Romano-British Broom

The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] details all Roman finds and sites in the county. It is now available on-line as part of the Heritage Gateway website|.

An area of extensive cropmarks on gravel west of the River Ivel [HER 631] comprises trackways, mainly running east to west, with small separate enclosures, a block of rectilinear enclosures and ring ditches. The latter are usually regarded as Bronze Age| features and may be hut circles or the remains of barrows. The Historic Environment Record says, however, that some of the marks represent Romano-British settlement.

Two sestertii, the largest denomination of Roman brass or bronze coins, were found at Gypsy Lane [HER 16203]. One of them dated to the reign of Trajan [98-117], the other to the reign of Marcus Aurelius [161-180]. Three brooches and a votive axe were also found nearby. A coin [HER 409] of Septimius Severus [193-211] was found in a field in Broom in 1980.