Portskewett The village lost its railway station (on the Newport to Gloucester line) when it was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1964. Black Rock, on the Severn estuary immediately south east of the village, has been an important crossing point of the River Severn for many centuries. Numerous coins found in the mud show that it was in constant use throughout the Roman period, on the route between Aquae Sulis (Bath) and Venta Silurum (Caerwent). By the 18th century, a regular ferry service crossed the Severn estuary from Black Rock to New Passage on the Bristol side, carrying passengers, cattle
Votive offering MAT[ER]-MATVTA, SALVS, FIDE, and IVNONII (Juno). A curse tablet or defixio is a small sheet of tin or lead on which a message wishing misfortune upon someone else was inscribed. Usually found rolled up and deliberately deposited, there are five main reasons for dedicating a curse tablet: 1 – Litigation, 2 – Competition, 3 – Trade, 4 – Erotic Ambition, 5 – Theft Of those in Britain the vast majority are of type 5. The two largest concentrations are from the sacred springs at Aquae Sulis, where 130 examples are recorded, and at Uley, where over 140 examples are visible.