Ariconium was a substantial Romano-British roadside settlement at Weston-under-Penyard in Herefordshire, occupied from the mid-1st century AD through to at least the late 4th century. It functioned principally as a major iron-production centre exploiting the ore deposits of the Forest of Dean, and grew into a sprawling industrial settlement of perhaps 25–30 hectares, served by the road running from Glevum (Gloucester) westwards towards Blestium (Monmouth) and the Wye.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Ariconium was one of the most important iron-smelting sites in Roman Britain, supplying iron from the Dean orefield on an industrial scale and likely playing a role in military as well as civilian supply. Its name survives in the early medieval kingdom of Ercing/Archenfield, suggesting it remained a recognised place into the post-Roman period and is mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary (Iter XIII).
Fieldwork — notably Jack's early 20th-century excavations and more recent geophysical survey and fieldwalking by Jackson and others (published 2012) — has revealed extensive slag heaps, smelting furnaces, building plots, enclosures, and a road network, together with quantities of pottery, coins (including a notable assemblage suggestive of military presence in the early period), and metalwork. No stone-built public buildings or defences have been identified, and the settlement appears to have been an unplanned
Ariconium was a substantial Romano-British roadside settlement at Weston-under-Penyard in Herefordshire, occupied 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.
Ariconium 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 Huntsham (7.6 km), Roman villa E of the Rectory (13.3 km), Section of Roman road at Blackpool Bridge (15 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Ariconium