Caerwent

Last updated

Caerwent
Caerwent.jpg
Roman building foundations and the
tower of the parish church at Caerwent
Monmouthshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Caerwent
Location within Monmouthshire
Population1,791 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST470905
Principal area
Preserved county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CHEPSTOW
Postcode district NP16
Post townCALDICOT
Postcode district NP26
Dialling code 01291
Police Gwent
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Monmouthshire

51°36′41″N2°46′7″W / 51.61139°N 2.76861°W / 51.61139; -2.76861

Contents

2024 Wales Monmouthshire Community Caerwent map.svg
Map of the community

Caerwent (Welsh : Caer-went) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum , an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built around the Roman ruins, which are some of the best-preserved in Europe. It remained prominent through the Roman era and Early Middle Ages as the site of a road crossing between several important civic centres. The community includes Llanvair Discoed. The village itself had a population of about 1,200. [2]

Etymology

The modern name derives from Venta , an ancient British word denoting a "market", and Caer, a later Welsh word denoting a fortified settlement. The town would give its name to the post Roman successor kingdom of Gwent and it is possible that the modern name means "Fort of Gwent". [3]

Romans writers recorded the town as Venta Silurum to distinguish it from the other tribal markets in Britain such as Venta Belgarum (modern Winchester) and Venta Icenorum (modern Caistor St Edmund).

History

Roman times

Caerwent was founded by the Romans in AD 75 as a market town for the defeated Silures tribe. This is confirmed by inscriptions on the "Civitas Silurum" stone, now on display in the parish church. [4] [ better source needed ] Large sections of the Roman town walls are still in place, rising up to 5 metres (16 ft) high in places. Historian John Newman has described the walls as: "easily the most impressive town defence to survive from Roman Britain, and in its freedom from later rebuilding one of the most perfectly preserved in Northern Europe." [5] In 1881, a portion of a highly intricate coloured floor mosaic or tessellated pavement, depicting different types of fish, was unearthed during excavations in the garden of a cottage. [6]

Excavations in 1971 dated the north-west polygonal angle-tower to the mid-300s. Further excavations were carried out in 2008 by Wessex Archaeology and was featured in the Channel 4 TV programme Time Team . [7] [8]

Modern houses are built on top of half the site of the old Roman market place. The ruins of several Roman buildings are still visible, including the foundations of a 4th-century Roman temple with a Temenos area. [9] The rudimentary quality of most of the houses, few of which had mosaic or hypocaust-heated floors, indicates that, although a large settlement, Caerwent did not attain the importance or sophistication of other Romano-British tribal capitals. [10]

Early Christian times

Caerwent was a centre for the Kingdom of Gwent after the Roman occupation. The name Caerwent translates from Welsh as "fort of Gwent", and the name Gwent derives from the Roman name Venta (Silurum). The English town name of Winchester has a parallel derivation, ultimately from the combination of the Latin words Venta, in that case, Venta Belgarum , and castra. [11]

Caerwent remained an important centre, where the road between Gloucester and Caerleon met the north–south road from Shrewsbury, via Monmouth and Trellech, to the sea at Portskewett. Excavations at Caerwent have revealed remains and everyday objects from the post-Roman period. Metalwork, including elaborate penannular brooches and fastening pins, have been dated to the 5th–7th centuries. A large number of Christian burials, some stone-lined, dating from between the 4th and 9th centuries have also been discovered, both around the town's East Gate and close to the parish church. [12] It has been suggested that it may have been the birthplace of St. Patrick. [13]

Near infra-red kite aerial photo of the south wall of Caerwent Kite aeria photo of Caerwent.jpg
Near infra-red kite aerial photo of the south wall of Caerwent

A monastery was established at Caerwent some time before the 10th century, and a pre-Norman cross head was discovered at the site in 1992. [5] The Church of St Stephen and St Tathan is dedicated to Saints Stephen and Tathan, the latter name possibly having arisen through confusion with Saint Tathyw. The oldest existing part of the church dates to the 13th century. [5]

The village appears as "Venta Siluru" and "Caer went" on the Cambriae Typus map of 1573. [14]

Modern era

During World War II, a Royal Navy Propellant Factory was established at Caerwent, immediately north of the A48 road. Between 1967 and 1993, this was used as a storage station for the Royal Air Force and the United States Army; since that time it has been used as an army training facility and on occasion as a filming location for TV episodes such as Doctor Who "Before the Flood" [15] and large-scale productions such as Captain America: The First Avenger . [16]

Caerwent is now a small village, largely bypassed by the busy A48 road running between the city of Newport to the west and Chepstow to the east. The Northgate Inn closed in 2013, leaving the Coach and Horses as the only village pub. The Post Office thrives and was recently refitted. The village has a garage which has been repairing cars since 1917.[ citation needed ]

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. The area and population of this ward are identical to that of the parish.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe or tribal confederation of ancient Britain, occupying what is now south east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas. They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices; to the east by the Dobunni; and to the west by the Demetae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chepstow</span> Town in Monmouthshire, Wales

Chepstow is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about 2 miles (3 km) above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the Severn Bridge. It is the easternmost settlement in Wales, situated 16 miles (26 km) east of Newport, 28 miles (45 km) east-northeast of Cardiff, 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Bristol and 110 miles (180 km) west of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouthshire</span> County in south east Wales

Monmouthshire is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk. The county is administered by Monmouthshire County Council. It sends two directly-elected members to the Senedd at Cardiff and one elected member to the UK parliament at Westminster. The county name is identical to that of the historic county, of which the current local authority covers the eastern three-fifths. Between 1974 and 1996, the county was known as Gwent, recalling the medieval kingdom which covered a similar area. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which came into effect in 1996. In his essay 'Changes in local government', in the fifth and final volume of the Gwent County History, Robert McCloy writes, "the local government of no county in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century was so transformed as that of Monmouthshire".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldicot</span> Town in Monmouthshire, Wales

Caldicot is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. The town is located between Chepstow and the city of Newport. The site adjoins the Caldicot Levels, on the north side of the Severn Estuary. The population of the built-up area was around 11,000. It has a large school, Caldicot School, and is known for its medieval castle. The built-up area includes Portskewett. Caldicot had a population of 9,604 in 2011.

Crick is a small village or hamlet in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire, United Kingdom. It is located on the A48 road 1 mile north of the town of Caldicot and 1 mile east of Caerwent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Brides Netherwent</span> Village in Monmouthshire, Wales

St Brides Netherwent is a parish and largely deserted village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. It is centred 2 miles north of Magor, and 3 miles west of Caerwent. The A48 Newport to Chepstow road passes close by to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanvaches</span> Village and community in Newport, Wales

Llanvaches is a village and community within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population rose to 402 by the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirenewton</span> Village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, UK

Shirenewton is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 3 miles due west of Chepstow, 5 miles (8 km) by road. The village stands around 500 feet above sea level, and has extensive views of the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel. The population of the village and the conjoined village of Mynydd-bach was 657 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanvair Discoed</span> Human settlement in Wales

Llanvair Discoed is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, 6 miles west of Chepstow and 10 miles east of Newport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langstone, Newport</span> Human settlement in Wales

Langstone is a village and community of Newport, Wales. The community had a population of 4,730 in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venta Silurum</span> Historic site in Wales, UK

Venta Silurum was a town in Roman Britain (Britannia). The name Venta Silurum means "the town of the Silurēs", with the Silurēs being a powerful and warlike tribe. Today, it consists of remains in the village of Caerwent in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. Much of it has been archaeologically excavated and the nearby Newport Museum has many of the finds on display.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Gwent</span> Kingdom in South Wales

Gwent was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighbour Glywysing, it seems to have had a great deal of cultural continuity with the earlier Silures, keeping their own courts and diocese separate from the rest of Wales until their conquest by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Although it recovered its independence after his death in 1063, Gwent was the first of the Welsh kingdoms to be overrun following the Norman conquest.

Venta may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isca Augusta</span> Former Roman site in Caerleon, Wales

Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or vicus, the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban town of Caerleon in the north of the city of Newport in South Wales. The site includes Caerleon Amphitheatre and is protected by Cadw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portskewett</span> Village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales

Portskewett is a village and community (parish) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located four miles south west of Chepstow and one mile east of Caldicot, in an archaeologically sensitive part of the Caldicot Levels on the Welsh shore of the Severn Estuary. The Second Severn Crossing passes overhead carrying the M4 motorway. The community includes Sudbrook, Crick and Leechpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudbrook, Monmouthshire</span> Human settlement in Wales

Sudbrook is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 4 miles south west of Chepstow and 1 mile east of Caldicot. It lies close to the Second Severn Crossing on the Severn Estuary, and adjoins the village of Portskewett. It was largely built in the late 19th century for workers on the Severn railway tunnel. At that time it was also known as Southbrook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths</span> Archaeological museum in Newport, Wales

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths encompass the archaeological ruins and sites of the Legionary Fortress of Isca Augusta spread across the town of Caerleon, near the city of Newport, South Wales. Notable for being one of only three permanent legionary fortresses from Roman Britain, Caerleon has provided a unique opportunity to study the archaeology of a Roman Legionary fortress, less affected by the medieval and subsequent urban activity of most such fortresses. Having attracted the attention of eminent archaeologists throughout the 20th century it now has four major public archaeological venues, including the museum run by Cadw, called 'Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths', featuring the excavated fortress bath-house. Also open to the public is the most complete excavated amphitheatre in Britain, a series of barracks and the National Roman Legion Museum. The fortress and its surrounding civil settlement have been the subject of continuing major archaeological investigations into the 21st century.

Saint Tathan is claimed to be a fifth or sixth century Celtic saint, who travelled from Ireland to Wales where he founded a Christian church. He is reckoned an early abbot of Caerwent and has dedications at Llanvaches, near Caerwent, also known as Llandathan, and at St Athan. He is said to have been a teacher of Cadoc and to have brought light to the heathens to undo the work of Satan.

Saint Tathyw was a 5th-century saint of South Wales, and founder of a monastic school at Caerwent where he instructed many of the leading figures of the early Welsh church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Stephen and St Tathan, Caerwent</span> Church in Monmouthshire, Wales

The Church of St Stephen and St Tathan, Caerwent, Monmouthshire, is a parish church with datable origins to the 13th century. It is believed to be one of the oldest Christian sites in the county, and possibly within Wales. The church is sited within the walls of the Roman town. It remains an active parish church and a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. "Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. "Custom report - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics". www.nomisweb.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. "South-East Wales in the Early Medieval Period". Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  4. "Geograph:: Caerwent church © Iain Macaulay". www.geograph.org.uk.
  5. 1 2 3 Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. Penguin Books. ISBN   0-14-071053-1.[ page needed ]
  6. Morgan, Octavius (1882). Goldcliff and the Ancient Roman Inscribed Stone Found There, 1878: Together with Other Papers. Newport, Wales: Monmouthshire and Caerleon Antiquarian Association. pp. 1–17.
  7. Caerwent Roman Town, Monmouthshire, South Wales: Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results (Report). Wessex Archaeology. February 2009. Ref:68736.01 via Scribd.
  8. "'Stylish' Roman life found on dig". BBC News. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021.
  9. CADW
  10. Caerwent at Roman-Sites.com "Caerwent". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. Owen, Hywel Wyn (1998). The Place-Names of Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN   0-7083-1458-9.[ page needed ]
  12. Howell, Raymond (1988). A History of Gwent. Gomer Press. p. 34. ISBN   0-86383-338-1.
  13. Rodney Imrie, The Parish Church of St. Stephen and St. Tathan, Caerwent, 2004
  14. A reproduction of the map is at File:Atlas_Ortelius_KB_PPN369376781-011av-011br.jpg
  15. "Before the Flood filming locations — MovieMaps" via moviemaps.org.
  16. Bently, David (7 July 2010). "Captain America to film war scenes in Wales". Coventry Telegraph . Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.