Reading - Museum (Silchester gallery)

 

Excavations at the Roman town of Silchester Calleva Atrebatum have produced a wealth of finds including the famous Silchester Eagle (above). To see this and other key finds from Silchester it is necessary to make the trip to Reading Museum **, where the highlights are displayed in the Silchester gallery and adjoining atrium.

Location and Access

Reading Museum is in the town centre (Blagrave Street - Google maps location here), a short walk from the main station. Opening times are here; the museum is closed on most Mondays. Admission is free, but a donation is welcomed. Although the museum refers to the Silchester 'gallery' (singular), exhibits from Silchester are also displayed in several adjoining rooms on the building's second floor. 

Visiting Reading Museum on the same day as Silchester is strongly recommended. Having the site firmly in your mind sets the museum displays and exhibits in their necessary context, something that is particularly important in this case because the Reading galleries are essentially Silchester's site museum.

It takes just over 15 minutes to drive from the Silchester car park to the nearest park and ride site (Mereoak, off the A33) from where a frequent bus service links to the town centre (details here).  

It is planned to 'refresh' the Silchester gallery, with the expectation that it will be closed from summer 2027 until 2028. As the layout and displays are likely to change, this blog only focuses on some of the most important exhibits.   

Date of my Visit

The photographs in this blog post date from my visit in 2026. 

A few highlights from the Silchester Gallery

The star item is, of course, the Silchester Eagle (below, and at the start of this post). Many of us will have been brought up with Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth; this small bronze statue was the author's inspiration for that story, although it is now thought to have been part of a civilian statue (perhaps of Jupiter, or the emperor portrayed as Jupiter) rather than a legionary standard - which is a bit of a pity. Nevertheless, despite some damage (notably the missing wings) the eagle remains a detailed and evocative sculpture. There's a lot more about it (and Roman eagles - both real and in statue form) in Emma Durham and Michael Fulford's comprehensive paper (link), as well as a short museum blog.

The Silchester Eagle - Reading Museum

Several mosaics from Silchester are of particular interest, all displayed in the atrium outside the main Silchester gallery. The first to draw the eye is a massive black and white geometric mosaic mounted on the wall (below). This was discovered in a large courtyard house in insula XIV, an urban block located between the forum-basilica and west gate. Three other similarly-sized mosaics were found in the east wing of this house, probably dating from the 2nd century CE. Originally, this must have been a high status dwelling, but smoke staining and other damage shows that the mosaic was somewhat neglected in later years. 

Black and white mosaic from insula XIV at Silchester - Reading Museum

Black and white mosaic from insula XIV at Silchester (detail) - Reading Museum

The east wing of Silchester's insula XIV house also produced the colourful hexagon mosaic (below), which is also now wall-mounted. While this allows easy inspection of the details (near the base at least), it removes the mosaic from its proper context - which is obviously the floor. At the time of my visit, light and shade from sunlight streaming through the atrium roof made it difficult to fully appreciate the overall design.

Hexagon mosaic from insula XIV at Silchester - Reading Museum

The mosaic contains nine hexagons in total, eight with floral motifs arranged around a central panel containing a two-handled drinking vessel (cantharus). This is a common image in mosaics, possibly symbolising wine or hospitality and linking to Dionysus/Bacchus. 

Hexagon mosaic from insula XIV at Silchester (detail) - Reading Museum

The third major mosaic in the museum's atrium, known as the 'church' mosaic (below), contains a simple black and white geometric pattern surrounded by red and grey diamond shapes set in a white background. It was discovered in the apse of a building near to the forum's south-east corner which was originally interpretated as being a church. However, the building's likely construction date (early or mid 3rd century CE) would be earlier than other similar examples, while its location within the town walls would be unusual for a church of this date; these were often built over the graves of Christian martyrs outside town boundaries, such as at St Albans. Given that no Christian finds were associated with the building, its identification as a church now seems speculative at best.

'Church' mosaic from Silchester - Reading Museum

More easily missed is a small fragment of mosaic now displayed above the stairs leading to the second floor. This is known as the seasons mosaic (below) and was found in a house in insula XXVII in the north-eastern part of the town. Only one panel survives, containing a figure that is now very hard to make out. Detailed study (Cosh, 1997) suggests that the figure represents a season - possibly spring or summer - and that the overall scheme would have included panels showing all four seasons, another common theme for Roman mosaics.

Seasons mosaic from Silchester - Reading Museum

It's easy to get distracted by the mosaics (who doesn't love a good mosaic) but there is a lot more to explore. I will confine myself to mentioning a few personal favourites, the first of which is a stone head of Serapis (below) which was found in a garden near Silchester. It had apparently been used by a local farmer as a weight in his cheese press, which is a bit of a comedown for the bearded Graeco-Egyptian deity. Serapis, also known as Sarapis, originated as a 'merger' of two Egyptian gods (Osiris and Apis), being popularised by the Greek ruler of Egypt at the time: Ptolemy I. The cult of Serapis was one of a number of eastern religions that became popular throughout the Roman empire. Serapis was sometimes portrayed with a grain measure (modius) balanced rather incongruously on his head - interpreted variously as a symbol of fertility, of abundance or (in a more sinister context) of the land of the dead.

Head of Serapis from Silchester - Reading Museum

Considerably less formal, but offering a nice glimpse of daily life in Silchester, is this tile - possibly a floor tile - marked by the paw prints of a dog that walked over it before firing. I doubt whether the tile maker was impressed.

Tile with paw prints from Silchester - Reading Museum

Sticking to the functional side of life at Silchester, I liked this huge wine barrel (below), which is the best preserved of fifteen that were found in the town. It had been re-used to line a well, the resulting damp conditions contributing to its survival. The timber is from Silver Fir, a tree of the Alps and Pyrenees, and the wine was probably imported from what is now southern France or northern Italy.

Wine barrel (well lining) from Silchester - Reading Museum

Sticking to the theme of drink, the Silchester gallery contains a wide range of Roman pottery including this neat flagon (below) which probably dates from the late 1st century CE. Not all Roman pottery is as well preserved as this.

Flagon (1st century) from Silchester - Reading Museum

It is not alone. The scale of finds from Silchester is hinted at by several glass wall cabinets containing a stunning array of well-preserved pottery from the site (below). Given the height of the display, it has clearly been arranged for visual impact rather than close inspection of the contents, but you have to admit that the result is dramatic. 

Pottery from Silchester - Reading Museum

Continuing this theme, I will finish with one of the biggest pieces of Roman pottery that I've seen in Britain (below). Called the Jubilee Pot because it was found on the day of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, this is a late piece that dates from the 3rd or 4th centuries CE. This was a home-grown Romano-British product, made in New Forest kilns. If you look carefully it is possible to make out a lattice decoration (see the second image below).

Jubilee Pot (3rd-4th cent) from Silchester - Reading Museum

Jubilee Pot - detail of lattice decoration - Reading Museum

There is of course much more to see in the Silchester gallery, which is best explored at leisure. As a final note (and strictly outside the scope of this blog) it is also worth taking a look at the Bayeux Tapestry replica which can be found on the floor below. Embroidered by a team of women in Leek, Staffordshire in the 1880s, this conveys much of the style and detail of the original, albeit without the genitalia which were covered up to satisfy Victorian tastes! And unlike the British Museum exhibition there's no need to book in advance. 

References

Allen, John Robert Lawrence & Fulford, Michael (2013). 'Early Roman mosaic materials in southern Britain, with particular reference to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum): a regional geological perspective.' Britannia 35, pp. 9-38. - link

Cosh, Stephen R (1997) 'The Seasons Mosaic from Silchester and its architectural context.' Mosaic 24, pp. 8–12. - link

Durham, Emma & Fulford, Michael (2013) 'Symbols of power: the Silchester bronze eagle and eagles in Roman Britain.' Archaeological Journal 170 (1), pp. 78-105. - link

Fulford, Michael (2017) Silchester Roman Town. English Heritage guidebook.

(See also the references in the posts on Silchester and the general References & Glossary).

Text and photographs (c) Mike Hetherington. Visits to sites described in this blog are at your own risk.

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) - Town

Lost in a maze of rural lanes north of Basingstoke, the walls of Silchester ** - the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum - evoke a powerful sense of the passage of history. A significant urban centre in both Iron Age and Roman times, the site was subsequently abandoned, with only a church and a few houses now lying within the town's original boundaries. 

For this visitor, the site is both impressive and frustrating: while much of the Roman town's layout is known through excavations and surveys, nothing is now visible of the many structures that have been discovered within the walls. And to see some of the fascinating finds from years of excavations in the town a visit is needed to Reading Museum's (albeit excellent) Silchester Galleries (blog here) as there is no on-site museum. But on the plus side, it is now possible to walk the full circuit of the town's walls and visit the nearby amphitheatre.

Silchester - part of the north-east town wall

Background & Context

Silchester was an important place even before the Roman conquest. The walls of the Roman town follow a similar course to some of the earthwork boundaries of its Iron Age predecessor - the oppidum of Calleva, a name that appears in a shortened form on local Iron Age coinage. 

While Silchester's location might appear slightly arbitrary to the modern visitor, it makes more sense when you consider the local landform. The Iron Age oppidum was established on high ground with expansive views to the south, while to the north the land falls away gradually to the Thames valley. It is a commanding site and, moreover, is well placed in respect of wider travel routes. The Roman town was to end up as the meeting point of six major roads, linking Silchester to London, Chichester, Winchester, Dorchester (via Salisbury), Cirencester/Bath and Dorchester-on-Thames.  

Although its early origins are murky, Calleva ended up as the capital of the Atrebates, a tribe originating in northern France that may have fled Gaul under the leader Commius at the time of Julius Caesar's invasion around 50 BCE. Within southern England, the tribe's territory extended from what is now Surrey to eastern Wiltshire. The Iron Age oppidum developed towards the end of the 1st century BCE, reaching a substantial size (around 32 hectares) with timber buildings arranged in an informal grid plan. The built up area was surrounded by several circuits of earth banks and ditches: some of these early ditches can still be seen, notably the outer boundary ditch near to the car park (below).

Silchester - outer boundary ditch of the Iron Age oppidum (next to the path from the car park)

Silchester was taken by a Roman legion commanded by the future emperor Vespasian around 43-44 CE. From coin evidence, it seems that the oppidum was then occupied by another tribe - the Catuvellauni, originating from the Essex area. Caratacus of the Catuvellauni tried to resist the Roman invasion, so Silchester would have been an important target for Vespasian's advance. Military finds from Silchester show that the Roman army spent several years here, possibly occupying earlier buildings, but a permanent fort does not seem to have been established. The town may then have passed into the control of Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus), a 'client king' favoured by the Romans who was based in the Chichester area - probably at Fishbourne Palace.

Substantial building took place at Silchester under the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68 CE), including the establishment of a formal street grid and the erection of public buildings such as a bath-house - although many features of the Iron Age oppidum remained in use. Further buildings were added in later years including a forum-basilica. The first Roman defensive circuit of earth ramparts with double ditches was constructed around the end of the 2nd century, being strengthened with the addition of a stone wall (and removal of one of the two ditches) around 280 CE.

Silchester - model of town looking east - Reading Museum

The town continued to function up to the end of Roman rule in the early 5th century, but decline then set in. There is some evidence of occupation into the 6th and 7th centuries, but eventually Silchester was overtaken by the important Saxon centres of Winchester and Dorchester-upon-Thames. A church was built in medieval times (on land previously occupied by Roman temples), but the associated settlement remained small. 

The substantial remaining Roman town walls attracted antiquarian interest as early as the 16th century, with excavations starting in the late 1800s and continuing into modern times. One particular block (insula IX) has been the focus of a long-running Reading University project (Fulford, 2014b).  An impressive collection of finds from the site can be viewed at Reading Museum, the highlight being the superb Silchester Eagle (below), found in the forum-basilica in 1866. The museum will be the subject of a separate blog post.

Bronze eagle from Silchester - Reading Museum

Location & Access

Silchester Roman Town lies in a tangle of rural lanes, making it difficult to give precise directions. Fortunately, the site is well signposted, the best approach starting from the A350 between Basingstoke and Tadley. The signs take you to a car park near the site's west gate. Parking is chargable, and payment can only be made by a parking app (RingGo at the time of my visit), so you may want to download this before your visit. The car park has a height restriction (no camper vans) and overnight parking is not allowed. A good footpath links the car park to the town walls. Allow 2-3 hours to walk around the whole circuit (including a detour to visit the amphitheatre), although the can be shortened as described below.

Limited free parking is available on the eastern side of the town walls, although the church car park should be avoided during services. There is no public transport in the site's vicinity.

Date of my Visit

The photographs in this blog post date from my visit in 2026. 

Exploring Silchester

The tour starts at the car park, which lies just outside an outer boundary ditch of the Iron Age oppidum; this can be seen in the trees on the left of the footpath after leaving the car park (see the photo earlier in this post). A short walk of 5 to 10 minutes brings to you the line of the Roman town walls. Here there is a junction of four paths. A bridleway continues straight on through the middle of the Roman town, passing between the site of the forum-basilica and insula XI (see above) - although none of these buildings are now visible. In fact, no structures within the town walls can now be viewed.

A better choice here is to turn left and start a clockwise circuit of the town walls. After a wooden gate, the path splits with one branch running along the top of the embankment inside the wall. This offers the best views of the Roman masonry (below).

Silchester - north-western town wall

While most Roman forts and some Roman towns (such as Caerwent and Aldborough) had an approximately rectangular plan, the defences of Silchester form a seven-sided polygon (below) that seems heavily influenced by the shape of the Iron Age oppidum and its defences. An Iron Age ditch crosses diagonally the north-western stretch of wall that you have just walked along, although this wasn't easily visible on my visit.

Silchester town plan - photo of on-site signage near the point where the car park path meets the wall circuit. North is to the left.

At the first bend in the wall, the north gate (below) is reached. The flint stonework here includes two bands of dressed darker ironstone. The main road to Dorchester-on-Thames would have passed through a single arch here. Only two of the town gates (east and west) had double carriageways; unfortunately neither of these are as well preserved as the smaller north and south gates.

Silchester - north gate.

Silchester - north gate (detail)

From the north gate the wall's north-eastern section continues towards the amphitheatre. While the guidebook suggests that you can walk outside the wall at this point, the area between the wall and the outer ditch was so overgrown at the time of my visit (below) that I stayed on the embankment.

 

Silchester - north-east wall

At several points along this section of the wall (and elsewhere on the circuit) small buttresses had been built on the wall's inside face (below). The purpose of these is unclear, although they may have provided access to a higher level wall walk.

Silchester - buttress on inner face of north-east wall.

At the end of this section a path heads left down across the ditch towards the amphitheatre. There was originally a postern gate here, but this is not easily seen. Follow the side path, go through a gate and cross the lane. A second gate leads you to the amphitheatre (below).

Silchester - entrance to the amphitheatre

This is an evocative site, giving a sense of history that somehow seems to be lacking from other British amphitheatres. The high trees on the earthwork banks give a sense of enclosure, while the gravelled floor may well be closer to the arena's original appearance than grassed sites such as at Caerleon or Dorchester. The base of a stone retaining wall sits at the base of the earth banks, which would have held timber seating. Each side of the ellipse contained a small stone-walled recess - still visible (below) - while small 'weep-holes' allowed water to drain out of the seating banks.

Silchester - recess in south-east side of the amphitheatre

Another path takes you from the amphitheatre to the lane. Turn left and follow the road around the corner towards the church. Before you reach the church a footpath heads off to the right; this is the other end of the bridleway that runs across the site to where we first joined the town walls and would make a good route back to the car park if you wish to shorten your walk. The bridleway passes through the site of the town's east gate - of which very little is now visible.

It's worth continuing the circuit, however, as the best-preserved sections of the town wall are yet to come. The course of the wall becomes visible again at St Mary's Church (12th century), which incorporates much Roman stonework.

Silchester - St Mary's Church with the town wall's eastern section in the foreground

Follow the lane a short distance further (note that there is no footway here) next to an overgrown section of the town wall. At a small lay-by there is a modern gap in the wall, and the circuit then continues away from the road. A gate here leads to a path that runs outside the line of the wall's south-eastern and southern sections.

Silchester - south eastern section of town wall.

Before the next turn of the wall a gap marks the site of a small postern gate. Some brick piers that would have supported the gate structure are just above visible here (below).

Silchester - site of south-eastern postern gate

The town wall bends again, marking the start of its southern section, which is broken by the south gate. This is of a similar size and design to the north gate, although somewhat better preserved.

Silchester - town wall (southern section)

Silchester - south gate

From this position, the town's raised position is most easily appreciated, with wide views to the south. Earlier Iron Age defences crossed the field to the south of this gate, but are difficult to now make out. From the south gate most of the rest of the wall circuit is in woodland, which came as a great relief on the hot and sunny day of my visit. While this section of the town wall is largely covered by vegetation, the Roman boundary ditch (on the left of the path) is much better preserved here.

Silchester - town wall (western section). The base is a 20th century reconstruction.

  

Silchester - more of the western town wall is overgrown

Silchester - western Roman boundary ditch

The path by the wall pops out of the trees near the site of the west gate. At the time of my visit this was very overgrown and no stonework was visible. It may be easier to see in the winter months!

It is now just a short distance to the junction of paths from where a right turn will return you to the car park.

References

Fulford, Michael (2014a) "The Roman period: resource assessment." Solent-Thames Research Framework for the Historic Environment: resource assessments and research agendas, Oxford Wessex Monogr 6 pp. 155-78. - link

Fulford, Michael (2014b) "Silchester: the town life project 1997-2014: reflections on a long term research excavation." TRAC pp. 114-21. - link

Fulford, Michael, Clarke, Amanda, Durham, Emma, Fry, Rob, Machin, Sara, Pankhurst, Nicholas and Wheeler, Dan (2016). Silchester Roman Town. English Heritage. (Summary of bath-house excavations) - link

Fulford, Michael (2017) Silchester Roman Town. English Heritage guidebook.

Millett, Martin (2015) 'Silchester Insula IX: the excavations in perspective.' The Antiquaries Journal pp. 1-14. - link

(See also the general References page of this blog).

Text and photographs (c) Mike Hetherington. Visits to sites described in this blog are at your own risk.

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) - Town

Boasting the best-preserved set of Roman town defences in Britain, the quiet village of Caerwent *** lying between Newport and Chepstow in South Wales, was once the civitas capital of the Silures people. When I first visited the site in my teens, I was hugely impressed by the town's south wall and bastions (above), which seemed better suited to a medieval castle. Since then, more buildings within the walls have been excavated and several are now on display including a temple, houses, shops, forum and basilica - giving a glimpse of town life that is unique in Roman Britain.

Background and Context

The Roman town of Caerwent occupied a strategic position on the road from Gloucester (Glevum) to the legionary base at Caerleon (Isca Augusta). The town's name (Venta Silurum) gives a clue to its function: the 'market of the Silures' was established by the Romans as a civilian centre for the local people. We know them as the Silures from Roman authors such as Tacitus, but there is little evidence that this is what the people actually called themselves.

What we do know is that unlike some of the occupants of Iron Age Britain, the area's inhabitants didn't take kindly to Roman rule, defeating a legion in battle around 51 CE before succumbing to the inevitable around 74-75 CE. Nevertheless, they eventually gained a measure of autonomy, with a large forum-basilica being established at Caerwent as a seat of local government - the body in charge being the ordo respublicae civitatis Silurum (‘council of the community of the Civitas of the Silures’), which would have met in the town's basilica (described later below).

Defences were added to the town in later years, probably during the 2nd century. At first these comprised ditches, earth banks and a timber palisade, but an upgrade in the 3rd century added stone walls and then, at a later date, stone towers or bastions on the long north and south walls (see photo above, which shows a tower on the south wall).

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) town plan - my photo of on-site signage. Visible Roman remains (and some modern buildings) are highlighted in red. Arrow added to show the location of the car park.

The discovery of late 4th century coinage at Caerwent suggests that the town was still occupied at the end of Roman rule in Britain, but little is known about its history during the subsequent early medieval period. While a small Norman motte (castle mound) was built on the south-east corner of the Roman walls (this is still visible), the town was clearly in decline in terms of size and importance. This was good news for the preservation of its archaeology, as much of the land within the old town walls still remains undeveloped. Excavations have been taking place here since 1899, and much of the Roman town's layout has been established (see plan above) - although only a few of these buildings are now visible (highlighted in red), all of which lie to the north of the main village street.

Location and Access

Modern Caerwent lies on the A48 between Newport and Chepstow. The main road runs to the north of the village centre, passing close to the northern Roman defences. To visit by car, you turn off into the village (signposted) and head for a small car park (Google Maps location here) next to the site of the Roman west gate. A bus service between Newport and Chepstow passes through Caerwent, while a less frequent service links the village with Severn Tunnel Junction station on the railway lines from Bristol and Gloucester to Newport.

Date of my Visit

The photographs in this blog post date from my visits in 2012 and (mostly) 2026. 

Exploring Caerwent 

A walking circuit starting and finishing at the car park links up most of the key sites at Caerwent. This has taken me around 2-3 hours to complete, but it can easily be shortened. It begins at the car park, where there is an information barn (below) containing several display panels.

Caerwent - information point at the car park. The paving indicates the foundations of Roman structures.

Leave the car park and turn right (west) along the lane. You quickly reach the site of the town's west gate (the road to Caerleon). All that remains is the southern wall of its southern gate tower (off picture to the left in the photo below).

Caerwent - site of the west gate

From the west gate, turn left to follow the west and then the south walls of the town's defences. There is a choice of routes; either a higher path following the top of the embankment behind the wall ...

Caerwent - view of the south town wall from the upper path

... or alternatively a lower path running outside the defences.

 

Caerwent - west town wall from the lower path.

Both have their advantages. The upper path gives better general views and allows you to appreciate the the earth banks that preceded the construction of the later stone defences. It also gives the best view of the south gate, which was later blocked (see below).

However, the lower path allows much closer inspection of the stone walls and bastions, and is probably preferable. The west wall still stands to between 3 and 5 metres in height, mostly of limestone blocks in front of the embankment. Much of the facing masonry has been robbed here; originally the wall would have stood vertically above a small plinth. No towers or bastions were built on the west wall (or the east wall for that matter); it's unclear why, as an attack could have come from any direction.

The highest remaining section of the west wall comes just before the south-west corner:

Caerwent - west town wall at the south-west corner. 

Turning the corner there is a view along the long south wall. This is the best preserved section of the town's defences, including six projecting towers or bastions. These were later additions to the town wall, and were not bonded into the main structure, as can be seen from the first (most westerly) bastion that you encounter (below). The bastions would have been hollow, presumably with upper platforms.

Caerwent - the westernmost bastion on the south wall was not bonded to the main structure.

Continuing along the south wall, two further bastions are passed before you reach the fourth which is the best preserved on the entire defensive circuit (below - and see also the first image in this blog post). Much of the facing stonework remains intact, along with holes for the timber scaffolding used by masons during construction.

Caerwent - the fourth bastion on the south wall is the best preserved. 

Just past this bastion we reach the town's south gate. This single arched entrance was blocked up in later years, with the addition of a culvert. Viewed from the lower path, the site of the gateway is not immediately obvious:

Caerwent - south gate from the lower (outside) path

But a bit further on you can climb up onto the higher path, and retrace your steps for a better view, where the arch of the gateway and the later blocking masonry are more easily seen (below).

Caerwent - south gate from the upper footpath showing the arch and blocking masonry.

Continuing eastwards along the south wall, which is less well preserved in this section, there are two more bastions before we reach the south-eastern corner of the defences. The foundations of one of these can be seen from the upper footpath (below).

Caerwent - bastion foundations near the south-east corner.

The south-eastern corner of the wall is marked by a small Norman motte sitting incongruously on the Roman defences:

Caerwent - small Norman motte on the south-eastern corner of the Roman defences

At this point you can either remain on the upper path or descend to a road that runs parallel to the east wall. Either way leads to the town's east gate, although as the lower route has no safe off-road walkway following the upper path along the rampart is recommended.

Caerwent - east wall

All that is left of the town's east gate (the road to Gloucester) is part of the southern gate tower (below) which was also not bonded to the main wall structure.

Caerwent - east gate. Only part of the southern gate tower remains.

From here there is a choice of routes. Continuing north you can follow the line of defences (below) along a lane and then next to the A48 bypass to a before cutting back towards the car park along School Lane. However, much of these sections of wall are either missing or lie within private land, so cannot be inspected closely. The north gate is just about visible to the right (west) of a former public house.

Caerwent - east wall north of the east gate

Alternatively (and in my view preferably) you can leave the defensive circuit at this point and pass through the east gate, heading west along the main street of the village (Heol Caerwent), which follows the line of the original Roman road through the town. The pub here (the Coach and Horses) remains in business (at the time of my visit) and there is also a shop/post office and public toilets. 

Walk up this street past the post office on your left, and look for a gap in the wall on your right just opposite the public toilets. (As an aside, the field on the left (south) of the road behind the toilet block was excavated by Channel 4's Time Team in 2008 - episode link here and excavation report link here.)

The gap in the wall contains a metal gate that leads to the foundations of a temple (below), which was looking a bit overgrown when I took the pictures for this blog post.

Caerwent - temple plan (my photo of on-site signage)

Caerwent - temple

The temple dates from around 330 CE and follows a classic 'Romano-Celtic' layout. The inner shrine (cella) has an unusual sanctuary annex or apse  projecting into the surrounding corridor (ambulatory). A range of five rooms was added to this area at a later date, the purpose of which is unknown. Unfortunately, it is also unclear what deity was worshipped here. The whole complex was entered through a long entrance porch at the southern end of the building, next to the main road through the town. It appears that the temple was being maintained into the late 4th century.

The path around the temple leads on to the forum-basilica complex (below), which could also have benefitted from a bit of weeding at the time of my photographs.

Caerwent - forum-basilica plan (my photo of on-site signage). The areas highlighted in yellow are visible.

Caerwent - forum-basilica, with the base of the monumental archway in the foreground. Most of the forum lies beneath the properties towards the rear of this photograph.

This was the commercial and administrative hub of the town, fulfilling a range of legal and governmental services. A paved area (at the back of the photo above) marks what can be seen of the forum, which comprised a square piazza surrounded by buildings. Like the nearby temple, its main access would have been from road through the town. The adjoining basilica was a large rectangular building with three aisles; the south aisle, also visible in the photograph above, would have been separated from the forum by an open line of columns, with a side entrance marked by a monumental archway, the base of which is the square structure in the foreground of the above photo.

Caerwent - basilica, showing the main hall in the centre flanked by aisles on either side. 

On the north side of the basilica's north aisle was a range of rooms (below) that may have been used for holding tribunals (courts of law), a council chamber (curia) and possibly a shrine. There's a lot more detail about the building in Peter Guest's paper (link here).

Caerwent - basilica - north range of rooms.

The path continues past this range of rooms and leads to a lane (School Lane). Cross this lane and continue along the lane opposite (Pound Lane). On your left are the foundations of a line of shops and houses.

Caerwent - the Pound Lane shops.

The Pound Lane buildings were a mixture of commercial and residential uses, with shops towards the northern end which joins the main east-west road through the town. The jumble of foundations is a bit tricky to interpret. At the northern end (the first section that you reach on my route) lies part of a courtyard house. The west wing  (below) lies nearest to the road, including a room (now backfilled) that contained a mosaic floor over a heated hypocaust. 

Caerwent - west wing of the Pound Lane courtyard house. In the foreground is the site of a room (now backfilled) where a mosaic was found.

The courtyard lay on the left hand side of the above photo, containing a enclosure bounded by a wall (the low wall on the left with the bushes behind) that may have been a garden. This was a standard layout for a large Roman house; another, larger example (see below) can also be inspected at Caerwent. (Given this context, the layout of the Roman town house at Dorchester (Durnovaria) in Dorset described in another blog post is unusual.)

Sited nearer to the main road through the town, the buildings at the southern end of Pound Lane were mainly shops and other commercial uses. Various phases of development have been identified.

Caerwent - workshop at the southern end of Pound Lane

The building at the southern end of Pound Lane (above) housed a variety of commercial uses between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE. At first, it was a blacksmith's shop and workshop, as evidenced by finds of a hearth and lumps of iron slag. In later years, it merged with the building to the east to create larger premises, possibly following a fire. Internal walls were added, and a new residential wing built away from the main road, suggesting that the owner had gained in prosperity - although the main workshop remained in use.

The sequence of buildings on the site is displayed on signage (below), although this was looking a bit tired and in need of cleaning (at least) or replacement when I visited. 

Caerwent - Pound Lane signage

After deciphering the Pound Lane buildings it is time to visit the last of the town's internal buildings that is now on display - another courtyard house, located in the north-western corner of the town. It is reached by retracing your steps along Pound Lane by a few metres and then bearing left (north-west) across a grassed area.

Caerwent - corner of the courtyard house.

Caerwent - courtyard house plan (on-site signage)

As can be seen from the site plan (above) this was a dwelling on a substantial scale. It dates from the early fourth century CE, and replaced a series of smaller houses on the same site. It is interesting to see that significant investment was still being made in towns like Caerwent during this period, a time where other parts of the Roman empire (notably Gaul) were experiencing invasion and civic decline.

This was a high status dwelling; evidence of mosaics and painted wall plaster was found here when the site was excavated in the early 1980s, although this is not now visible. But what you can still see are the stone pillers (pilae) remaining from hypocausts (raised floors under which hot air would circulate) in two rooms.

Caerwent - remains of hypocaust in the courtyard house

The house seems to have been occupied into the second half of the 4th century, before being abandoned. Like many other Roman structures, much of the stone was removed (robbed) for re-use or to make lime.

If you have not already inspected the north-western section of the town walls from the A48, it is possible to reach part of the circuit by following the path north past the remains of the courtyard house. This leads onto the defensive embankment which can be followed round back to your original starting point at the car park. It is not as easy to see the stonework from this side, but at one point you can look over the fence to see the town's north wall running alongside a private garden (below).

Caerwent - section of the north wall viewed from the embankment.

Final Thoughts
 

That concludes our circuit of Roman Caerwent. Generally, the site is well-presented, although (as my photos show), the signage is looking tired and some of the structures are rather overgrown. It is certainly worth getting hold of the excellent Cadw guidebook in advance of your visit, although (unlike English Heritage) it doesn't seem possible to purchase online. I bought mine at Caerleon, where the fort, baths, amphitheatre and excellent Roman Legion Museum are well worth a visit - only a 20 minute drive from Caerwent. 

As with some other Roman sites covered in this blog, I'm sure that more could be made of Caerwent's Roman heritage. While the visible remains are impressive and instructive, it is often the more detailed finds that bring a site to life, for example if there is an on-site museum where visitors can see excavated items from the town. There are plenty of excellent examples - the museums at the Roman towns of Corbridge and St Albans spring to mind, as well as the above-noted museum at Caerleon. While there are obvious resource implications, this is something that if done well can greatly enhance the attractiveness of the site for visitors and yield economic benefits as well as furthering greater understanding of the period.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

References

Ashby, Thomas (1904) 'Excavations at Caerwent in Monmouthshire.' M.A.N. 69. - link

Brewer, Richard J. (2006) Caerwent Roman Town. Cadw guidebook.

Guest, Peter (2022) 'The forum-basilica at Caerwent (Venta Silurum): a history of the Roman Silures.' Britannia 53, pp. 227-267. - link

Wessex Archaeology (2009) Caerwent Roman Town, Monmouthshire, South Wales: Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results. - link

(See also the general References page of this blog).

Text and photographs (c) Mike Hetherington. Visits to sites described in this blog are at your own risk.