Silchester is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

about north of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. It is adjacent to the county boundary with

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

and about south-west of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of

Calleva Atrebatum 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 villa ...

, an Iron Age and later

Atrebates The Atrebates (Gaulish: *''Atrebatis'', 'dwellers, land-owners, possessors of the soil') were a Belgic tribe of the Iron Age and the Roman period, originally dwelling in the Artois region. After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by ...

Celtic settlement first occupied by the Romans in about AD 45, and which includes what is considered the best-preserved Roman wall in Great Britain and the remains of what may be one of the oldest Christian churches.

Location

The present village is centred on Silchester Common. It is about west of the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

and former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

(now Manor Farm), which are in the eastern part of the former Roman town.

Local government

Silchester is a civil parish with an elected parish council. Silchester parish is in the ward of Pamber and Silchester, part of Basingstoke and Deane District Council and of Hampshire County Council and all three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government. The ward returns two councillors to the borough council. The 2011 census recorded a parish population of 921.

Transport

Silchester Common is served (as of October 2017) by bus route 14 between Basingstoke, Chineham Shopping Centre, Bramley, Little London, Silchester Common and Tadley, operated by Stagecoach on Monday to Saturday.

Manor

''Silcester'' was recorded in the 11th century, when one Alestan held a manor here with King

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æt ...

as his overlord and one Cheping held another manor with Earl Harold Godwinson as his overlord.Page, 1911, pages 51–56 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 manusc ...

of 1086 recorded that the Normans William De Ow and Ralph de Mortimer possessed Alestan's and Cheping's manors respectively. The book assessed Alestan's manor at five hides and Mortimer's at three hides. De Mortimer's tenant was another Norman, Ralph Bluet. In 1204 he or a later Ralph Bluet gave a

palfrey A palfrey is a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth gaited one that could amble, suitable for riding over long distances. Palfreys were not a specific bree ...

horse in exchange for a licence to enclose an area of land south-east of the former Roman town as a deer park. Today parts of the earthwork

park pale A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

survive and parts of the former park remain wooded. Forms of the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

included ''Ciltestere'' and ''Cilcestre'' in the 13th century, ''Scilchestre'' in the 14th century and ''Sylkchester'' in the 18th century before it reached its current spelling. The Irish peer Murrough Boyle, 1st Viscount Blesington (1685–1718) bought the manor in 1704 and it remained with his hereditary heirs until the death of William Stewart, 1st Earl of Blessington in 1769. In 1778 it was inherited jointly by

Thomas Vesey, 1st Viscount de Vesci The Rt Hon. Thomas Vesey, 1st Viscount de Vesci and 2nd Baron Knapton ( 1735 – 13 October 1804), was an Anglo-Irish peer. Lord de Vesci was the son of the 1st Baron Knapton and Elizabeth Brownlow. He succeeded to his father's peerage on 25 J ...

and

Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford Edward Michael Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford (1 April 1743 – 3 June 1792) was an Irish sailor and landowner. Early life Pakenham was the son of Thomas Pakenham, 1st Baron Longford and Elizabeth Cuffe, 1st Countess of Longford. His parents had ...

. In 1806 Baron Longford's daughter The Hon. Catherine Pakenham married Arthur Wellesley, who in 1814 was created

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

. In 1821 Catherine's brother

Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford, (14 May 1774 – 28 May 1835), known as The Lord Longford between 1792 and 1794, was an Anglo-Irish peer. Background Pakenham was the eldest son of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford, by Catherine Rowley ...

was created Baron Silchester, but in 1828 he and John, 2nd Viscount de Vesci sold the manor of Silchester to the Duke. In the first decade of the 20th century Arthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington still owned the manor of Silchester.

Church and chapel

The

of St Mary the Virgin is just within the walls of the former Roman town, possibly on the site of a Roman temple. The building may contain some re-used Roman materials. The building dates from the late 12th or early 13th century.Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 505 It has a north and south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...

, each of two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

. There is no chancel arch, and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

is longer than the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

. The wall of the south aisle was rebuilt in about 1325–50, incorporating an ogee-arched tomb recess containing the effigy of a lady wearing a wimple. Two new windows were added to the church in the 14th century, and two more including the

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

east window of the chancel in the 15th century. The church has a Perpendicular Gothic rood screen. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

was made early in the 18th century but its tester is dated 1639. There is also a carved memorial cartouche to the Irish peer

Viscount Ikerrin Earl of Carrick, in the barony of Iffa and Offa East, County Tipperary, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. First creation The title was first created in 1315 for Sir Edmund Butler, Justiciar of Ireland, by King Edward II. The title is link ...

(died 1712). The bell-turret has a ring of five bells. Four were cast by John Stares of Aldbourne,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in 1744. The other was cast by William Taylor of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1848. There is a

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teaching ...

chapel on Silchester Common.

Iron Age and Roman town

'' was 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 mostly ...

'' oppidum'' and subsequently a town in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Grea ...

and the ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

'' capital of the ''

'' tribe. Its ruins are beneath and to the west of the parish church, which is itself just within the town wall and about to the east of the modern village. The site covers an area of over within a polygonal earthwork. The earthworks and extensive ruined walls are still visible. The remains of the

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 ...

, added about AD 70–80 and situated outside the city walls, can also be clearly seen. The area inside the walls is now largely farmland with no visible distinguishing features, other than the enclosing earthworks and walls, with the church and old manor house in one corner. Silchester was the subject of antiquarian interest from the 16th century onwards. The bronze

Silchester eagle The Silchester eagle is a Roman bronze casting dating from the first or second century CE, uncovered in 1866 at Calleva Atrebatum in Silchester, Hampshire, England. It was purchased in 1980 by Reading Museum in Berkshire where it remains on displ ...

was discovered in the

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

at Calleva in 1866 and can now be seen in Reading Museum. The most extensive excavations were carried out by the Society of Antiquaries from 1890 until 1909 under George E. Fox and W. H. St. J. Hope. During excavations carried out in 1893, the Silchester Ogham stone was located. Dated c. 500 AD, it is one of very few found in England. It is now held in storage at Reading Museum. The inscription on the ogham stone was in the Latin alphabet, but in Irish and appears to be indicating that the property belonged to someone named Tebicatos. The precise identity of Tebicatos remains a mystery, but it is possible that he was a pilgrim or a mercenary. Analysis of plant remains shows that Calleva residents had access to typcal foods eaten in Roman Britain, such as

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

coriander Coriander (;

, and cultivated fruits. They also received imports of exotic medlar and

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 ident ...

fruits. Calleva was finally abandoned in the 7th century, which is unusually late compared to other deserted Roman settlement.

Amenities

Silchester's sole

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

is the Calleva Arms, named after the former Roman town of ''

'' that lies within the village boundary. It was known as The Crown prior to being renamed. The parish has regular events and village activities through the year including a beer festival, fun run, church fete, and music festival. The village has an

amateur dramatic society Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as ...

and a village association. Silchester Cricket Club compete in Regional Division Three North East in the Hampshire Cricket League.

School

Silchester has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

aided primary school. Most Silchester children of secondary school age attend

The Hurst School The Hurst School, previously The Hurst Community College, is a state secondary school in the village of Baughurst, within the county of Hampshire in England. Jayne McLaren is the Headteacher and was appointed in January 2021. The school has just ...

in Baughurst.

Awards

Silchester was voted "Hampshire Village of the Year" (2008) and "South England Village of the Year" (2009) in the Calor Village of the Year competition.

Silchester Environs Project

The University of Reading is leading a five-year archaeological research project to explore the later prehistoric use of the landscape around Silchester Roman Town and its underlying Late Iron Age oppidum (ancient Celtic fortified town). To date (2020) the project has identified 671 new archaeological sites, from the Neolithic through to WWII, in addition to the 267 already known. A number of reports on the archaeological investigations have been published by Historic England.

Notable persons

Alys Fowler Alys Fowler (born 9 November 1977) is a British horticulturist and journalist. She was a presenter on the long-running BBC television programme ''Gardeners' World''. Early life and education Fowler was born in Silchester, Hampshire, and had a ru ...

- gardener * Earl of Longford - from 1821 peerage of Baron Silchester * Thomas Pakenham (historian) * Thomas Powys - clergyman * William Stewart, 1st Earl of Blessington - buried Silchester * James Crowdy (cricketer) * Richard Carte - composer *

Dudley Fishburn John Dudley Fishburn (born 8 June 1946) is a British businessman, journalist, and politician. He was Executive Editor of ''The Economist'' and Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (MP) for Kensington (UK Parliament constituency), Kensing ...

Jonathan Shipley Jonathan Shipley (1714 – 6 December 1788) was a clergyman who held offices in the Church of England (including Dean of Winchester from 1760 to 1769), who became Bishop of Llandaff from January to September 1769 and Bishop of St Asaph from Sep ...

- clergyman * Victoria Monks - music hall singer

References

Sources and further reading

* * * * *

External links

*
Excavations of Roman remains by Reading universityBritish History Victorian account of the village
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Civil parishes in Basingstoke and Deane