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Silchester
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Silchester
Silchester is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Reading.
Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, an Iron Age and later Atrebates Celtic settlement first occupied by the Romans in about AD 45. The site includes what is considered the best-preserved Roman town wall in Great Britain and the remains of what may be one of the earliest Christian churches found in the British Isles.
Today, the modern village lies just outside the ancient Roman walls and maintains a rural character, with a small population and local amenities including a village hall, a pub, and access to walking trails on its extensive commons.
The University of Reading is leading a five-year archaeological research project to explore the later prehistoric use of the landscape around Silchester Roman Town and its underlying Late Iron Age oppidum (ancient Celtic fortified town). To date (2020) the project has identified 671 new archaeological sites, from the Neolithic through to WWII, in addition to the 267 already known. A number of reports on the archaeological investigations have been published by Historic England.
Calleva Atrebatum was an Iron Age oppidum and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia and the civitas capital of the Atrebates tribe. Its ruins are beneath and to the west of the parish church, which is itself just within the town wall and about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the modern village.
The site covers an area of over 107 acres (43 ha) within a polygonal earthwork. The earthworks and extensive ruined walls are still visible. The remains of the amphitheatre, added about AD 70–80 and situated outside the city walls, can also be clearly seen. The area inside the walls is now largely farmland with no visible distinguishing features, other than the enclosing earthworks and walls, with the church and old manor house in one corner.
Silchester was the subject of antiquarian interest from the 16th century onwards. The bronze Silchester eagle was discovered in the Basilica at Calleva in 1866 and can now be seen in Reading Museum. The most extensive excavations were carried out by the Society of Antiquaries from 1890 until 1909 under George E. Fox and W. H. St. J. Hope. During excavations carried out in 1893, the Silchester Ogham stone was located. Dated c. 500 AD, it is one of very few found in England. It is now held in storage at Reading Museum. The inscription on the ogham stone was in the Latin alphabet, but in Irish and appears to be indicating that the property belonged to someone named Tebicatos. The precise identity of Tebicatos remains a mystery, but it is possible that he was a pilgrim or a mercenary.
Analysis of plant remains shows that Calleva residents had access to typical foods eaten in Roman Britain, such as cereals, coriander, and cultivated fruits. They also received imports of exotic medlar and mulberry fruits.
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Silchester
Silchester is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Reading.
Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, an Iron Age and later Atrebates Celtic settlement first occupied by the Romans in about AD 45. The site includes what is considered the best-preserved Roman town wall in Great Britain and the remains of what may be one of the earliest Christian churches found in the British Isles.
Today, the modern village lies just outside the ancient Roman walls and maintains a rural character, with a small population and local amenities including a village hall, a pub, and access to walking trails on its extensive commons.
The University of Reading is leading a five-year archaeological research project to explore the later prehistoric use of the landscape around Silchester Roman Town and its underlying Late Iron Age oppidum (ancient Celtic fortified town). To date (2020) the project has identified 671 new archaeological sites, from the Neolithic through to WWII, in addition to the 267 already known. A number of reports on the archaeological investigations have been published by Historic England.
Calleva Atrebatum was an Iron Age oppidum and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia and the civitas capital of the Atrebates tribe. Its ruins are beneath and to the west of the parish church, which is itself just within the town wall and about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the modern village.
The site covers an area of over 107 acres (43 ha) within a polygonal earthwork. The earthworks and extensive ruined walls are still visible. The remains of the amphitheatre, added about AD 70–80 and situated outside the city walls, can also be clearly seen. The area inside the walls is now largely farmland with no visible distinguishing features, other than the enclosing earthworks and walls, with the church and old manor house in one corner.
Silchester was the subject of antiquarian interest from the 16th century onwards. The bronze Silchester eagle was discovered in the Basilica at Calleva in 1866 and can now be seen in Reading Museum. The most extensive excavations were carried out by the Society of Antiquaries from 1890 until 1909 under George E. Fox and W. H. St. J. Hope. During excavations carried out in 1893, the Silchester Ogham stone was located. Dated c. 500 AD, it is one of very few found in England. It is now held in storage at Reading Museum. The inscription on the ogham stone was in the Latin alphabet, but in Irish and appears to be indicating that the property belonged to someone named Tebicatos. The precise identity of Tebicatos remains a mystery, but it is possible that he was a pilgrim or a mercenary.
Analysis of plant remains shows that Calleva residents had access to typical foods eaten in Roman Britain, such as cereals, coriander, and cultivated fruits. They also received imports of exotic medlar and mulberry fruits.
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