Silchester
 Roman Britain |
Soon after the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, the tribal centre of the Atrebates was secured and fortified by the invaders in so doing it became one of the most important Romano-British towns. This ancient settlement, modern Silchester, was called by the Romans Calleva Atrebatum, literally 'the town in the woods belonging to the Atrebates'. It is truly a 'dead city', for whereas most Roman towns in Britain continue in occupation to this day, Calleva was completely abandoned once the Romans withdrew in about AD401 and never built over again. This meant that the Roman remains were never hidden by Saxon or medieval buildings, there were no layers of occupation to penetrate before revealing the Roman structures. The Norman parish church of St Mary's is the one lonely exception, built within the walls near the former east gate.The reason for Silchester's fame, both archaeologically and historically, is that the area within the walls was totally excavated between 1864-78, and again more thoroughly between 1890-1909.
However, techniques were not scientific in the 19th century, thus a chronological sequence for the history of the town was not revealed. Nevertheless, the excavation did provide a complete plan of a Romano-British town, together with a multitude of artefacts. Lying within the remarkably complete walls is the forum and basilica toward the centre, the baths to the south-east where the ground slopes down to a stream, several temples and a great number of houses.
A very small building discovered near the forum was almost certainly a church, although this is not conclusively proven. Unfortunately, apart from the late 3rd century walls, all of these buildings are now concealed once more under a blanket of soil.
Beyond the walls, to the south-east, stands the impressive amphitheatre, which would originally have had wooden seats. Constructed in the 1st century AD it could hold 3500 seated spectators or 7250 standing, and was employed for sporting events and gladiatorial blood lettings. The Calleva Museum at Silchester Common has a pictorial display of the history of the Roman town, but most of the interesting finds from the site are lodged in Reading Museum.
The one non-Roman occupant of the site, the Norman parish church, was built about 1180-1200 and remains largely unrestored. It contains 13th century wall-paintings, a 14th century tomb effigy and a magnificent old organ from about 1770, partially rebuilt.