Wroxeter Roman City

Wroxeter Roman city is the largest excavated Roman British city to have escaped development. It was originally home to 6,000 people. The 2nd century municipal baths and huge dividing wall are an impressive sight. As you walk the site with a very detailed audio tour you can feel the ruins come back to life. There is also a museum on site for the finds from various excavations.

A Little bit of History

Wroxeter Roman city  (Viriconium or Uriconium) was at one time the fourth largest city in Britain, surpassed only by London, Cirencester, and St Albans. It stood at the frontier of Roman Britain and Wales. It was the capital of the British tribe known as the Cornovii, and is the largest ancient city in Britain to have survived modern development unscathed, probably due to the fact that it's medieval successor, Shrewsbury was built on a site nearby. The ancient city ramparts enclosed a huge area of 78 hectares, now mostly gently rolling pasture fields, but nearly 2000 years ago would have been a bustling city packed with houses, shops, temples and other buildings laid out within a regular street grid. Only a very small part of the city has been exposed by excavation, and only the Roman Baths are now on display to the public.

It has always been a Roman foundation and was first settled by the Roman Army in AD48. It is on the line of the Roman road known as Watling Street. In it's early years it probably would have been a 'temporary marching camp', but when Emperor Nero decided to invade Wales in AD58 the fortress would have become permanent.

It is thought that the 14th Legion occupied the site from AD58-AD69 and then from AD69-AD80 the 20th Legion took residence. Once it's military use came to an end it would have been handed over to the civil authorities and become a settlement for retired veterans. This tribal centre would be given it's own administration and a degree of local autonomy. These sites would be distinguished by the layout of their streets. There was also a law court, market and large public baths.

Under the rule of Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century it was to become a more substantial city when a new civic centre was built with a bath house, Basilica and other buildings and colonnades. During the 2nd century it continued to be expanded with a new defensive ditch and bank dug. Over time through unstable political environments and increased maintenance costs many of the buildings became derelict and during the 4th century those buildings that became unsafe were dismantled, while others had a change of use. The bath house for example was used for grain storage for some time.

Once the Romans left, the city received a reversal in fortunes, the Basilica was cleared of the small buildings and a new building with two wings and a long western annex was built, and numerous other buildings were built along the streets together with several barns. It is not known when the city was finally abandoned but it is believed to have been somewhere between AD500 and AD650.

'The Old Work' one of the largest pieces of freestanding masonry left from Roman Britain. Once part of the original south wall of the baths basilica.	The large hall, with the largest remaining roman wall at the very bottom. This hall would have been used for social activities and sports.
The remains of the hypocaust, under floor heating for the baths' hot rooms.	Some more the grounds/ruins that can be seen.

Click on the images to see the bigger picture

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