Romano-British Enclosures
Honorific Pillar/Milestone

Kempsey, Worcestershire

NGRef: SO8448 OSMap: LR150 Type: 2 Enclosures, Milestone.
Roads
N (4) to VERTIS (Worcester, Worcestershire) S (22) to GLEVVM (Gloucester, Gloucestershire)

The Romano-British site at Kempsey lies about 4 miles (c.6.5 km) south of Worcester, on the line of the Roman road from Metchley to Gloucester (Margary #180). Two sub-rectangular single-ditched enclosures recorded from the air shortly after the Second World War were identified as part of a Romano-British villa estate by Dr. J.K. St. Joseph (JRS 1953 p.94). One of these structures measures 250 ft. from east to west by about 100 ft. transversely (c.76 x 30 m), thus covering an area of a little over ½-acre (c.0.2 ha). Only two of the enclosure's sides are relatively straight, and the southern side bows markedly inwards. There is a single entrance in the middle of the east side. For a comparable site see Shenstone in Staffordshire.

1. These are the full and official names of the Christian emperor Constantine, who ruled from late A.D.307 until his death of natural causes at Ankyrona in May 337. See also the milestone at Low Hesket (Cumbria).

A Roman milestone or honorific pillar of oolite was found in the kitchen garden of Parsonage Farm (now Court House), Kempsey, where it had been broken in two and re-used in the foundations of a building. The discoverer, not understanding the stones' significance, re-used them again in a garden wall, where they were discovered in 1818 and taken to the Victoria Institute in Worcester (RIB 2249; vide supra).

See: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarre (Thames & Hudson, London, 1995);
The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);
Roman Roads in Britain : Volume II North of the Foss Way - Bristol Channel by Ivan D. Margary (London 1957);
Air Reconnaissance of Southern Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. xliii (1953) pp.81-97;
All English translations, including any inherent mistakes, are my own.