ANCIENT EARTHWORKS of the enemy's stronghold, or possibly the form of Kenchcster indicates its having been a British oppidum, afterwards adapted to Roman purposes. Much remains to be said on this, the most important Roman site in the county, in the chapter relating to the antiquities of that period." Leintwardine. — This village is 6j miles west of Ludlow. As much of interest relating to discoveries of Roman remains here will be found in the chapter of this history describ- ing the antiquities of that period, we confine ourselves to the defensive arrangements. Writing in 1882, the late Dr. H. G. Bull said :— .N^!'"ff Ir- D Roman Entrenchments, Leintwardine The entrenchments . . . are still plainly to be traced, except on the southern side, where considerable alterations have been since made. They are very massive, and, where most distinct, they present the extraordinary breadth of twenty yards. . . They are still eight or nine feet above the level of the ground outside, from which it is very evident the earth has been taken to form them. These embankments . . . giving a space of about fourteen acres, including the embankments, or without them an inner area of about nine acres . . . The fosse, or outer line of the entrenchments, almost throughout the whole extent, still forms a division of property, and thus also curiously marks out to the present day the extent of the fortifications of the old Roman town.'^ Since Dr. Bull wrote destruction has been so considerable that it is in places hard to follow his description. The site of this small station is low on the south, only a few feet above the rivers, but it has a gentle rise of nearly 60 ft. to the northern end, affording a pleasant southern aspect such as the Romans loved. Llanrothal : Tregate Castle. — High on the eastern bank of the River Monnow, about 5 miles north- north-west of Monmouth, are traces of a well-entrenched inclosure, possibly an early camp. Within is Tregate Castle, built in the Tudor period, and evidently once an important residence, now used as a farm-house. The position of the ' camp ' was well chosen, being on an elevated knoll commanding the river and trackways. " There is a brief but interesting note by Mr. F. Haverfield respecting Kenchester in the jirci. Surv. of Herefordshire, published by the Society of Antiquaries in 1896. " Trans. Woolhope Field Club (188 1-2), 252. " Uncertainty prevails as to the course of the wall on the south. The dotted lines on plan show it parallel with the northern entrenchment, but Dr. Bull considered that it was carried obliquely from west to ■east along the river front. 223
