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Souldrop from Iron Age to Anglo-Saxon Period

The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county’s historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website. A number of finds from Souldrop relate to the Iron Age, Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon periods. In recent years a large number of Roman brooches and coins have been discovered locally and these are dealt with separately.

In September 2007 a fragment of a stone quern, used for grinding grain, was found near the village. These are often Iron Age or Romano-British in date but the specimen is undatable and could be from as late as the end of Anglo-Saxon England [HER 20918]. A brooch was found in June 2008 which could be Roman or late Iron Age [HER 20555]. It is incomplete and cast in copper. A silver coin of King Cunobelin of the Catuvellauni, dating from the late first century BC to the 40s AD, was found in October 2008 [HER 20279]. Another coin, a gold quarter stater of King Tasciovanus of the Trinovantes and from the same period, was found by a metal detectorist [HER 20053].

The site of a kiln making pottery was found years ago north-west of Cross Weir Farm [HER 2719]. A group of rectangular enclosures are visible as cropmarks and field walking and metal detecting have found Iron Age and Roman pottery and parts of the kiln as well as a late Iron Age and a Roman coin. An iron-working site has been identified north-west of Colworth Thicket [HER 2721]. It contains slag, the waste product from iron-working as well as early Iron Age pottery sherds. More slag has been found with early Iron Age pottery west of the village [HER 2718]. During field-walking Romano-British pottery was found in a cropmark of distorted rectangular shape north of Berry Spring Wood [HER 2720].

The Viatores are a group dedicated to trying to discern Roman roads in the modern landscape. Much of their work is highly speculative. They have suggested a road ran through Souldrop which extended from Sandy (a known Roman settlement) to Sharnbrook via Mogerhanger, Blunham, Great Barford, Ravensden, Renhold, Wilden, Thurleigh, Bletsoe and Knotting, then extending on to Podington and, perhaps, to Irchester [Northamptonshire] another known Roman town [HER 728]. Another suggested Roman road ran from Fenny Stratford [Buckinghamshire] through Harrold, Odell, Podington, Wymington, Souldrop and Knotting, often appearing to follow the Bedfordshire border [HER 59].

To the west of the village a number of Roman and Anglo-Saxon finds have been discovered [HER 18212]. These include a Roman harness, Roman lamp, roman ring and Anglo-Saxon spearhead.