Friends, Romans, countrymen

I popped into Ilkley's Manor House Museum recently to see an exhibition on local wildlife by one of our camera club members. Whilst there, I had a look at some of the other exhibits. Ilkley has its origins as a Roman town. The remains of a Roman fort, dating back to 79AD, have been found where the Manor House now stands. It may have been Olicana or may have been called Verbeia, after the goddess of the River Wharfe. The Manor House Museum holds several Roman artefacts including gravestones and an altar dedicated to Verbeia. 

There is a mannequin dressed as a 'Roman soldier' - and I was amused to see the little squirrel hiding in his tunic, part of a trail of the tiny creatures for children to find around the museum. 

I was rather blown away by the Roman tombstone (below) that was unearthed on the centre of Ilkley during some excavations. Thought to date back to 240AD, it appears to show a family: man, woman and child.