Scheduled MonumentsEnglandVenta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains

Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains

England
List entry 1021463
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1021463
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
98.36 hectares
Grid reference
TG2304903249
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Venta Icenorum is a Roman town situated near Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, England, which served as the principal settlement and administrative centre of the Iceni tribe during the first and second centuries AD. The site comprises the substantial remains of the Roman town, including defensive earthworks and street patterns visible as surface features, together with earlier Iron Age occupation and later Anglo-Saxon and medieval activity that accumulated on and around the Roman core. Founded in the first century AD following the Roman conquest of Britain, Venta Icenorum flourished as a walled town with markets, administrative buildings, and residential areas before declining in the late Roman period. The monument presents an important record of Roman urban development in East Anglia and the long sequence of settlement occupation spanning from prehistoric times through the medieval period.

Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1021463. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains?

Venta Icenorum is a Roman town situated near Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, England, which served as the principal settlement and administrative centre of the Iceni tribe during the first and second centuries AD. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1021463.

Who is responsible for protecting Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains?

Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1021463.

What other scheduled monuments are near Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Anglo-Saxon cemetery SW of Markshall Farm (0.8 km), Multi phased site dating from the Neolithic to the Anglo-Saxon period east of Harford Farm (1.2 km), Roman sites outside town walls (1.3 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains

Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains stands on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

The wider landscape

Around Venta Icenorum: Roman town and associated prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains

Caistor St EdmundsRoman town · ~0.2 miles