Great Chesterford in northwest Essex was the site of an early Roman auxiliary fort, established c. AD 43–60 in the immediate post-conquest period, occupying a strategic position on the River Cam near the Icknield Way. Following the fort's abandonment, a substantial Romano-British small town developed on the site through the 2nd–4th centuries, eventually enclosed by a stone wall and ditch circuit of around 14 hectares — one of the largest walled towns in the region.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort was among the earliest military installations in eastern England, controlling movement between the territories of the Trinovantes/Catuvellauni and the Iceni in the years leading up to and following the Boudican revolt. The successor town became an important nucleated settlement and likely market centre on the route between Colchester and Cambridge, with notable Roman and later Anglo-Saxon cemeteries reflecting continuity of occupation into the post-Roman period.
Aerial photography and excavation (notably by Vivien Swan, and later work in the 1950s and 1980s–90s) have revealed the fort's defensive ditches, the town walls, internal streets, a possible temple complex, and substantial finds assemblages including military equipment of Claudio-Neronian date. The associated cemeteries have yielded important late Roman inhumations and a major early Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavated in the 1950s, providing rare evidence for the transition from Ro
Great Chesterford in northwest Essex was the site of an early Roman auxiliary fort, established c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman fort, Roman town, Roman and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Great Chesterford 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 Great Chesterford (0.3 km), Roman villa site S of Rose Villa (0.9 km), Romano-Celtic temple 400m south of Dell's Farm (0.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Roman fort, Roman town, Roman and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Great Chesterford