Findonian, Norman Allcorn, is not a metal detectorist..... he just bent down and picked up his Roman treasure in my Roman Findon.   He has told me how in the 1960s, he literally plucked a bronze coin from the time of the Emperor Hadrian from the surface of a ploughed field. This discovery was made in the immediate vicinity of the downland containing the Roman Well on the opposite side of the road to the Cricket Pitch on Long Furlong.  This proved to be an “as” of Emperor Hadrian’s time.   This would have been the site of perhaps the very first settlement of a Findon Village...... before the one in the field to the north of the Manor of Findon and the Church.

The well was being excavated at the time by archaeologists.  Norman recalls being present at the dig — but he opted not to be lowered into the depths as this experience did not appeal.   A section had been cut near to the entrance of the 270 ft. Roman Well and it was found that the surface soil also contained remnants of broken Roman pottery. This overlay a layer of spoil piled up when the well was first dug.

Below this was an old land surface containing sherds from the Early Iron Age and Roman days. None of this pottery, which obviously pre-dated the original excavation of the well, appeared to be later than the 1st century A.D. The fragments of pottery were well worn, which inferred that the well was most likely sunk in the 2nd century.

Many Roman sherds, querns, materials used for building, and animal bones were also retrieved in the nearby location, which confirmed Roman occupation of the Findon area.

Hadrian, of course, is just as famous now as he was in his own day.   He reigned from 11th August 117 AD - 10th July 138 AD and over 1800 years after his death he is remembered as the builder of Hadrian's wall.

Nearly all the coins from Hadrian's time found in Britain were struck back in Rome and I can only assume that the Findon area was occupied by the Romans around the date of his reign?

Dare I speculate that our Roman "as" was in circulation at a time when Britain was being used to produce food to supply to the Roman Empire?   Could it be possible that this coin was part of payment to a farmer who buried this coin along with others as part of his piggy-bank?

Findon house owners can never be sure what they are going to find next in their back gardens.     Back in 1937, a Roman cremation urn (complete with human bones)... was unearthed by a rather surprised Mr. F. J. Parsons in his garden at Findon Valley.

Continue if you would like to read about Roman Findon with Mark Hobden