Calleva Atrebatum

Calleva Atrebatum
The near-true on north-south, grid pattern enclosed by walls of the city, showing a central forum next to baths and an external building: the amphitheatre and even a possible inn.
Site plan of Calleva Atrebatum, drawn before 1911
Position, almost against the southern border of Berkshire, in Hampshire, England.
Position, almost against the southern border of Berkshire, in Hampshire, England.
Shown within Hampshire
Alternative nameSilchester Roman Town
LocationSilchester, Hampshire, England
RegionBritannia
Coordinates51°21′26″N 1°4′57″W / 51.35722°N 1.08250°W / 51.35722; -1.08250
TypeSettlement
Part ofBritannia, Britannia Superior, then Britannia Prima
AreaApproximately 40 ha (99 acres)
History
BuilderAtrebates tribe
FoundedLate 1st century BC
Abandoned5th to 7th century AD
PeriodsIron Age to Roman Empire
Site notes
ArchaeologistsUniversity of Reading[1] and others
ManagementEnglish Heritage
WebsiteSilchester Roman City Walls and Amphitheatre
OS grid reference: SU639624

Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain.

The modern village of Silchester in Hampshire, England, is about a mile (1.6 km) to the west of the site. The village's parish church of St Mary the Virgin is just within the ancient walls. Most of the site lies within the modern civil parish of Silchester, although the amphitheatre is in the adjoining civil parish of Mortimer West End. The whole of the site is within the local authority district of Basingstoke and Deane and the county of Hampshire.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference unireading was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Election Maps (Map). Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 6 October 2022.