Sandy was first described as the source of Roman objects by John Aubrey in 1666.

The part of the town which is known to be the location of Roman Sandy is known as "Chesterfield" to the south of the modern town.

In 1893 and 1895 a hoard of ironwork was discovered and this is now in the British Museum.

Between 1850 and 1911 the construction of the main railway line London to Edinburgh involved quarrying away a small hill (where the present railway station is) and this produced the remains of a Roman cemetery.

During the 20th century, most of the finds have come from the area of the modern cemetery, firstly through Mr Gurney the Cemetery Manager, then David Johnston, a local college lecturer and more recently through five summers of excavations paid for by Sandy Town Council, Bedfordshire County Council, English Heritage and others.

These excavations caused the Roman history of Bedfordshire to be re-written and far from what was previously thought to have been an insignificant settlement the Roman Town of Sandy suddenly became the most important Roman Settlement in Bedfordshire with considerable wealth, some industry and also commerce trading between York, St Albans and London.

The Town probably grew up around a mansio (mansion) or imperial posting station and behind the mansion were streets of houses, shops and workshops.

Within the Roman Sandy Story exhibition in the Council Offices there is an excellent artist's interpretation of what Roman Sandy may have looked like and this was based on the evidence of the foundations etc of properties found during the various excavations.

The Roman Sandy Story based in the Council Offices at 10, Cambridge Road, Sandy is open to the public during normal office hours without charge. Evening and weekend visits by special arrangement.
The Council has also published an excellent book telling the story of Roman Sandy and detailing the important finds. This book (ISBN 1-85351-261-3) "Roman Sandy" can be obtained from Sandy Town Council, Council Offices, 10 Cambridge Road, Sandy, Beds SG19 1JE. Cost £4.99 plus £2.00 postage and packing or through all good bookshops.

There is also a website dedicated to the "Roman Sandy Story", www.roman-sandy.com and this has been described by history.uk as "one of the best online resources that we have ever seen". It is designed for children to take the role of archaeologists to look into Sandy's Roman past. The website is arranged as a quiz game and a series of challenges. Each must be completed before moving on to the next, it is aimed at Key Stage 2 in the National Curriculum and there are further exercises to complete off line.

Why not visit the site or order your own personal copy of this easy read book?