Witcham Gravel Roman Auxiliary Helmet, 1.2mm Steel

Witcham Gravel Roman Auxiliary Helmet, 1.2mm Steel

This handsome Roman helmet is a reproduction of a late 1st c. find (approx. 50-75 AD) unearthed around 1870 by peat cutters near Witcham Gravel, Cambridgeshire, England, and now on display at the British Museum in London.

The largely preserved original, classified as a Roman auxiliary cavalry type B helmet, consisted of an iron core (now almost entirely corroded away) with partially outer bronze casing (copper allow, tinned). Marks on the top of the bowl indicate that it was originally fitted with a crest. Although showing some of the typical features of an Imperial Gallic helmet (sloping neck guard, cheek pieces with decorative circular bosses/rosettes), this artefact is the only surviving example of the Type B helmet. Its uniqueness lies in the presence of large, hollow bronze bosses adorning the neck guard and the bowl. In England, the distinctive shape of these bosses earned this very unusual piece the nickname of bicycle bell helmet.

Specifications:

• Material: 1.2mm steel, brass fittings, horsehair plume with wooden crest box
• Suitable for head circumference up to approx. 63cm
• Long distance (back to front): approx. 23cm
• Short distance (ear to ear): approx. 19cm
• Weight (helmet only): approx. 3 kg
• Weight with crest: approx. 3.4 kg

Specs may slightly vary from piece to piece.