Roman Wall - a photo on Flickriver

Roman Wall

This is part of the wall that surrounded the ancient town of Calleva Atrebatum (or Silchester Roman Town) which was an Iron Age large defended Iron Age settlement 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 of St Mary the Virgin, which is just within the town wall and about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the modern village of Silchester, in the English county of Hampshire close to the boundary with Berkshire. Reading is some 9 miles (14 km) north-east and Basingstoke is 5 miles (8.0 km) south. .
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The Atrebates tribe founded their capital at the site of Silchester in the late first century BC. The walls of the Iron Age settlement enclosed an area of approximately 32 hectares (79 acres). After the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD the settlement developed into the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum. It was slightly larger, about 40 hectares (99 acres), and was laid out along a distinctive street grid pattern. The town contained a number of public buildings and flourished until the early Anglo-Saxon period. It was finally abandoned in the 5th to 7th century, which is unusually late compared to other deserted Roman settlements..
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Most Roman towns in Britain continued to exist after the end of the Roman era, and consequently their remains underlay their more recent successors, which are often still major population centres. There is a suggestion that the Saxons deliberately avoided Calleva after it was abandoned, preferring to maintain their existing centres at Winchester and Dorchester. There was a gap of perhaps a century before the twin Saxon towns of Basing and Reading were founded on rivers either side of Calleva. As a consequence, Calleva has been subject to relatively benign neglect for most of the last two millennia..
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The earthworks and, for much of the circumference, these 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 a tiny mediaeval church in one corner. There is a spring that emanates from inside the walls, in the vicinity of the original baths, and which flows south-eastwards where it joins Silchester Brook..
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Now primarily owned by Hampshire County Council and managed by English Heritage, the site of Calleva is open to the public during daylight hours, seven days a week and without charge. The full circumference of the walls is accessible, as is the amphitheatre. The interior is farmed and, with the exception of the church and a single track that bisects the interior, inaccessible. Current excavations are sometimes open for visitors..
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The Museum of Reading in Reading Town Hall has a gallery devoted to Calleva, displaying many archeological finds from the various excavations..
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calleva_Atrebatum

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Tadley (show map)

Taken on: April 16, 2010

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Roman

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Camera: Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR, f/9.0, 1/90 sec, 6.4mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.011 sec (1/90)
Focal Length:	6.4mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Shade
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
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