information whatever concerning a very interesting military post, in despite of its shewn close. connection with one of the central stations upon the line of Hadrian's Great Wall, as also with its western termination. Brough appears to have been almost unregarded by Leland, who merely notes that "Eydon Ryver runnyth within a "Quarter of a Myle of Brough." But even this is an error, inasmuch as the two small streams which here unite their waters form only a tributary of that river, which does not run within a mile and a half of the place. Burton in his Com Gough's Camden, iii, p. 430. 66 mentaries on the Itinerary of Antoninus, says "Verteræ, it is "thought, stood not far off Itunæ or Eden in Westmoreland, " where it joins itself with other streams. Now it is decayed "into a small village, and its name is turned among us into "Burgh. For our countrymen call it Burgh-under-Stanemore; or, as our monks name it Burgus sub Saxeto. Vegetius "tells us that, under the later emperors, small castles, convenient for war and well stored with corn for provision, "began to be called Burgi, and that the Burgundians had "their name from living in such; Paulus Orosius is sufficient "author. Camden does boldly assure that this Burgh was "this Vertera, both in regard of the exact distance from the "next stations on both sides, Brovoniaca and Lavatræ, our "miles being resolved into the Italick; as also because it "stands upon the Highway whose ridge here plainly appears. "The name of this station in the Notitia had quite perished, "had it not been recovered out of this place (Antoninus); "for before, it was Veneris, Veterum, without sense or proba"bility of tolerable meaning. But finding it here it seems to me to have lasted so long till the Roman power expired in "the Island." 66 Mr. John Clayton, in a letter to Mr. Roach Smith,† remarks, “I think it may be reasonably assumed that Horsley was right in treating the station of Brough-upon- (?) Stanmore as the Vertera of the Notitia and of Antonine's "Itinerary. The remains of the Roman road in this district "are very palpable, and mark distinctly the course of the "second Iter of the Itinerary. There is no reasonable ground to doubt that Kirby Thore is rightly assumed to be "Brovonaca, the next station on the north. Moving south"ward, we then come to Brough-on- (?) Stanmore, then to • Iter II, p. 120. + Coll. Antiqua, vol. vi, p. 119. 66 'Bowes-on-Stanmore, and then to Cataractonium, of which "there is no doubt. With the fixed points of Brovonaceæ "and Cataractonium, we are, I think, relieved from any diffi"culty as to Verteræ, which has been a mountain stronghold "in a mineral district. The Eden Valley railroad now passes (?) the ancient station." The notes of interrogation are the writer's; for, in the first place, Brough is no more situate upon Stainmoor than London upon Houndslow Heath; or our neighbouring Birkenhead upon Bidston Hill. It is surprising that Mr. Clayton should have fallen into such an error, inasmuch as the early authors are all very clear, including Horsley, whom he quotes; whilst Burton, as we have seen, emphatically describes it Sub Saxeto. Again the Eden valley railway is asserted to pass Brough. Hence, most strangers would naturally conclude this town to be, say, within a mile at least of the line, instead of which the nearest station, that of Kirby-Stephen, situate almost opposite is five miles distant! 66 Mr. Roach Smith proceeds-" At Verteræ was stationed, "it appears by the Notitia, a body of troops called Directores, under a prefect, Prefectus Numeri Directorum Verteris ; "but it does not appear from what country or place these "Directores came; and the same with the Exploratores and "Defensores of the station preceding, and of that following, "Verteræ. I am not aware that any inscriptions have ever "been discovered at Brough, neither am I in possession of "any clear details respecting the station. This and the "station immediately adjoining do not seem to have yet "received the attention they deserve."* It may be advisable here to introduce a short sketch of the present aspect of Brough, this small town being divided into two sections a quarter of a mile apart, Church-Brough and *Coll. Antiqua, vi, p. 119. Market Brough, whilst Brough-Sowerby is an outlying hamlet a mile distant. Market-Brough is the modern town, nestling under rising grounds which swell upward into Stainmoor on the N.E.; it still possesses a market, but since the Eden Valley Railway was opened, has lost its old and daily mailcoach communication with Barnard Castle and has assumed all the dull and drowsy appearance of a south-country town. The historic associations all centre in the hamlet of ChurchBrough, where, around the old Church of St. Michael and on the rise towards the early English castle of the Cliffords, cluster the humble cottages and farm-house with its outbuildings, the latter formed from the ruins. A little below the adjacent bridge, but higher than the castle-mound, two mountain streams, the Augill Beck, from Market-Brough, and the Swindale Beck unite, and the vastly increased volume thence accruing, more especially after heavy rains, undermines the north base of the mound and the bank of an opposite meadow, when the earthy matter being carried away, coins and other relics in metal &c., are deposited among the stones and pebbles of the river's bed. From the medieval castle having been occupied for many centuries, the result is the occurrence here of numerous coeval remains mixed with others of Roman fabrication, the latter, however, greatly preponderating. In many cases, as in the objects appertaining to the caparison. of horses, great discrimination and caution are necessary accurately to determine their paternity. In the neighbourhood all fall under the designation of " Castle's Brass," and as some of the older collectors have unfortunately been in the habit of cleaning up what they find, the brassy-bronze of the Roman and the brass of the Norman prove similar in colour and it is only in a few small articles of latten (or 12-15 century brass) that a more lurid colour appears. Upon visiting the spot in August last it was the opinion of the writer, which he now holds yet more strongly, that the Castle, built, it is said, to fortify the pass of Stainmoor by Roger de Meschines,* in the reign of the Conqueror, was erected upon part of the naturally elevated mound, abutting upon the river, originally occupied by the Roman Castrum; the area being at the same time divided in twain, through the formation of a fosse or moat, yet remaining and of considerable depth near the stream. Now, not only are inscribed stones unknown, but foundations of buildings necessary to attest the precise site of the Roman station are equally absent. Assuming, however, the Castrum to have stood, as suggested, upon the Castle Hill," a clue to the mystery is at once obtained. The Keep, certainly not older than the eleventh century, yet retains the name of the Roman Tower, and probably where the earlier foundations themselves were not availed of in situ, the material would be carefully removed for incorporation with, if not as facing to, the massive walls of the Norman fortress. But if large débris of the ancient Verteræ is apparently wanting, abundant evidence of a long continued Roman occupation is supplied in the numberless coins which, in the course of time, have been found, with other articles of use and ornament. Sir George Musgrave, of Eden Hall, possesses, it is said, a collection of these; but perhaps the largest cabinet of Brough relics is that owned by Miss Hill, of Appleby and Bath, collected chiefly by her relative, the late John Hill Esq., who, it is much to be regretted, left no memoranda of the objects, or notices of his experiences and observations upon a site in which he was known to be deeply interested. An exciseman, long located here, but whose name has not reached me and whose address is now unknown, is stated to have made a fair collection, and I believe only the remains of one local hoard exist. • Who also erected the castles of Appleby, Pendragon and Brougham, all in the Eden Valley.-Vide Whitaker's Hist. Craven. L |