Abonae (also Abona) was a small Roman port on the south bank of the River Avon at Sea Mills, on the western fringe of modern Bristol, active from the mid-1st century AD through to at least the late 4th century. Founded c. AD 47–50 as a supply base linked to the early Roman advance into the south-west and Wales, it developed into a modest roadside settlement and crossing point, listed as a station on Iter XIV of the Antonine Itinerary between Venta Silurum (Caerwent) and Aquae Sulis (Bath).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its principal role was as a transhipment point on the Severn Estuary, providing a sheltered tidal anchorage at the mouth of the Avon for traffic between southern Britain and the legionary fortress at Caerleon (Isca Silurum) and the wider Welsh frontier. It anchored the western end of the road from Bath, making it a key node in the regional military supply and communications network.
Excavations from the 1930s onwards (notably by Boon and later rescue work) have revealed stone-founded buildings, a possible mansio or courtyard structure, hypocausts, a cemetery, and quantities of 1st–4th century pottery, coinage and metalwork; harbour installations themselves have not been securely identified, likely lost to later river action. The site remains only partly understood, with much lying beneath the modern suburb of Sea Mills.
Abonae (also Abona) was a small Roman port on the south bank of the River Avon at Sea Mills, on the western fringe of modern Bristol, active from the mid-1st century AD through to at least the late 4th century. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
‘Abone’ is classified as a Roman settlement — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Kings Weston Roman Villa (1.3 km), Part of the Roman Settlement of Abonae (1.5 km), Blaise Castle, Iron Age hillfort, Roman and medieval remains, and post-medieval garden (1.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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