Wroxeter Roman City

Viroconium – Roman Wroxeter – was the fourth largest Roman city in Britain, equal in size to Pompeii and with a population of maybe 10,000 people. It began as a frontier fort, then a legionary fortress and went on to have a 500-year history before fading away. Now, it largely lies under the Shropshire countryside – the visible remains are a small fraction of what once was. The most spectacular piece of ancient masonry, known as ‘the Old Work’ is 20+ feet (7m) high, a tiny part of one wall of an enormous basilica – a public exercise hall the size of a cathedral.  That and the excavated bath complex and a small commercial area provides a fascinating insight into Romano-British urban life at Wroxeter, with the addition of tantalising glimpses into the post-Roman period – the Dark Ages. There is also a reconstructed Roman town house on the site, built using Roman methods. A short walk down the road, along Watling Street (which starts in Richborough, on the Kent coast), is the small, modern, village of Wroxeter. St Andrew’s church has re-used Roman columns as gateposts and an adapted column base as its font.