St. Peblig’s Church
St. Peblig’s Church, or in Welsh, Llanbeblig, is located in Caernarfon in Gwynedd. It is one of the oldest churches in Wales and certainly one of the oldest religious sites. St. Peblig’s is currently adjacent to visible remains of the Roman fort of Segontium. Founded in 433, the church was was built over the top of Roman ruins, including a temple to Mithras, and its graveyard contains graves of Roman soldiers. Peblig is the Welsh name for Publicius, whose father was Magnus Maximus, known in Wales as Macsen Wledig and the ruler of the western Roman empire starting in 383 AD. Peblig’s mother was the daughter of a Welsh chieftain, whom according to legend Macsen saw in a dream while in Rome and eventually came to North Wales, only to find her father ruling from the remains of the Roman fort. Read more…
Wroxeter Roman City
The Roman City of Wroxeter is located five miles southeast of Shrewsbury in the March of Wales. Known as Viroconium and initially established as a fort over a native settlement, Wroxeter became the fourth largest city in Britain with a population of up to 15,000 people. Wroxeter was built at the end of Watling Street, the main Roman road that ran from Dover, through London and across much of Britain.The site was initially established as a jumping off point for the Roman invasion of Wales. Once Wales was conquered, the fort was abandoned by the military and taken over by the civilian population that had settled around it. After the departure of the Romans, Wroxeter continued to be inhabited. In 1967, excavation uncovered the ‘Wroxeter stone’ written in ‘partially Latinized primitive Irish’ and dated to the 5th century when the Read more…
Din Lligwy
Din Lligwy is an ancient fortified village located on the east coast of Anglesey near the village of Moelfre. It dates to the pre-Roman and Roman period but was inhabited by Native Britons. Coins and pottery found here have been dated to the 4th century AD. This was a farming village that is remarkably preserved for being so old. It is one of our very few examples of how local people lived during the Roman occupation of Britain. Still visible today are the foundations of both round and rectangular buildings, all built in using locally available limestone. Large amounts of metallic slag as well as remains of several hearths with charcoal formed from oak were found in one of the large rectangular structures, indicating it was a workshop for the smelting and working of iron. The outer protective wall is Read more…
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