Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 59 (series 2)

Paper describing an investigation studying the relationship between Romans and native Britons in the hinterland of Hadrian's Wall and its Solway extension. About a dozen known native farm sites and forty new sites identified from aerial photographs were plotted on a map, and were classified according to the shape of their ditches. Following a trial excavation, it was decided to excavate one site representing each of the categories identified. The individual excavations are described and illustrated. Although the project is at an early stage, some tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the origins of the Iron Age farmers, the encouragement of settlement in the vicinity of Roman roads and forts, and the specific periods at which such settlements were encouraged. Differences between defensive elements of the sites are discussed. LD

One copper and one silver coin were found. Details of the latter are given, but the former was too worn to be identified. LD

Covers glass, nails, a whetstone, pipeclay and items of copper and lead. LD

Tullie House Museum in Carlisle has a small collection of Roman glass from sites in Cumberland and Westmorland. The few pieces that have a provenance record are all from Carlisle or from Roman fort sites such as Kirby Thore, Hardknott and Birdoswald. The three basic techniques of glass-working are represented in the Tullie House collection (mould-pressing, mould-blowing and free-blowing), and the vessels are discussed under sub-headings accordingly, following a brief history of the origins of Roman glass in Britain. LD

Article on the parish church at Uldale, a village between Cockermouth and Carlisle. The first part outlines its history; although it was rebuilt in 1730, a church is documented at the site from at least 1217. The second part gives an architectural description of both this church (St James's) and the more recent St John's Church. Built in 1869, the latter is considered structurally unsafe and may be demolished. Although St James's Church was almost completely Georgianised in 1730 and the chancel reconstructed in 1837, some older masonry appears to have been reused; a plan showing building periods indicates some twelfth century work. LD

Investigations had found that although there was evidence for many ring-fence farms dating back to the medieval period, open fields had played a more important part in the evolution of the agricultural landscape in Cumberland than was previously believed. The author draws on manuscript evidence, significant field names and the survival of shared strips in the late 19th century to map townships where open field cultivation was present in the 16th century, a time when open fields had reached their greatest extent. The three main types of open field arrangements in the county are discussed. LD