Secret doorway in Parliament leads to a historical treasure trove

Renovation workers have uncovered a forgotten passageway in the UK’s Houses of Parliament. Built over 1,000 years ago, the historic seat of government in central London has seen kings and queens, prime ministers and foreign dignitaries come and go time and again over the centuries.

While it might seem as though all of the building’s secrets would have been found by now, this week there was a surprise in store when renovation workers uncovered a secret door leading to a hidden passageway that dates back over 360 years.

Believed to have been originally built for the coronation of Charles II in 1660, the passageway would have enabled guests to attend a celebratory banquet in the neighboring Westminster Hall. It went on to be used by countless MPs before eventually being blocked up and concealed. It was even rediscovered briefly in the 1950s before being sealed up again.

“To say we were surprised is an understatement – we really thought it had been walled-up forever after the war,” said Mark Collins, Parliament’s Estates Historian.

Liz Hallam Smith, the historical consultant to Parliament’s architecture and heritage team, said: “I was awestruck because it shows that the Palace of Westminster still has so many secrets to give up. “It is the way that the Speaker’s procession would have come, on its way to the House of Commons, as well as many MPs over the centuries, so it’s a hugely historic space.”

The current occupant of the Speaker’s chair, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said: “To think that this walkway has been used by so many important people over the centuries is incredible. I am so proud of our staff for making this discovery.”

A brass plaque, erected in Westminster Hall in 1895, marks the spot where the doorway once was but, says Dr. Hallam Smith, “almost nothing was known about it”. It lay behind thick masonry, on the hall side, and wooden panelling, running the full length of a Tudor cloister, on the other side.

Up until three years ago, the cloister had been used as offices by the Labour Party, and before that, a cloakroom for MPs. It was Dr. Hallam Smith who discovered evidence of a small, secret access door that had been set into the cloister’s panelling, during Parliament’s last major renovation in 1950.

“We were trawling through 10,000 uncatalogued documents relating to the palace at the Historic England Archives in Swindon when we found plans for the doorway in the cloister behind Westminster Hall.

“As we looked at the panelling closely, we realized there was a tiny brass key-hole that no-one had really noticed before, believing it might just be an electricity cupboard.” The team turned to Parliament’s locksmith for help and, with some difficulty, he was able to open the wood panel door, to reveal a tiny, stone-floored chamber, with a bricked-up doorway on the far wall.

They discovered the original hinges for two wooden doors 3.5m high, that would have opened into Westminster Hall. They also found graffiti dating back to the rebuilding of Parliament, in a neo-Gothic style, following the fire in 1834 which destroyed much of the medieval palace.

The scrawled pencil marks, left by men who helped block the passageway on both sides in 1851, read: “This room was enclosed by Tom Porter who was very fond of Ould Ale.” It then names the witnesses of “the articles of the wall” – evidently architect Sir Charles Barry’s masons who had joined bricklayer’s labourer Thomas Porter in a toast to mark the room’s enclosure. The men can be traced in the 1851 census returns as Richard Condon, James Williams, Henry Terry, Thomas Parker, and Peter Dewal.

Finally, the graffiti notes: “These masons were employed refacing these groines…[ie repairing the cloister] August 11th, 1851 Real Democrats.”

This reference to “real democrats” suggests the group were part of the Chartist movement, which campaigned for every man aged 21 to have a vote, and for would-be MPs to be allowed to stand even if they did not own property.

“Charles Barry’s masons were quite subversive,” said Dr. Hallam Smith.

“They had been involved in quite a few scraps as the Palace was being built. I think these ones were being a little bit bolshie but also highly celebratory because they had just finished the first major restoration of these beautiful Tudor cloisters.”

The team are keen to trace the descendants of Tom Porter and his colleagues and have already discovered that the workers lived in lodgings near Parliament. There was another surprise for the team when they entered the passageway – they were able to light the room.

A light switch – probably installed in the 1950s – illuminated a large Osram bulb marked ‘HM Government Property’. The team is eager to learn more about the history of this hardy bulb. Dr. Collins said further investigations made him certain the doorway dated back at least 360 years.

Dendrochronology testing revealed that the ceiling timbers above the little room dated from trees felled in 1659 – which tied in with surviving accounts that stated the doorway was made in 1660-61 for the coronation banquet of Charles II.

This is in contrast to the words on the brass plaque in Westminster Hall, which state the passageway was used in 1642 by Charles I when he attempted to arrest five MPs, which the researchers believe is not accurate. Dr. Collins said the plans that led to their discovery will now be digitized as part of the Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal program.

“The mystery of the secret doorway is one we have enjoyed discovering – but the palace no doubt still has many more secrets to give up,” he added.

“We hope to share the story with visitors to the palace when the building is finally restored to its former glory, so it can be passed on down the generations and is never forgotten again.”

Secret Roman road and treasure discovered on York construction site

A previously unknown Roman road has been found by the archaeologist under the Guildhall as work continues to restore and redevelop the buildings. 

The York Archaeological Trust (YAT) also discovered Currency and ‘an abundance of Roman pottery’ have also been found at the riverside site.

York Archéological Trust members have been working on behalf of the City of York Council for the past six months to monitor and record any archaeological deposits or features that are exposed through the ongoing redevelopment and restoration work at the site.

Some significant discoveries have already been made such an area of cobbled surface also dating back to the Roman period.

Buried over 1.5m below modern street level, the surface contained an abundance of Roman pottery and a silver coin. Furthermore, the excavation of a small trench revealed that three distinct surfaces had been laid, suggesting that it remained in use for a considerable period.

Cllr Nigel Ayre said: “ We’re delighted to see that as we restore and redevelop this collection of buildings, to secure its future in our 21st-century city, that we have the opportunity to unpack more of its history thanks to the expertise of York Archaeological Trust.

“As the city evolves and pioneers to address modern challenges and seize new opportunities, it is vital that we protect its unique heritage and share the stories we uncover along the way.”

The Guildhall restoration began in September 2019, initiating vital restoration and redevelopment of the Grade I, II* and II listed buildings, to offer office space, community use, and a riverside restaurant.

The project received £2.347 million from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, through the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of government investment to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

The site is due to reopen to the public in Spring 2021.

Centuries-old Norman head and trebuchet ball found where they fell at Hay Castle

Another significant discovery was made by archeologists involved in the restoration of Hay Castle to include an intriguing collection of treasures

There have been remarkable and interesting finds made by Archaeologists who work on conserving one of the great medieval defense structures still standing on the border of Wales and England, Hay Castle.

Whilst investigating an area on the town side of the great gate of the Norman castle built in the late 12th century by the powerful Norman Lord William de Braose, archaeologists Peter Dorling and Dai Williams found an interesting stone embedded in the ground. When Peter extracted it and turned it over he was astonished to see a face staring back at him.

On closer inspection, the very early carving looks like a Norman soldier and has obviously suffered much damage over the years.

The lines of the carving have been worn away either by weather or by the stone having been buried and initial research and consultation indicate that this could indeed be an 11th or 12th-century carving. It may once have formed a decorative section of a window arch in the original medieval castle.

Describing the find as ‘intriguing and interesting’ Richard Suggett of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales says, “you occasionally get carved heads set over doorways in houses and this may have been one. Perhaps there was a whole series of mounted heads at the ringwork. The imagination runs riot.”

The head’s decapitation could have occurred at several points in the castle’s long and turbulent history. Sacked by Llywelyn II, the last prince of Wales, in 1233, the castle was rebuilt under the custody of Henry III but centuries of turmoil followed until the 15th century when the castle passed into the hands of the Beaufort Estates.

The stone head joins an intriguing discovery made by archaeologists excavating in the derelict section of the mansion over the summer months. Hidden below centuries of previous floor levels they found a large, roughly cut spherical stone. The item is approximately 30cm in diameter and weighs about 29kg. Initial thoughts are that it could be a trebuchet ball.

Trebuchets are huge and complex catapulting siege weapons, among several different medieval siege weapons that were first used in Britain in around 1217.

The discovery raises tantalizing questions: was it fired at Hay Castle and found at its resting spot? Who might have fired it and when? There is little documentary evidence about attacks on Hay Castle but it could be possible that the trebuchet ball originates from the Barons’ War of 1263 to 1266.

The Patent Rolls of 1263, the administrative records recording the reign of Henry III, reveal that Prince Edward retaliated against the uprising Barons during the Second Barons’ War and when the town and castle of Radnor were destroyed Edward captured Hay.

“During this era of fighting across the Marches, Hay Castle passed from Bohun to Mortimer, to Simon de Montfort and back to the Mortimer family,” says Mari Fforde, who coordinates a lot of the historical activity on the site. “Maybe it was during these skirmishes that the trebuchet was used?

“Similar trebuchet balls were found at Dryslwyn Castle in Carmarthenshire. It is known from financial accounts that the siege of Dryslwyn in 1287 involved considerable cost in the construction of a counterweight trebuchet which threw balls weighing some 50kg.

This particular trebuchet was then transported to Cardigan, hauled by 40 oxen and 4 carts and escorted by about 500 soldiers. It is exciting to imagine the same scene happening in Hay at some point in the 13th century.”

A stunning 14th-century medieval chapel is uncovered in County Durham, England

Archaeologists have really found considered one of medieval Britain’s most vital architectural works of arts– the long-lost church of north England’s only medieval leaders– the Prince-Bishops of Durham.

The precise space of the large 40- meter lengthy baronial church was unidentified for tons of years. Now archaeologists from Durham College in addition to a neighborhood historic activity have really found the church’s long-lost stays.

A lot, they’ve really found ultra-fine stonework from the church wall surfaces, a fragile rock rising from the ceiling, items of rock columns, beautiful discolored glass in addition to the church’s distinct black plaster flooring.

The locates have really allowed them to recreate an image of what the fantastic church will surely have resembled within the later middle ages The archaeologists have really likewise uncovered part of the enamel in addition to copper sacred dish utilized to carry the communion bread all through options held there by the Prince-Bishops within the 14th century.

They’ve really likewise found an image of a stooping monk– regarded as north-east England’s hottest medieval non-secular chief, St Cuthbert (whose vital temple continues to be in Durham Cathedral). It is without doubt one of the extraordinarily couple of medieval photographs of him ever earlier than found.

Larger than the Royal Chapel at Westminster (St Stephen’s in parliament) in addition to virtually as massive as St George’s Chapel, Windsor, it was developed by the Bishop in addition to Earl Palatine of Durham as part of his main out-of- group baronial citadel within the late 13th century.

So efficient was its contractor, Prince-Bishop Bek, that considered one of his distinguished authorities flaunted that there have been 2 majesties in England– the King in addition to the prince-bishop.

However in the end, three in addition to a fifty % centuries in a while, the fantastic baronial church, at Auckland Fortress, County Durham, was deliberately ruined with massive quantities of gunpowder by yet another megalomaniac– a callous anti-royalist that hungered for outright energy, detested the well-known church in addition to despised all diocesans.

The ultra-intolerant extremist was Sir Arthur Hesilrige, an aged legislator military chief that was one of many arch-republicans that, in 1649, approved King Charles I’s fatality warrant.

The church in addition to the citadel it developed part of had really remained in pro-royalist arms– in addition to had really been confiscated by parliament in addition to marketed to Hesilrige, the simplest republican politician in north-east England, known as, of a scriptural dangerous man, the “Nimrod of the North” by his challengers.

As an extreme Puritan, he despised the Church of England– in addition to maltreated its clergy, on one celebration kicking out a vicar in addition to his family from their home within the middle of the night, tossing their private belongings proper into the neighborhood graveyard.

Certainly, considered one of Civil Struggle England’s main left-wing democrats, John Lilburne, chief of the ultra-egalitarian Levellers, charged him of“traitorously subverting the elemental liberties of England and exercising an arbitrary and tyrannical authority over and above the regulation”

Hesilrige’s conduct– together with his procurement in addition to the purposeful injury of the church– is politically vital in English background since, along with comparable habits by varied different main Cromwellians, it aided fatally problem the rationale of republicanism in addition to therefore aided in its failure in addition to the restore of the monarchy.

Stained glass from the long-lost baronial church. This piece reveals a pelican pecking her very personal bust– a typical Christian signal standing for Christ’s self-sacrifice. (Durham College utilized with authorization of the Auckland Venture). The exploration of the church is of appreciable worth by way of the background of north England

“For hundreds of years it has been one of many nice misplaced buildings of medieval England,” said one of many essential archaeologists related to the excavation, John Castling, archaeology in addition to social background supervisor on the Auckland Venture, which has the citadel.

“Our excavation of this big chapel has shed extra mild on the immense energy and wealth of the Prince-Bishops of Durham – and has helped bolster Auckland Fortress’s fame as a fortress of nice significance within the historical past of England.”

A number of the brand-new explorations will definitely be positioned on present and inform at Auckland Fortress from the very early the following month.

The church was uncovered making use of superior distant noticing gadgets– consisting of ground-penetrating radar in addition to magnetometers– in addition to was moneyed by way of the custom of the late Mick Aston, the favored TELEVISION excavator in addition to the speaker of the Channel four historic assortment, TimeTeam

Referring to the excavation of the church, Durham College excavator, Chris Gerrard said: “That is archaeology at its best.”

“Professionals, volunteers, and Durham College students working collectively as a staff, to piece collectively clues from paperwork and previous illustrations, used the very newest survey methods to resolve the thriller of the whereabouts of this big misplaced construction,” he included.

Human Remains Unearthed At Site Of Early Roman Military Base In Kent

Archeologists working on a building site have discovered two skeletons dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages.

The skeletons were found during the construction of the Aylesham Garden Village near Canterbury and now researchers at the University of Kent are studying them and discovering why they were hidden in the building

These are some of the most recent archeological discoveries on the site, including smaller pieces of pottery and glass dating back 2,000 years to the Roman period.

The dig is being undertaken for developers Barratt Homes and Persimmon Homes by a team from the Faversham-based Swale and Thames Archaeology (SWAT).

SWAT’s Dr. Paul Wilkinson said: “It will be some time before we know much more about the skeletons and their graves. However, the other items we have found have helped to fill in some big gaps in our knowledge of post-invasion Roman life.

“We are quite certain we have discovered what was a military supply depot on the Aylesham site. This would have been set up a year or two after the Romans invaded Britain and we believe would have been manned by soldiers of a Roman legion.

“Not all of them would have been fighting men but specialists in a range of support roles – similar to the British Army of the Victorian era – and would have been posted around an area to concentrate on infrastructure tasks.

“At the center of the Aylesham site were three kilns for firing pottery which was bordered by trenches and ditches.

Local clay would have been used to make the army’s pots, plates, and urns. We have found glass items from Gaul, now France, and other pottery from Germany in Aylesham as well.

“We have discovered some of the urns found in Aylesham were made in the Medway area and these, with local-made items found, suggest the Romans were mass-producing everyday items quickly and efficiently.

“The site sits on the high ground offering sweeping views of the countryside in a triangle with Canterbury and the Roman ports of Richborough and Dover. It isn’t far from the strategically important Roman Watling Street connecting Dover and Richborough to Canterbury and beyond to Roman London.”

Future plans for the archaeological team center around digging on a site to the east of Aylesham railway station, a short distance from the development.

It is hoped a selection of the Aylesham finds can be eventually put on display.

In an astonishing Bronze Age discovery, a 3000-year-old community has been unearthed

Rare archaeological evidence from a prehistoric site of the Eastern England village suggests that Bronze Age Britons liked high-end fashion

The earliest samples of superfine textiles ever identified in England, Excavations, 30 miles northwest of the Cambridge area It is also one of the finest bronze ages ever found in Europe as a whole – and it is extremely important globally.

Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge’s archaeological unit have so far unearthed more than 100 fragments of textile, unspun processed fibre and textile yarn at the site. Some of the yarn is of superfine quality – with some threads being just 100 microns (1/10 of a millimetre) in diameter, while some of the fabrics themselves are so finely woven that they have 28 threads per centimetre, fine even by modern standards. It’s likely that some of the fragments of textile are from items of clothing.

Originally, some of the textiles must have been of very substantial size – because they had been folded, in some cases in up to 10 layers. If made to be worn, these folded fabrics may well have been large garments, potentially, capes, cloaks – or even large drapes, perhaps similar to those known from elsewhere in the ancient  (and sometimes modern) worlds – the ancient Greek chiton, the Roman toga and the Indian sari. A drape folded into 10 layers for temporary storage would have served as a substantial garment – potentially up to 3 metres square (i.e. 9 square metres).

Most of the superfine fabrics from the site – Must Farm near Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire – were made of linen. When the village was flourishing around 3000 years ago, textile manufacture seems to have been a key craft practised there. Hundreds – possibly thousands – of flax seeds have so far been found on the site (some of which had been stored in containers). Flax is the crop which produces the fibres used in linen production.

What’s more, the presence on the site of unspun processed fibre, yarn and finished textiles all strongly suggests that the village was involved not only in using textiles but also in manufacturing them. Timber fragments with delicate carpentry, found during the Historic-England-funded excavation may well be the remains of looms.  Indeed fired clay loom weights have been unearthed there.

The archaeologists have also discovered that Bronze Age Britons also had a penchant for a  different type of fabric – made of processed nettle stems (from a locally available non-stinging subspecies of nettle – today known as fen nettles). Unlike flax, nettles grew wild and therefore did not need to be cultivated. What’s more, well-made nettle textile was often particularly fine and silky.

But nettles may well have had additional benefits – at least in the eyes of the users of the fabrics.

In traditional ancient folklore, nettles of various types were often regarded as having magical powers. They were seen as being able to protect both humans and animals from sorcery and witchcraft. What’s more, garments made of nettles were therefore sometimes seen as protecting their wearers from evil. Indeed one of Europe’s most famous folktales – the Wild Swans (written by  Hans Christian Andersen, but thought to be based on traditional folk stories) – reveals how shirts, made of nettle yarn, enabled their wearers to break a witch’s spell.

So far no evidence of any extensive patterns or coloured dyes have been found on any of the linen and nettle yarn textile fragments – although the edge of one piece of fabric (perhaps part of a shawl or cape) seems to have been decorated with fringes, rows of knots, and strips featuring different styles of weave. Certainly, dying the linen would have presented substantial technical difficulties – but bleaching it would have been much less challenging. It is therefore very likely that the natural light brown linen was bleached to achieve a creamy white or possibly even dazzlingly pure white appearance. Basic bleaching of the fabric might well have been achieved with the use of a mixture of urine and milk or by simply laying out the fabrics on wet grass on a succession of sunny days.

The village appears to have been very prosperous, yet tragically short-lived. As well as making (and presumably using) ultra-fine fabrics, at least some of the inhabitants wore exotic jewellery made of blue, black, yellow and green glass manufactured in the eastern Mediterranean region – probably in what is now the Syria or Turkey.

They lived in large well-built houses and had a wide range of tools and other possessions. So far,  around 50 bronze axes, sickles, spears, swords, razors, hammers, tweezers and awls have been found along with some 60 wooden buckets, platters and troughs as well as around 60 well preserved ceramic bowls, mugs and storage jars. Dug-out canoes and two wooden wheels have also been unearthed.

But the archaeological evidence suggests that this thriving and prosperous settlement was probably attacked, burnt and destroyed by its enemies less than a year after it was built.

In the five houses excavated so far, the population seems to have fled or been captured or killed, leaving all their possessions behind – meals half-eaten, salted or dried meat still hanging in the rafters, garments neatly folded on or around well-made wooden furniture.

“It’s a bit like discovering the Marie Celeste. Everything is exactly as it was left. Only the inhabitants are missing,” said the director of the excavation, Mark Knight of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit.

“This site is providing the modern world with an image of daily life in the British Bronze Age that was until now beyond our dreams. It is only the very specific and unusual circumstances of the destruction of the settlement that has, paradoxically, allowed so much of it to be preserved intact,” he said.

Because the village had been set alight, large numbers of wooden, textile and other artefacts were charred – and because the houses were built on wooden stilts in a river (flanked by marchland), everything ultimately ended up underwater, where it was subsequently covered with silt and mud.

This rare combination of charring and waterlogging and natural burial under sediment has been responsible for the extraordinarily high levels of preservation.

Most of the artefacts have been found inside the settlement’s houses. So far, five of these large 6-8 metre diameter structures have been found at the site. Again, because of charring and subsequent waterlogging, around half of all the wall, roof and other timbers from these buildings have been preserved.

The excavation is being directed by archaeologist Mark Knight of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, with textile research being carried out by a textile specialist, Dr Susanna Harris of the University of Glasgow. Because of its national and international importance, the entire project is being funded to the tune of £1.4 million by Historic England and the owner of the site, one of the UK’s major brick-making companies – Forterra.

The finds include the largest group of prehistoric textiles ever discovered in Britain – and the largest collection of complete bronze, wooden and ceramic artefacts ever found in a British Bronze Age settlement.

Iron Age Gold Coin Hoard Declared Treasure

A collection of Iron Age gold coins has been declared treasure by Suffolk’s senior coroner, having been discovered almost a year ago.

19 coins were found near Blythburgh, east Suffolk last February by a metal detectorist.

The anonymous finder reported the discovery to Suffolk County Council, and through them, the coins have been the subject of extensive cleaning and analysis for the past year, ready for sale to museums keen to display the collection to the public.

The gold hoard has been described as “really unusual” given the area it was found, with experts usually finding these types of coins just north of the River Thames – some 90 miles away from Blythburgh. The hoard even includes one previously-undiscovered style of coin.

The Iron Age was a rough period of time at its longest, ranging from 1200BC to 15BC, though this timeframe varies per country in Europe.

The prevalence of iron spread across the world from Asia and the Middle-East to Europe around this time and led to the development of improved tools, weapons, and armour.

Speaking to the BBC about the find, archaeologist Dr. Anna Booth described the significant find as an example of “cross-cultural interaction” between nearby counties.

Tribes took the place of counties in the Iron Age period, and the ‘minting’ (hammering) of the coins is thought to have occurred between 45-25BC, though Dr. Booth estimates that the coins were later buried – perhaps around 20AD.

Many of the coins – determined as gold Staters and quarter Staters – depict Addedomaros, King of Trinovantes.

Bearing that in mind, it would be logical to assume that the trading was between the Trinovantes, who occupied Suffolk and Essex, and the Catuvellauni – located in the place of modern-day Hertfordshire and London. This would connect it to the Thames region.

However, territories varied and it could well have been that the Trinovantes occupied territory north of the River Thames, but may well have lost Blythburgh, which lies near the border with the Iceni tribe of Celts who occupy what would be Norfolk and parts of the Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire Fens.

Museums across the UK have begun declaring their interest in taking the coins from Suffolk County Council, with Dr. Booth speaking of “a lot of interest” in the Blythburgh hoard.

The Helmet That Shows Celtic Warriors Helped the Roman Army Conquer Briton

An important find was discovered at an old Iron Age shrine in England. It included coins and other items from both the Iron Age and the Roman era.

A 2,000-year-old unique Roman cavalry helmet was found among the finds. Having been re-examined some 10 years after is first discovered, some believe that the helmet throws an interesting new light on the nature of early relations between Britons and Rome and the development of Roman auxiliary forces.

The helmet was found as part of a treasure that was uncovered by a retired teacher, Ken Wallace, with a hand-held metal detector that he bought for approximately $300 (£260). 

It was found in Hallaton, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands. Mr. Wallace knew he had found something big and he immediately reported his find to the relevant local authorities. Later he was paid $200,000 (£150,000) and the owner of the land where the find was made received a similar amount.

Experts began an extensive dig of the site in 2010 and according to the Daily Telegraph they uncovered “5,000 coins and the remains of a feast of suckling pigs.” There was also found some ingots and fragments of metal that came from a Roman cavalryman’s helmet. The find of the headgear was hailed as very important and it came to be known as the ‘Hallaton helmet’ after the area where it was unearthed.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the cavalry helmet was “restored from 1,000 fragments by experts at the British Museum.” It was made of sheet iron and was once ornately decorated with gold leaf designs and had cheek pieces and was most likely worn by a cavalryman. 

The reconstruction of the Roman helmet allowed specialists to study it and they were able to find designs with images of battles, victories and a female figure escorted by lions, probably a goddess. There is also the figure of a Roman Emperor on a horse who is apparently, accompanied by Victoria, the goddess of Victory, on one of the cheekpieces.

The helmet pieces were dated to the Roman invasion of Britain (43 BC), which was ordered by Emperor Claudius (10 BC-54 AD) of the Claudian-Flavian Dynasty.

It was something of a mystery as to why the helmet was offered at the shrine and also its origin, as at the time it would have been controlled by local Celtic tribes. There were several theories proposed for the presence of what would have been a highly prized object at the shrine including it was a diplomatic gift or booty from a raid.

However, the theory was put forward and it was one that had dramatic implications for our understanding of the Roman conquest of Britain. It has been proposed that the helmet did not belong to a Roman but to a Briton and that he deposited it at the shrine. The BBC reported that “its date, close to the Roman invasion of 43 AD, meant it could be evidence of Celtic tribes serving with the Roman army.” 

This theory is very plausible because there are an extensive documentary and archaeological evidence that non-Romans served in the Emperor’s armies as auxiliaries.

These were recruited from tribes inside and outside the Empire and they provided extra manpower to the legions – for example, many Germans fought with Julius Caesar during the conquest of Gaul. 

The reconstructed helmet possibly indicates that Celtic Britons served as auxiliaries during the reign of Claudius.  It is well-known that they served as auxiliaries, but it was not thought that they fought with the Romans at such an early date. Moreover, such an elaborate helmet may show that Britons may even have risen to a high rank in the Roman army.

The discovery led some to conclude that some Celtic tribesmen actually served with the invaders during the conquest of modern-day England.

The helmet provides strong evidence that was even Celts from Briton who served in the Roman army before the conquest, having dramatic implications for our understanding of Ancient Britain and the evolution of the Roman army.