Duroliponte or Durolipons was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of what is now the city of Cambridge.
The site of Roman Cambridge is located on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre. The fort (Latin: castrum) was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present Mount Pleasant, continuing across Huntingdon Road into Clare Street. The eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettle's Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill.
It was originally an Iron Age hillfort in which the Romans may have constructed a small military station about AD 70. The settlement seems to have become civilian in nature around fifty years later. Most of the buildings discovered so far were of timber construction. They had both tiled and thatched roofs and some had painted plaster internal walls. Only one stone building has been located. The town went into decline during the 3rd century, but expanded after its walled defences were put in place a hundred years later. There were four gates and a cemetery to the south. Occupation seems to have continued until the Roman departure from Britain around 410, but it has been identified as the Cair Grauth listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons and the invading Saxons had begun occupying the area by the end of the century.
The settlement was served by the River Cam (then still known as the Granta) and two Roman roads: Akeman Street ran from Ermine Street north east through Cambridge to The Fens and the Via Devana ran northwest through the town on its way to Godmanchester.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Duroliponte or Durolipons was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of what is now the city of Cambridge. The site of Roman Cambridge is located on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Duroliponte 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 Arbury Road (2.2 km), Romano-British settlement site SW of Trumpington (4.9 km), Hey Hill: a Roman barrow 260m south west of Lord's Bridge (7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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