The Iron Age and the Romans |
There are very
few records covering Thornton and the surrounding Fylde area during the
Iron Age and the subsequent Roman Occupation. Although with the
discovery of an Iron Age Settlement on Bourne Hill in Thornton, maybe we
will soon be able to fill in some of the blanks.
The Setantii
Very little is definitely known about the Setantii tribe who are reputed to have inhabited Lancashire, including the Fylde in ancient times. The only reference is in the 2nd Century AD in an Atlas of Britain charted by Claudius Ptolemaeus (better known as Ptolomy) who was a renowned geographer and mathematician. In it he lists the much debated entry of ‘Portus Setantiorum’ which means 'Port of the Setantii'.
At the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD the Brigantes dominated northern England under the rule of their queen Cartimandua. They were a celtic clan who were said to have spent most of their time warring between their own tribes and it is
thought that the Setantii were a sept, sub-group, of the Brigantes.
The Roman view was that the Setantii were savages who worshipped the
sun, painted themselves blue with woad and that their priests were
Druids. Although the Romans did have a tendancy to be less than polite
about the local celtic tribes. The Setantii are later referred to as the Segantii which has been interpreted to mean ‘the dwellers in the country of water’.
Portus Setantiorum
If Portus Setantiorum was situated somewhere within the Wyre estuary then why have we never heard anything about it ? Perhaps it lies hidden under modern day Fleetwood, or due to the eroding of the coastline and the rising tides it has been lost to the sea.
Or does it ?
Another
theory is that people are looking in the wrong place for the wrong
thing. Portus Setantiorum was not a Roman port but a Setantii port and
we should therefore be looking for a late Iron Age Settlement.
Excavation on Bourne Hill - 2007 | This is the view of Wyre Archaeology, a local Archaeological Group. They have located a large Iron Age Settlement at Bourne Hill in Thornton which they believe to be the elusive Portus Setantiorum. |
The Roman Road
The road runs from the Roman fort and settlement at Ribchester westwards towards to the coast. Just after it passes through Kirkham, which is a Roman fort site, it makes a sharp turn and heads towards Puddle House Farm near Poulton from where it is disappears from the map.
It almost definitely continues past this point as the Romans were not in the habit of building roads which didn’t lead anywhere and it is likely that it would eventually lead to a roman settlement, either on the coast or the River Wyre. Where it does end up is a mystery, although the road is commonly known as ‘the danes pad’ due to it being used later used by rampaging Danes to plunder the local towns. This would suggest it reached a harbour on the River Wyre somewhere. Far from the road being straight, it is in fact a large sweeping curve made up of shorter straight sections but this is probably to take advantage of the higher ground as the Fylde would have been a much boggier place 2000 years ago. Could it now be hidden under the dissued railway line as the track follows the higher ground just as you would expect a Roman Road to ?
The most popular candidates for the final destination of the Roman road to date are Fleetwood, Castle Hill in Thornton , Poulton (where a horde of roman coins has been found) or the area around Skippool.