Wroxeter

Like any self-respecting, prosperous and important Roman town, Wroxeter had a large public baths complex, approximately analogous to something like a modern leisure centre.

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010

Alas, no helpful inscriptions along the lines of “Built by X, who held the position of Y, in the year Z” came to light in the excavations, so the identity of the individual or authority who was responsible for this massive redevelopment project in sixth/seventh century Wroxeter is unknown.

Archive 2010-02-01 Carla 2010

Ken Dark argues that some sort of bureaucratic government by officials, rather than royal government by kings, existed in parts of west-central Britain, including the Wroxeter area, in the fifth and sixth centuries Dark 2000, p.147-149.

Archive 2010-02-01 Carla 2010

Wroxeter at 1:25,000 scale, showing the location of the modern village in relation to the Roman town wall and the surviving remains of the Roman baths complex

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010

Cynddylan, who according to Welsh poetry was a powerful ruler in the first half of the seventh century, would be contemporary with the later part of the date range for the ‘great rebuilding’, and he or his predecessors must be a candidate for the ruler of Wroxeter.

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010

Wroxeter at 1:25,000 scale, showing the location of the modern village in relation to the Roman town wall and the surviving remains of the Roman baths complex

Archive 2010-02-01 Carla 2010

Alas, no helpful inscriptions along the lines of “Built by X, who held the position of Y, in the year Z” came to light in the excavations, so the identity of the individual or authority who was responsible for this massive redevelopment project in sixth/seventh century Wroxeter is unknown.

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010

David Strefford, of Donnington, near Wroxeter, was confronted by the animal while hedge-trimming in Kenley, near Shrewsbury.

Archive 2008-02-01 2008

In Wroxeter the baths complex was in the middle of the town, and attached to it was a large exercise hall, the baths basilica.

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010

In earlier posts on Cynddylan and a possible Bishop of Chester in the post-Roman period, I mentioned the Roman town of Wroxeter in modern Shropshire Roman name Viroconium.

The battle of Arfderydd or Arthuret Carla 2010