Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
in
Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest a ...
. Situated on the
River Usk, it lies northeast of
Newport city centre
Newport city centre is traditionally regarded as the area of Newport, Wales bounded by the west bank of the River Usk, the George Street Bridge, the eastern flank of Stow Hill and the South Wales Main Line. Most of the city centre is containe ...
, and southeast of
Cwmbran
Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...
. Caerleon is of
archaeological importance, being the site of a notable
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
legionary
fortress,
Isca Augusta
Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban village of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...
, and an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
. Close to the remains of Isca Augusta are the
National Roman Legion Museum
The National Roman Legion Museum (Wales) ( cy, Amgueddfa Lleng Rufeinig Cymru) is a museum in Caerleon, near Newport, south-east Wales. It is one of three Roman sites in Caerleon, along with the Baths museum and the open-air ruins of the amphit ...
and the
Roman Baths Museum
The Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths museum ( cy, Caer a Baddonau Rhufeinig Caerllion Amgueddfa) is a historical site located in the town of Caerleon, South Wales. Near to the city of Newport, it is run by the Welsh historic environment serv ...
. The town also has strong historical and literary associations:
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
elevated the significance of Caerleon as a major centre of British history in his ''
Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...
'' (c. 1136), and
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
wrote ''
Idylls of the King'' (1859–1885) while staying in Caerleon.
History
Pre-Roman history
The area around Caerleon is of considerable
archaeological interest with a number of important
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
sites. By the
Iron age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
, the area was home to the powerful
Silures tribe and appears to have been the centre of a wealthy trading network, both manufacturing and importing
La Tène style goods. Since the fifth century BC, the town was the location of a great Iron Age hillfort crowning a hill overlooking the Usk and what would become the Roman port. The Hillfort at Lodge Wood Camp is defended by three lines of massive ramparts and ditches and is the largest fortified enclosure in South Wales.
The excavation in 2000 found that the hillfort had been continuously occupied from its founding in the fifth century BC until the construction and occupation of
Isca Augusta
Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban village of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...
around 78AD. There is no evidence that the fort was taken militarily and the abandoning of the fort may have been part of the terms of peace. The fort was reoccupied during the Roman period and remained in use following the
end of Roman rule in Britain, suggesting some version of the Pre-Roman society survived the occupation.
Roman Era
![Roman Legions camps - AD 80](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Roman_Legions_camps_-_AD_80.png)
Caerleon is a site of considerable
archaeological importance as the location of a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
legionary fortress or ''
castra''. It was the headquarters for
Legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory ...
from about 75 to 300 AD, and on the hill above was the site of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
.
The
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
called the site ''Isca'' after the River Usk (Welsh ''Wysg''). The name ''Caerleon'' may derive from the
Welsh for "fortress of the
legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army
* Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
"; around 800 AD it was referred to as ''Cair Legeion guar Uisc''.
![Aerial view of Caerleon Roman amphitheatre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Aerial_view_of_Caerleon_Roman_amphitheatre.jpg)
Substantial excavated Roman remains can be seen, including the military
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
, ''
thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...
'' (baths) and barracks occupied by the
Roman Legion
The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...
. In August 2011 the remains of a Roman
harbour were discovered in Caerleon. According to
Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
, followed by
Bede, Roman Caerleon was the site of two
early Christian martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s, those of
Julius and Aaron
Julius and Aaron (also Julian) were two Romano-British Christian saints who were martyred around the third century. Along with Saint Alban, they are the only named Christian martyrs from Roman Britain. Most historians place the martyrdom in Ca ...
. Recent finds suggest Roman occupation of some kind as late as AD 380. Roman remains have also been discovered at
The Mynde, itself a distinctive historical site.
Middle Ages
Caerleon remained an important administrative and religious centre for the
Kingdom of Gwent
Gwent ( owl, Guent) was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighb ...
, and was an early
Metropolitan See
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a ...
associated with Saint
Dubricius
Dubricius or Dubric ( cy, Dyfrig; Norman-French: ''Devereux''; c. 465 – c. 550) was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng ( cy, Erging) (later Archenfield, Herefordshire) and much ...
(who is commonly depicted with two
crosier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...
s, signifying the Bishoprics of Caerleon and
Llandaff
Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...
).
[Toke, Leslie. "St. Dubric." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 14 April 2015]
/ref> At the Synod of Brefi
The Synod of Brefi was a church council held at Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion, Wales, around 545.
The synod was apparently called in order to condemn the heretical teachings of Pelagius. It was an important milestone in the rise of Saint David. ...
in 545AD, Dubricius is said to have given the See of Caerleon to Saint David, who would later move the seat to '' Mynyw''. Caerleon was also the location of the Synod of Victory, officiated by Saint David around 569AD.
Another medieval saint, Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learni ...
is associated with the church built over the ''principia'' (legionary headquarters). Saint Cadoc's Church, is one of many churches associated with Cadoc's travels, and may have been the location of a monastic cell in the sixth century.
Norman era
A Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
-style motte and bailey castle was built outside the eastern corner of the old Roman fort, possibly by the Welsh Lord of Caerleon, Caradog ap Gruffydd
Caradog ap Gruffydd (died 1081) was a Prince of Gwent in south-east Wales in the time of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the Norman conquest, who reunified his family's inheritance of Morgannwg and made repeated attempts to reunite southern Wales ...
. The Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086 recorded that a small colony of eight carucates
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
of land (about 1.5 square miles) in the jurisdiction of Caerleon, seemingly just within the Welsh Lordship of Gwynllwg
Gwynllŵg was a kingdom of mediaeval Wales and later a Norman lordship and then a cantref.
Location
It was named after Gwynllyw, its 5th century or 6th century ruler and consisted of the coastal plain stretching between the Rhymney and Usk ...
, was held by Turstin FitzRolf
Turstin fitz Rolf, also known as Turstin le Blanc and Tustein fitz Rou (Old Norse: ''Þorsteinn Hrólfsson'') played a prominent role in the Norman conquest of England and is regarded as one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror ...
, standard bearer to William the Conqueror at Hastings, subject to William d'Ecouis, a magnate of unknown antecedents with lands in Hereford, Norfolk and other counties. Also listed on the manor were three Welshmen with as many ploughs and carucates, who continued their Welsh customs (''leges Walensi viventes'').[ Caerleon itself may have remained in Welsh hands, or may have changed hands frequently.]
From the apparent banishment of Turstin by William II, Turstin's lands were transferred in 1088 by Wynebald de Ballon
Wynebald de Ballon (variously spelt Baalun, Baalan, Balun, Balodun, Balon etc.), (c.1058–c.1126), was an early Norman magnate. He appeared in England during the reign of William Rufus, along with his brother, Hamelin de Ballon, later create ...
, brother of Hamelin de Ballon
Hamelin de Ballon (or Baalun, Baalan, Balun, Balodun, Balon, etc.) (born ca. 1060, died 5 March 1105/6) was an early Norman Baron and the first Baron Abergavenny and Lord of Over Gwent and Abergavenny; he also served William Rufus.J. Horace Ro ...
who held Abergavenny further up the River Usk. At about the same time as Wynebald's lands may have passed via his daughter to Henry Newmarch, possible illegitimate son of Bernard de Newmarch, c. 1155 the Welsh Lord of Caerleon, Morgan ab Owain, grandson of King Caradog ap Gruffudd, was recognized by Henry II. Subsequently, Caerleon continued in Welsh hands, subject to occasional battles with the Normans. Caerleon was an important market and port and possibly became a borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
by 1171, although no independent charters exist. In 1171 Iorwerth ab Owain and his two sons destroyed the town of Caerleon and burned the Castle. Both castle and borough were seized by William Marshal
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...
from Morgan ap Hywel in 1217 and Caerleon castle was rebuilt in stone. The remains of many of the old Roman buildings stood to some height until this time and were probably demolished for their building materials.
Glyndŵr Rising
During the Glyndŵr Rising
The Welsh Revolt (also called the Glyndŵr Rising or Last War of Independence) ( cy, Rhyfel Glyndŵr) or ( cy, Gwrthryfel Glyndŵr) was a Welsh rebellion in Wales led by Owain Glyndŵr against the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ag ...
in 1402 Rhys Gethin, General for Owain Glyndŵr, took Caerleon Castle together with those of Newport, Cardiff, Llandaff, Abergavenny, Caerphilly and Usk by force. This was probably the last time Caerleon castle was ruined, though the walls were still standing in 1537 and the castle ruins only finally collapsed in 1739 - their most obvious remnant is the Round Tower at the Hanbury Arms public house. The Tower is a Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
.
English Civil War
Across the Afon Lwyd
The Afon Lwyd or Afon Llwyd ( en, 'grey river') is a long river in south-east Wales which flows from its source northwest of Blaenavon, through Abersychan, Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, Llanfrechfa and Cwmbran before flowing, at Caerleon, into the ...
from Caerleon, in the region of Penrhos Farm, are two Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
forts. In 1648 Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
's troops camped overnight on Christchurch Hill, overlooking Newport, before their attack on Newport Castle
Newport Castle ( cy, Castell Casnewydd) is a ruined castle in Newport, Wales. It was built in the 14th century, probably by Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester or his son-in-law, Ralph, Earl of Stafford, with the purpose of managing the c ...
the next day.
18th and 19th centuries
The old wooden bridge was destroyed in a storm in 1779 and the present stone bridge was erected in the early 19th century. Until the Victorian development of the downstream docks at Newport Docks
Newport Docks is the collective name for a group of docks in the city of Newport, south-east Wales.
By the eighteenth century there were a number of wharves on the west shore of the River Usk; iron and coal were the principal outward traffic. Th ...
, Caerleon acted as the major port on the River Usk. The wharf was located on the right bank, to the west of today's river bridge which marked the limit of navigability for masted ships. A tinplate
Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture ...
works and mills were established on the outskirts of the town, in Ponthir, around this time, and Caerleon expanded to become almost joined to Newport.
A plaque on the Mynde wall in High Street references the Newport Rising
The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartism, Chartist sympathisers, under ...
of 1839 in which John Frost of Newport was a prominent figure in the Chartist movement. John Jenkins, owner of Mynde House and owner of Ponthir Tinplate Works, built the wall to keep demonstrators out.
The name of the former Drovers' Arms on Goldcroft Common bore witness to the ancient drovers' road
A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; ot ...
on the old road from Malpas. It is thought that the common itself was once the site of a cattle market.
Modern histories
An informative and wide-ranging history of Caerleon was published in 1970 by local amateur historian Primrose Hockey MBE, who was a founder member of Caerleon Local History Society. An archive of her local history collection is kept by the Gwent Record Office.
In Welsh mythology and literature
Welsh mythology
Caerleon features frequently in various works connected with Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celti ...
and Medieval Welsh literature
Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing to ...
.
In book three of his '' Historia Regum Britanniæ'', Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
, gives the founder of the city as Belinus
Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.
Earning the crown
In an effort to ...
, the mythical King of the Britons. According to Geoffrey, Belinus repaired and founded many cities during a period of great wealth, he named this city "''Caerosc''" (Caer
Caer (; owl, cair or ') is a placename element in Welsh meaning "stronghold", "fortress", or "citadel", roughly equivalent to an Old English suffix (''-ceaster'') now variously written as , , and .Allen, Grant.