1. Workshops and factories in Roman Britain
Griffin Paul Watts

2. Workshops, factories, & “Empire Building”
“We encounter the problem of how to differentiate army-related production from other manufacturing and in some cases they appear to be inseparable” – Mattingly, pg. 498
For example: tin mines around Mendip by 49 CE; Welsh gold by mid-70s CE
Workshops at Legion forts: Binchester, Inchtuthil

3. How we know what we know, and why that’s sometimes hard
Why its hard:
Archaeological finds: Hoards, potsherds, buildings, weapons, brooches, & more
Inscriptions: on ingots, pottery, gravestones, altars, & more
Many goods are ‘invisible’ to us
Destruction of evidence
Roman Britain is primarily agricultural

4. Organization & Administration of Workshops
Guilds of craftsmen supervised production
Inscriptions tell us of private developers, companies, & contractors
Production occurred under imperial supervision throughout the Roman stay

5. Geography of Workshops
First two centuries, manufacturing concentrated around major towns & roadways
Later, evidence of emigration into countryside
Few locations would be without a blacksmith or basic craftsmen
Forts, too!

6. Specialization of workshops
Evidence of a wide variety of trades and workshops throughout the island:
Pottery/Glass at Colchester
Goldsmiths at Verulamium, London, Malton
Coppersmiths at Catterick, Verulamium, Colchester, Lincoln, Suffolk
Silversmiths at Silchester
Tanners & dyers at Silchester
Brick & tile at Denbighshire
Armamentarium at Lanchester, Bath
Sculptors at Carlisle

9. Discussion Questions
How did the Roman utilization of workshops & factories in Roman Britain differ from other locations in the Empire? Why?
What questions regarding workshops & factories in Roman Britain may we never be able to answer adequately?

10. Works cited
David Mattingly, “An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire”
Stanley Ireland, “Roman Britain: A Sourcebook (3rd ed.)”
Guy de le Bédoyère, “Roman Britain: A New History (2nd ed.)”
Rob Collins, et al, “Roman Military Architecture on the Frontiers: Armies and their Architecture in Late Antiquity”
E.J. Philips, “A Workshop of Roman Sculptors at Carlisle”
John Wacher, “The Towns of Roman Britain”
C.H.B and Marjorie Quennell, “Everyday life in Roman Britain”