Local connections

The Leasowe Man skeleton

In the countryside very few skeletons have been found but in 1863 a skeleton was found by workmen near Leasowe Castle in Wirral. From a study of his remains, scientists can tell that he was a well-built man, in his thirties who was used to hard physical work. The remains have since been scientifically dated, making this the only known Romano-British skeleton from Merseyside.

His head has been reconstructed by experts at Manchester University specially for this exhibition.

Find out more about Leasowe Man.

The port at Meols

In the 19th century thousands of ancient objects were found on the shore at Meols as the Wirral coastline eroded. These show that Meols was an important port from as early as 500 BC. Traders came from as far away as Gaul and the Mediterranean in search of minerals from North Wales and Cheshire.

Roman soldiers used Meols as a harbour to attack the druids in North Wales and to control the northern tribes, well before the fortress was built at Chester. Throughout the Roman period traders on the dangerous west coast route used the port as a safe haven. Large numbers of coins, brooches and other objects show that Meols was also an important local market place.

By the end of the Roman period pirates were a menace in the Irish Sea. Soldiers may have been garrisoned at Meols to combat this threat.

Find out more about the finds at Meols.

Tombstone of Vedica

It is very difficult to find traces of our ancestors in this region but occasionally their images survive on tombstones.

The tombstone of Vedica is that of a 30-year-old woman who belonged to the Cornovii tribe, native peoples of Cheshire. It is the only known tombstone of a Cornovian woman and was found behind the Rose and Crown Inn at Ilkley in West Yorkshire in 1884. Vedica presumably married a soldier who settled there. She died aged 30, at the end of the 1st century AD. The original stone was too difficult to move so it has been copied using highly accurate 3-dimensional laser scanning by NML’s Sculpture Conservation team.

Recent finds

You can also view the very latest local finds on our website.

In this section

• The next page in this section is : Clues to the Past
• Living with the Romans homepage

Back to the top