Listed 11 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "CHESHIRE County ENGLAND" .
CHESTER (Town) ENGLAND
Deva or Deva Victrix (Chester) Cheshire, England.
The site of a legionary fortress, initially garrisoned by Legio II Adiutrix p.
f. Established as part of the preparations for the subjugation of Wales and Brigantia,
it was strategically placed at the NW extremity of the Midland plain, astride
lines of communication between Wales and the N. The fortress was built on a sandstone
ridge at the head of the estuary, commanded a good ford, and was at the limit
of navigation for seagoing vessels. The Flavian fortress was a semipermanent base,
and its defenses therefore consisted of a turf wall 6 m thick, augmented by timber
gates and towers, and fronted by a ditch 1.5 m deep and ca. 3.5 m wide. Buildings
were in the main of timber, including the principia, and (outside the defenses)
the amphitheater. A large internal bath building in the E half of the praetentura
was also certainly of primary date. A building inscription from its large covered
palaestra records completion in A.D. 79. Lengths of lead water pipes with molded
inscriptions date the completion of aqueduct and water supply to the same year,
and foundation of the fortress may therefore be as early as ca. A.D. 75. Substantial
fragments of the colonnading from the exercise hall have been moved and erected
close to the amphitheater. Rebuilding in stone commenced under Trajan, probably
soon after A.D. 102. The garrison by this time was Legio XX Valenia Victrix (from
ca. A.D. 86-90). The defenses were strengthened by the addition of a stone wall
1.83 m wide at the base, narrowing to 1.37 m above offset and plinth, and standing
5 m high to the wall walk. The most substantial fragment of this wall is to be
found N of the E gate and close to the Cathedral. The ditch was enlarged at this
period to a width of 6 m and a depth of 3 m. There were four gates, one in each
side; the sites of the E and N ones are occupied by town gates today. Little is
known of any of them. Three of the corner towers have been located and explored,
and the SE one has survived. Smaller towers (22) were placed at intervals between
gates and corners: six have been located but none is now to be seen.
Apart from the bath building, which was used with additions and modifications
at least to the 3d c., the buildings so far located are the principia, praetorium,
horrea, workshops, and barracks, and fragments of the cross-hall and sacellum
of the principia have been preserved. A site immediately W of the principia and
praetorium was occupied by an unidentified building of an unusual elliptical plan;
on the S side of the complex was an extensive suite of baths. The three granaries
were placed close to the porta pnincipalis dextra which gave access to the harbor.
Barracks so far located include those of the First Cohort in latera praetorii,
another group just within the porta prillcipalis sinistra, and others E of the
bath building, N of the workshops, and across the N end of the site. Store buildings
and ovens have been found just within the defenses. The fortress had the usual
regular street pattern, and the viae principalis, praetoria, and decumana are
still in use today. Minor streets have less consistently survived: those found
by excavation have been 4-6 m wide.
Half of the exceptionally large amphitheater has been preserved and
may be visited. The harbor lay W of the fortress, and part of a supposed Roman
quay wall still survives. An extramural bath building on this side may have been
for officers; close to this was a building identified as a stable. Other fragments
of Roman buildings have been found in this area, but the principal part of the
vicus lay outside the E gate, beyond the parade ground. The civilian buildings,
which have been little explored, extended to ca. 300 m from the E gate. At a little
over 2 km E of the fortress an altar (now at Eaton Hall) indicates the source
of the aqueduct, the line of which ran along the S side of Watling Street. Although
inhumation cemeteries have been located W of the fortress, the main cemetery area
was S of the river in the suburb of Handbridge. On this side of the river may
also be seen Roman quarries (Edgar's Field), one of which contains a much-weathered
relief thought to have been of Minerva.
Building is known to have been done in the Antonine and Severan periods,
and some buildings (such as the praetorium) continued to be altered and repaired
well into the 4th c. At some time after A.D. 213-222, perhaps under Constantius
Chlorus, substantial portions of the N and W walls were rebuilt on a wider gauge
incorporating much inscribed material. Two well-preserved stretches, complete
to cornice level, may be seen in the sector between the porta decumana and the
NE corner.
The fortress was rectangular with rounded corners. The short axis
measured ca. 412 m and the long ca. 591 m, giving a comparatively deep retentura
in which postem gates may have been provided. The area was up to a fifth greater
than other British fortresses (24.3 ha). The reason is not known, although it
may be significant that the fortress was placed between two powerful and hostile
tribes, the Brigantes and Ordovices.
Abandonment predates the compilation of the Notitia Dignitatum, and
is perhaps to be attributed to Magnus Maximus. Subsequent occupation of the site
by Saxon burh and the mediaeval city has left comparatively little in situ, and
archaeological exploration has been confined largely to sites cleared for rebuilding.
Most of the finds are in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, including an unusually
large collection of inscribed material.
D.F. Petch, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Feb 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MIDDLEWICH (Town) ENGLAND
Salinae (Middlewich) Cheshire, England.
The site, 30.4 km E of Chester (Deva), lies at the confluence of the rivers Dane
and Croco, and covers an area of ca. 20 ha. Occupation began soon after A.D. 80
and continued until the mid 4th c. All buildings were of timber and daub, with
thatched or tiled roofs, and took the form of strip shops, workshops, and living
quarters, with the narrow ends adjacent to the street.
The single N-S street ran along the line of the Roman road from Lancaster
to Littlechester (Derventio), and occupation extends from the crossing of the
Dane, for 900 m or more. The structures varied in size from 7.3 x 15 m in the
2d c., to 13.1 x 30 m in the 4th c.
Local industries included iron smelting and smithing, lead casting,
glass making, and salt making from local brine springs. A small salt works has
been excavated consisting of a brine kiln, timber workshop, and two large dolia,
one bearing the graffito AMVRCA (possibly meaning waste from brine).
J.D. Bestwick, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Feb 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
NORWICH (Town) ENGLAND
Condate (Northwich) Cheshire, England.
A settlement on the Roman road (Watling Street) from Deva to Mamucium, roughly
midway between them. King Street passes 2.5 km E of the site, which is on the
W bank of the Weaver overlooking its confluence with the Dane. Occupation began
in the Flavian period probably with a fort, and continued into the Antonine period.
Redevelopment in the “Castle” area in the late 1960s enabled excavations
to take place. An auxiliary fort of unknown size was established in the 70s of
the 1st c. A.D. It was abandoned early in the 2d c., and then reoccupied in the
Hadrianic period when the defenses were reconstructed in stone and new timber
internal buildings erected. Final evacuation took place ca. 140; subsequent civil
occupation included iron roasting or smelting and some pottery production.
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