Britain's first pre-Roman planned town found

In the 1st century AD Roman rule came to Britain and it was thought that the Romans brought with them 'town planning' but an Iron age site near Reading in central southern England has cast doubts on that theory.

Ancient Britons may of been more organised and urban than previously thought. The site shows signs of planing and that the locals had access to imported Olive Oil and Wine.

Prof Mike Fulford, an archaeologist at the University of Reading, said the people of Iron Age Silchester appear to have adopted an urbanised 'Roman' way of living, long before the Romans arrived.

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The site is also of interest as the town appears to have been burnt to the ground at some point and this may of occurred during Boudica's rebellion.

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It is known from the Annals of Tacitus that Boudicca and her army laid waste to the Roman towns of Colchester (Camulodunum), London (Londinium) and St Albans (Verulamium), but could Silchester have been a fourth, previously unknown Roman settlement to fall victim to Boudicca's rebellion?

Caratacus is also thought to be linked to the site through coins found.

Before the Roman invasion Caratacus participated in battles which expanded the territory of his tribe. His success only led to Roman invasion, nominally in support of his defeated enemies. Resisting the Romans, he mixed guerrilla warfare with set-piece battles, but was unsuccessful in the latter. After his final defeat he fled to the territory of Queen Cartimandua, who captured him and handed him over to the Romans. He was sentenced to death as a military prisoner, but made a speech before his execution that persuaded the Emperor Claudius to spare him.

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link to full story

Thanks for posting that!

Britain and its lost or hidden history is living and breathing proof how 'history education' can be used to cause total amnesia amongst the future generations.

The British have NO IDEA of their rich cultural past BEFORE they were so rudely invaded by the barbarians of the time, the Romans.

Once the British History, REAL British History was wiped from the memories of the majority the rich science and knowledge was stolen and the Future to come was hidden. Britain was a highly scientific community, not some backward nation and the people in general will never know what has been taken and hidden from them because they will never know to look!

Originally posted by Elliot
Thanks for posting that!

Britain and its lost or hidden history is living and breathing proof how 'history education' can be used to cause total amnesia amongst the future generations.

The British have NO IDEA of their rich cultural past BEFORE they were so rudely invaded by the barbarians of the time, the Romans.

Once the British History, REAL British History was wiped from the memories of the majority the rich science and knowledge was stolen and the Future to come was hidden. Britain was a highly scientific community, not some backward nation and the people in general will never know what has been taken and hidden from them because they will never know to look!

A huge part of that reason is the britons had no written language of their own before the romans showed up, therefore there was no history for them as a people before Rome unless it was passed down verbally. None of the island tribes had written language.

Many ancient peoples were forgotten and alot of human history has been lost for this very reason, paper does not survive the millenia as well as stone or hardened clay. This is why many ancient civilizations such as the Sumerians wrote down their histories in clay tablets and baked them into brick hard texts.

Originally posted by Elliot
Thanks for posting that!

your welcome

Originally posted by Elliot
The British have NO IDEA of their rich cultural past BEFORE they were so rudely invaded by the barbarians of the time, the Romans.

I totally agree!

Originally posted by Elliot
Once the British History, REAL British History was wiped from the memories of the majority the rich science and knowledge was stolen and the Future to come was hidden. Britain was a highly scientific community, not some backward nation and the people in general will never know what has been taken and hidden from them because they will never know to look!

I think that we can blame the Romans and Christians for that! Ancient Britian's Pagan heritage was systematically erased.

Excellent post, thank you! S&Fs Looking forward to any additional information you may post on this subject.

Fantastic find.

Fantastic post!!!

I am always intrigued about such findings, I love the way our archaeologist / historians are surprised by the fact that we the British were more advanced than magic mushroom eating nutters!!

One only needs to look at Skara brae too realise this!

Jah bless

I would guess that the idea of "town planning" was imported from the Roman world, along with wine and oil and the idea of having coins.
What this find shows is that the Romans did not need to be on the spot to have influence. "Cultural radiation", as Toynbee calls it.

reply to post by DISRAELI


I personally do not believe town planning was imported, check out Skara Brae, its a neolithic site, on the Orkney islands, and is extremely ahead of its time considering it is neolithic.

Jah bless

That Boudica, how do you say that? Boo-da-kie? Is so, that's interesting. When I was a young boy, I would find myself saying that name quite a lot even though I'd never heard it before. Like saying it to myself. Hmm, wonder if we're related or something? You never know.

By the way, good topic OP. Great job. Star and Flag for you friend.

To have a planned out town, all you need is 1 anal-retentive type, with knolwedge of how basic townships are set up over time, and a way to lay it out. I'm quite sure that planned towns happen far more frequently than we thinl.

Originally posted by Dubninja
reply to post by DISRAELI

 

I personally do not believe town planning was imported, check out Skara Brae, its a neolithic site, on the Orkney islands, and is extremely ahead of its time considering it is neolithic.

Hiya, I need to have a good read about Skara Brae, funny because in Cornwall we use the word 'Brea' (it means hill or similar in Cornish), and is pronounced 'Bray'..... I had a quick look at Skara Brae and it looks very similar to a Cornish site I wrote a thread on a while back called Chysauster

reply to post by J.Son79


Hi, yes I agree Boudica is a fascinating character and she managed to give the Romans a seriously bloody nose. Im never quite sure how you pronounce the name either, when I was younger it was pronounced Bow-da-see-ah but i think its more common to pronounce it Boo-dick-ah

Fantastic thanks for info. Since I was a young lad I have always thought Britain was more advanced than we are taught..

This amber cup was found in an oak coffin in my neck of the woods.. the oak of the coffin dates to 1500BC while the amber itself comes from the Baltic showing trade links existed between the two. the Cup was buried along with Mycenaean style bronze dagger and a celt.

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I hope many more finds like this come along

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Wow that is very nice! Where was it found?

reply to post by Versa


It was found in Hove (next to Brighton) on the Sussex coast.. As a young lad our history teacher took us there and we where able to hold the cup (as if that would be possible now) but it is considered one of Britains finest bronze age finds.

While the Mycenaean element clearly shows the level of trade routes that existed at the time.. one has to wonder with an early connection to Homers culture why there was no transference of culture/language/writing.

I simply don't believe they didn't have a written language and wait for the day we find proof of that belief and your op takes us one step closer

Amber Cup of Hove

reply to post by Versa


I've always been aware of our iron age settlements! This is no mystery!

Where do you think boudicca came from?

We built roads and towns before the romans came here!....We had a monetary based economy!
Many coins have been found in digs all over the country!....Most Iron age coins found have been dated to being burried around the early part of AD1!!

Maybe this is Why the Romans pushed all the way north to reach here anyway!!


British Iron Age

reply to post by Versa


Me again!

Chysauster

My personal favorite Iron age village!

The houses are about 30m in diameter, and roughly circular, their internal courtyards have a diameter of about 8m. Several of the houses seem to have been built on artificial platforms that served to level their sites. The design of the houses is quite complex, but they all have broadly similar layouts, with the exception of house 3, which appears to have been a semi-detached dwelling. Of the eight houses 3,4,5,6 and 7 survive in recognisable form, but houses 4 and 6 are by far the best preserved.

reply to post by zerozero00


Hiya, funnily enough I did a thread on Chysauster a while ago link to thread, my fave iron age village too

Originally posted by zerozero00
reply to post by Versa

 

I've always been aware of our iron age settlements! This is no mystery!

Where do you think boudicca came from?

Yes I am aware of our iron age settlements, I think whats interesting here is the 'planning' aspect to the town, although I think villages like Chysauster do show clear evidence of planing but on a smaller scale.... The history is there but very difficult to uncover because the Romans portrayed the Ancient Britons as less than 'civilised'