Cricklade lies in the upper Thames valley in north Wiltshire, near the confluence of the Thames and Churn, and on the line of Ermin Street running between Corinium (Cirencester) and Calleva (Silchester). A Romano-British settlement is attested in the vicinity from the 1st to 4th centuries A.D., though the principal nucleated occupation of the Cricklade site itself is Late Saxon (a burh of Alfredian date); the Roman activity here appears to have been a roadside or rural settlement rather than a major town.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its significance lies in its position on Ermin Street close to a Thames crossing, giving it a likely role as a minor staging or agricultural settlement within the hinterland of Corinium, in a landscape densely occupied by villas and farms exploiting the fertile Cotswold fringe.
Roman finds from in and around Cricklade include pottery, coins, and building debris recovered during work on the medieval defences and within the town, but no large-scale excavation has defined the layout, extent, or function of the Romano-British settlement, and its character remains poorly understood compared with neighbouring sites such as Latton and Cirencester.
Cricklade lies in the upper Thames valley in north Wiltshire, near the confluence of the Thames and Churn, and on the line of Ermin Street running between Corinium (Cirencester) and Calleva (Silchester). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Cricklade 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 Romano-British villa at Kingshill Farm (2.1 km), Roman rural sanctuary on Groundwell Ridge, east of Lady Lane (5.9 km), Roman villa and earlier settlement remains 1120m east of Harnhill Manor (6.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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