Charterhouse is a name used for a former Roman-British town, located west of the later village of Charterhouse-on-Mendip in Somerset, England. A nearby pre-Roman Iron Age hill fort, Charterhouse Camp, is also located nearby.
The Latin name of the town in the Roman era is unknown; it may have been Iscalis , but this is far from certain. [1] Based on inscriptions on a pig of Roman lead BRIT. EX. ARG. VEB, meaning "British (lead) from the VEB... lead-silver works", the Roman name has also been reconstructed as Vebriacum (in which case, Iscalis was more likely at the future site of Cheddar, Somerset). [2]
The Roman landscape has been designated as a scheduled monument. [3]
The settlement grew up around the north-western edge of prehistoric lead and silver mines, which were exploited by the Romans. [4] Mendip lead ore had up to 0.4% silver content, which the Romans used to pay the army. [5] Extraction is thought to have begun as early as AD 49 [6] (although the evidence of dateable lead ingots found in the neighbourhood has recently been questioned. [7] ) At first the lead and silver industries were tightly controlled by the Roman military (in the south-west, by the Second Legion [8] ) and there was a small 'fortlet' adjoining the mines during the 1st century, which may, however, have been little more than a fortified compound for storing lead pigs. [9] After a short time, the extraction of these metals was contracted out to civilian companies, probably because of low silver content. [10] Smelting was undertaken on site where industrial workshops have been excavated, [11] and the metal exported along a minor road to the Fosse Way, and probably through a small inland port at nearby Cheddar. [8]
An amphitheatre stood west of the settlement. [12] It is the only one in England to exist at a lead mine and is additional evidence of the importance of Mendip lead to the Romans. [13] It measures 32 m x 24.4 m and the banks for the seating survive 4.5 m above the arena. It was surveyed in 1909. It was probably a place of entertainment for the soldiers at the Roman fort which was established here. [14]