Thursday 18 July 2013

Milton Keynes 'Roman ruins' vandalised

An article in the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper reported the story that Roman remains in Milton Keynes had been 'ruined' by vandals, but the photograph accompanying the story made me look a little closer.


Its clear that the wall in the photo isn't Roman, and on digging deeper (no pun intended), it turns out that the site in question, that of Bancroft Roman villa, has the line of the Roman foundations marked in modern walling, but the original Roman walling preserved underneath and no longer visible.

Although I am in no way condoning the actions of louts who have been smashing bottles and daubing walls with paint, and who clearly didn't give a monkeys whether the walls they were damaging were modern, Roman, Medieval or even Neolithic, it would seem that the article title is somewhat sensational.  Of course, making the site neat and tidy again will cost money that would be better spent in other ways, so let's hope that, modern or not, this is the last time these particular walls hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.


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