Alchester is the site of an ancient Roman town. The site is not included in any ancient references; hence, the Roman name is not known. However, Eilert Ekwall contended that it appears as Alavna in the Ravenna Cosmography, with the addition of the Old English ceaster to signify a Roman fort. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) south of Bicester, in the northwest corner of the civil parish of Wendlebury in the English county of Oxfordshire.
Alchester had a strategic location in Roman Britain at a crossroads on the Silchester–Dorchester on Thames–Towcester road and the Cirencester–St Albans road (Akeman Street). Recent excavations have shown that it was the site of one of the earliest legionary fortresses in Roman Britain after the invasion of 43 AD.
The site has been the subject of investigation since 1996, firstly under the auspices of Oxford University Archaeological Society, then under those of the University of Leicester and the University of Edinburgh.
Archaeology has revealed that there was an Iron Age settlement close to the later Roman town, and that Roman occupation of the site began in the Claudian period in the form of a fort soon after the invasion of Britain in 43 AD.
From the time of the Roman invasion Alchester was in a strategic position in the border region of the Catuvellauni and Dobunni tribes, and in an ideal position to exercise control over wide areas.
During the first few years after the invasion, a large legionary fortress of the Legio II Augusta commanded by Vespasian was built here. Alchester was situated behind the early military front line of the Fosse Way in an ideal position as a supply base.
After the conquest of most of the rest of Roman Britain, the legion moved to Exeter before AD 68 and abandoned the fortress.
The town continued to grow, helped by its location at a road junction. Walls were built around the town during the turbulent times of the late 3rd century.
Playing-card-shaped enclosures with ditches were shown on aerial photographs taken in 1943–45. Excavations in 1990 focussed initially on the Roman military enclosure near and under the later Roman town, and then on its fortified annex. This proved that the larger enclosure was surrounded by an army-style V-shaped ditch, characteristic of a fort.
The spread in time and frequency of early objects and the buildings shows that the fort was more substantial than a vexillation camp, and existed for a longer time than a temporary camp for use only during the invasion.
Investigation of the gate of the annex revealed two wooden gateposts preserved in waterlogged conditions; dendrochronology gives each of them a felling date of between October AD 44 and March AD 45. The main fortress must have been built earlier, probably in the year of invasion, 43 AD.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Alchester is the site of an ancient Roman town. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Alchester is classified as a Roman fort — a military 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 Merton Roman Camp (0.7 km), Alchester Roman parade ground, access road and marching camp (0.8 km), Two sections of a Roman road on Ot Moor (6.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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