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.