Letocetum
Encyclopedia
Letocetum is the remains of a Roman
settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street
, the Roman military road to North Wales
(now the A5 road), and Icknield (or Ryknild) Street
(now the A38
). The site is now within the parish of Wall
, Staffordshire
, England
. It is owned and run by the National Trust
, under the name Letocetum Roman Baths Site & Museum. The site is in the guardianship of English Heritage
as Wall Roman Site.
The Romans came to Letocetum in 50 CE to establish a fortress during the early years of the invasion of Britain
. The land could not support large amounts of soldiers and Letocetum, at an important cross-roads, became a large scale posting station. The settlement developed with successive bath houses and mansiones built to serve the official travellers as well as the growing civilian population. It is known mainly from detailed excavations in 1912–13, which concentrated on the sites of the mansio
and bath-house, but there is evidence of a substantial settlement with possible basilica, temples, and amphitheatre.
The remains visible today are those of the stone bath house and mansio, built in approximately 130 CE after Letocetum ceased to have a military function and became a civilian settlement. The settlement reached its peak during the 2nd and 3rd centuries and at this time occupied 8.1–12 hectares (20–30 acres). At the end of the 3rd century the town relocated within high defensive walls astride Watling Street
. After the Romans left early in the 5th century the settlement went into decline. The modern village of Wall
emerged in the land once occupied by Letocetum.
and is interpreted as the Latinised version of the Brythonic
"Letoceton"; leto — grey, ceton — wooded area. Literally meaning grey wooded area or grey forest which may refer to the native ash and elm
trees which would have covered the land at the time. It later appears in Welsh when it or nearby Lichfield
are called "Caer Lwytgoed", modern Welsh
llwyd — grey, coed — wood.
whose later tribal centre was at Ratae Corieltauvorum
, and the Cornovii to the west with their capital at the Wrekin hillfort. These tribes offered little resistance to Roman rule.
built a large timber fortress on a hilltop (near the site of the current church) at Letocetum. This housed the Legio XIV Gemina
during the campaigns of governor Aulus Didius Gallus
against the Brigantes
. It was a good defensive position, but the poor farmland surrounding the fortress could not support large numbers of soldiers. During the Nero
nian period this initial fortress was replaced with a smaller one and Letocetum then developed into a large-scale posting station. Most of the troops moved to the fortress at Viroconium
during the early administration of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
in about 58 CE.
A mansio
was built to provide lodging for official couriers travelling on Watling Street
. A bath house was also built for the travellers and the growing civilian population. When the first mansio and bath house were completed, workers were needed to provide wood for the bath house, look after animals, and repair vehicles to be used by the official travellers. The civilian population would have provided many of these services. The native settlement grew during the Flavian
period onwards to occupy 8.1 –. Roman burials with 1st and 2nd century pottery were found along Watling Street in 1927, and more in 1966. In the field between the mansio site and Watling Street, a round depression in the ground may mark the site of a Roman amphitheatre
. A large earthenware vessel in the likeness of Minerva
was found near the modern church, which may therefore be the site of a temple of Minerva. A rectangular crop-mark in the field to the north-west of the bath-house, only visible in dry weather, may be the site of another temple.
When the Legion XIV first settled at Letocetum they would have used existing trackways. A stone-surfaced road was needed to allow reliable movement. Watling Street was given a stone surface past Letocetum in about 70 CE. This date is approximated from two coins found in the centre of Letocetum beneath the first road surfacing. There is no evidence to indicate when Ryknild Street was constructed, but from the layout it is thought that Watling Street was built first. Watling Street stretched from Letocetum to London
in one direction and to Wroxeter
and Chester
in the other. Ryknild Street, 7.3 metres (24 ft) wide where it crossed with Watling Street, connected Letocetum with Cirencester
to the south west and Yorkshire
to the north east.
The hillside had been terraced and the first mansio, whose construction is dated to 54–60 CE, fully occupied one terrace. It was of a sleeper beam construction, the walls were wattle and daub
, some were plastered and some were painted with simple linear decoration. It has been assumed the roof was thatch and was consumed when the building was destroyed by fire. The rooms were arranged around a square courtyard approximately 19 x. Due to the construction of later buildings the known layout of the first mansio is very fragmentary. The date at which the first mansio was destroyed is uncertain, it was probably near the beginning of the 2nd century, as the destruction layers contained Flavian
-Trajan
ic samian-ware
, part of a mortarium dating from 70–100 CE and part of a glass bowl which has been dated to the 2nd century.
The evidence for the layout of the second mansio is also very fragmentary. It was a courtyard building constructed with posts set vertically in foundation trenches.The walls were plaster and daub and some rooms were painted in vivid colours. In the courtyard was a large well 2.29 x and 6.1 metres (20 ft) deep, cut into the underlying sandstone
. The second mansio was deliberately dismantled in about 140–150 CE during construction of the third mansio. The well was filled in at this time and contained a samian sherd
dated 125–145 CE. About the same time the second hilltop fort was abandoned and the town ceased to be a military site. One of the last military features at Letocetum was the "punic ditch" associated with this last small fort. The ditch was filled before any secondary silt formed and the filling contained a Trajanic coin dated 98–117 CE and pottery suggesting a Hadrian
ic or early Antonine date.
The earliest bath-house was discovered during an excavation in 1956. In a construction trench of the very first building was a worn coin of Vespasian
dated 71 CE, due to the condition of the coin it is believed that this building was erected around 100 CE. It is thought that this building was built during the military period as the surviving masonry is of high quality with finely dressed stone and a wall some 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) thick. It is thought that the second mansio, the last fort, and the first bath house all ended approximately at the end of the military period on the site.
of the Cornovii with its capital at Viroconium Cornoviorum. About this time that a new mansio and bath house were built.
The third and best-understood mansio was built on a stone base about 130 CE. It was at least two storeys high and fronted by a colonnade with a tiled roof, probably supported on wooden columns. In the centre of the colonnade, a large door formed the main entrance to the interior of the building. Through the entrance hall was a colonnaded atrium
or courtyard with a plastered floor, the central area probably being open to the sky and perhaps containing a herbaceous garden. Timber posts resting on these foundations around the edges of the colonnade supported a balcony above.
The entrance hall was flanked on either side by similarly sized rooms probably accessible from the central courtyard. The one on the west contained washing facilities and a gutter leading to a soak-away in the central part of the building, the room to the east may possibly have been a guardroom. On the western side of the courtyard were three small rooms which opened out onto the central colonnade at ground level. The function of these rooms is uncertain, but they were probably used as private accommodation for users of the mansio. The largest room in the mansio lay in the north-east corner, the chamber was heated by a channeled hypocaust
system added some time after the building was first completed.
To the west of the mansio lay the public bath-house, separated from it by a cobbled road between 2.4 and 3 m (7.9 and 9.8 ft) wide. From the street, a paved area led into a colonnade fronting the building on the east and continuing round the north side. Large doors in the centre of the eastern colonnade opened into a large, covered courtyard. This courtyard may have been a basilica
; a settlement of this size would be expected to have one, and this is the only candidate on the site. At the far north end of the bath complex was the stoke-room or praefurnium
, which contained the wood-fired furnaces of the hypocaust system. This underfloor heating system was present in the tepidarium
, the caldarium
and the laconicum
where the floors were supported on pillars of tiles or pilae. The hot combustion gases from the stoke-room furnaces circulated under the floor between these pillars and were drawn up around the sides of the building through box tiles embedded in the walls, to escape finally through vents in the barrel-vaulted roof.
It is thought that the construction of these defences was related to a general uprising of the Welsh tribes, the Ordovices
and Silures
, that occurred at this time. The revolt was soon quelled, but, to guard against further disruptions, a series of strongholds including Letocetum, Pennocrucium
, and Uxacona
were established along the length of Watling Street. All 4th century archaeological remains have come from within the defences and none from outside, suggesting that the whole population were within the defences by the 4th century. The latest coin to be found at Letocetum was minted in the time of the Emperor Gratian
and dated to 381 CE. Roman administration collapsed at the beginning of the 5th century and nothing has been found at the site that is datable after this time.
, London
, Chester
, Wroxeter
and Caerleon
but nevertheless must have been a place of important consequence because of its inclusion as a strategic city." The late defences led to its description as a Caer
and a British, possibly Powys
ian, outpost was established there. We have no knowledge of the period immediately after the Roman departure as no historical or archaeological evidence is present.
Letocetum lost all importance with the development of nearby Lichfield
in the 7th century as the seat of a Bishop
. When the place again emerged historically it was under a new name, Wall. This name referred to the remains of the late Roman defences, parts of which were still standing in the early 19th century.
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, the Roman military road to North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
(now the A5 road), and Icknield (or Ryknild) Street
Icknield Street
Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in Britain that runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Templeborough in South Yorkshire...
(now the A38
A38 road
The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
). The site is now within the parish of Wall
Wall, Staffordshire
Wall is a small village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, just south of Lichfield. It lies on the site of the Roman settlement of Letocetum.The nearby junction of the A5 and A5127 roads and the M6 Toll motorway is often referred to as Wall junction....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is owned and run by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, under the name Letocetum Roman Baths Site & Museum. The site is in the guardianship of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as Wall Roman Site.
The Romans came to Letocetum in 50 CE to establish a fortress during the early years of the invasion of Britain
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
. The land could not support large amounts of soldiers and Letocetum, at an important cross-roads, became a large scale posting station. The settlement developed with successive bath houses and mansiones built to serve the official travellers as well as the growing civilian population. It is known mainly from detailed excavations in 1912–13, which concentrated on the sites of the mansio
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
and bath-house, but there is evidence of a substantial settlement with possible basilica, temples, and amphitheatre.
The remains visible today are those of the stone bath house and mansio, built in approximately 130 CE after Letocetum ceased to have a military function and became a civilian settlement. The settlement reached its peak during the 2nd and 3rd centuries and at this time occupied 8.1–12 hectares (20–30 acres). At the end of the 3rd century the town relocated within high defensive walls astride Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
. After the Romans left early in the 5th century the settlement went into decline. The modern village of Wall
Wall, Staffordshire
Wall is a small village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, just south of Lichfield. It lies on the site of the Roman settlement of Letocetum.The nearby junction of the A5 and A5127 roads and the M6 Toll motorway is often referred to as Wall junction....
emerged in the land once occupied by Letocetum.
Etymology
The site is mentioned as "Etocetum" in the Antonine ItineraryAntonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another...
and is interpreted as the Latinised version of the Brythonic
British language
The British language was an ancient Celtic language spoken in Britain.British language may also refer to:* Any of the Languages of the United Kingdom.*The Welsh language or the Brythonic languages more generally* British English...
"Letoceton"; leto — grey, ceton — wooded area. Literally meaning grey wooded area or grey forest which may refer to the native ash and elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
trees which would have covered the land at the time. It later appears in Welsh when it or nearby Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
are called "Caer Lwytgoed", modern Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
llwyd — grey, coed — wood.
Native settlement
It is likely that a small native settlement occupied the site before the advent of the Romans, possibly as the main trading station on the boundary between two British tribes, the Corieltauvi in the East MidlandsEast Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
whose later tribal centre was at Ratae Corieltauvorum
Ratae Corieltauvorum
Ratae Corieltauvorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Leicester, located in the English county of Leicestershire.-Name:...
, and the Cornovii to the west with their capital at the Wrekin hillfort. These tribes offered little resistance to Roman rule.
Military staging post
In about 50 CE, a Roman vexillatioVexillatio
A vexillatio was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Roman Army of the Principate. It was named from the standards carried by legionary detachments, vexillum , which bore the emblem and name of the parent legion...
built a large timber fortress on a hilltop (near the site of the current church) at Letocetum. This housed the Legio XIV Gemina
Legio XIV Gemina
Legio quarta decima Gemina was a legion of the Roman Empire, levied by Julius Caesar in late 58 B.C. The cognomen Gemina suggests that the legion resulted from fusion of two previous ones, one of them being the Fourteenth legion that fought in the Battle of Alesia, the other being the Martia ...
during the campaigns of governor Aulus Didius Gallus
Aulus Didius Gallus
Aulus Didius Gallus was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century AD. He was governor of Britain between 52 and 57 AD.-Career:The career of Aulus Didius Gallus up to 51 can be partly reconstructed from an inscription from Olympia. He was quaestor under Tiberius, probably in 19...
against the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
. It was a good defensive position, but the poor farmland surrounding the fortress could not support large numbers of soldiers. During the Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
nian period this initial fortress was replaced with a smaller one and Letocetum then developed into a large-scale posting station. Most of the troops moved to the fortress at Viroconium
Viroconium
Viroconium Cornoviorum, or simply Viroconium , was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by the small village of Wroxeter in the English county of Shropshire, about east-south-east of Shrewsbury...
during the early administration of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica.-Career:...
in about 58 CE.
Posting station
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
was built to provide lodging for official couriers travelling on Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
. A bath house was also built for the travellers and the growing civilian population. When the first mansio and bath house were completed, workers were needed to provide wood for the bath house, look after animals, and repair vehicles to be used by the official travellers. The civilian population would have provided many of these services. The native settlement grew during the Flavian
Flavian dynasty
The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
period onwards to occupy 8.1 –. Roman burials with 1st and 2nd century pottery were found along Watling Street in 1927, and more in 1966. In the field between the mansio site and Watling Street, a round depression in the ground may mark the site of a Roman amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
. A large earthenware vessel in the likeness of Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
was found near the modern church, which may therefore be the site of a temple of Minerva. A rectangular crop-mark in the field to the north-west of the bath-house, only visible in dry weather, may be the site of another temple.
When the Legion XIV first settled at Letocetum they would have used existing trackways. A stone-surfaced road was needed to allow reliable movement. Watling Street was given a stone surface past Letocetum in about 70 CE. This date is approximated from two coins found in the centre of Letocetum beneath the first road surfacing. There is no evidence to indicate when Ryknild Street was constructed, but from the layout it is thought that Watling Street was built first. Watling Street stretched from Letocetum to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in one direction and to Wroxeter
Wroxeter
Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington and is located in the Severn Valley about south-east of Shrewsbury.-History:...
and Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
in the other. Ryknild Street, 7.3 metres (24 ft) wide where it crossed with Watling Street, connected Letocetum with Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
to the south west and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
to the north east.
Early mansiones and bath houses
The foundations of the last mansio built at the site, and its associated bath-house, were uncovered by archaeologists in 1912–13. The rooms of both the mansio and bath-house were emptied and the stone foundations were exposed. This work left, in some lower stratified levels, traces of the two earlier wooden mansiones.The hillside had been terraced and the first mansio, whose construction is dated to 54–60 CE, fully occupied one terrace. It was of a sleeper beam construction, the walls were wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
, some were plastered and some were painted with simple linear decoration. It has been assumed the roof was thatch and was consumed when the building was destroyed by fire. The rooms were arranged around a square courtyard approximately 19 x. Due to the construction of later buildings the known layout of the first mansio is very fragmentary. The date at which the first mansio was destroyed is uncertain, it was probably near the beginning of the 2nd century, as the destruction layers contained Flavian
Flavian dynasty
The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
-Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
ic samian-ware
Terra sigillata
Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of the Roman Empire; and more recently, as a description...
, part of a mortarium dating from 70–100 CE and part of a glass bowl which has been dated to the 2nd century.
The evidence for the layout of the second mansio is also very fragmentary. It was a courtyard building constructed with posts set vertically in foundation trenches.The walls were plaster and daub and some rooms were painted in vivid colours. In the courtyard was a large well 2.29 x and 6.1 metres (20 ft) deep, cut into the underlying sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. The second mansio was deliberately dismantled in about 140–150 CE during construction of the third mansio. The well was filled in at this time and contained a samian sherd
Sherd
In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well....
dated 125–145 CE. About the same time the second hilltop fort was abandoned and the town ceased to be a military site. One of the last military features at Letocetum was the "punic ditch" associated with this last small fort. The ditch was filled before any secondary silt formed and the filling contained a Trajanic coin dated 98–117 CE and pottery suggesting a Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
ic or early Antonine date.
The earliest bath-house was discovered during an excavation in 1956. In a construction trench of the very first building was a worn coin of Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
dated 71 CE, due to the condition of the coin it is believed that this building was erected around 100 CE. It is thought that this building was built during the military period as the surviving masonry is of high quality with finely dressed stone and a wall some 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) thick. It is thought that the second mansio, the last fort, and the first bath house all ended approximately at the end of the military period on the site.
Civilian development; the third mansio and second bath-house
Letocetum ceased to be used by the military after about 130 CE, probably leaving the town under the authority of the civitasCivitas
In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...
of the Cornovii with its capital at Viroconium Cornoviorum. About this time that a new mansio and bath house were built.
The third and best-understood mansio was built on a stone base about 130 CE. It was at least two storeys high and fronted by a colonnade with a tiled roof, probably supported on wooden columns. In the centre of the colonnade, a large door formed the main entrance to the interior of the building. Through the entrance hall was a colonnaded atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
or courtyard with a plastered floor, the central area probably being open to the sky and perhaps containing a herbaceous garden. Timber posts resting on these foundations around the edges of the colonnade supported a balcony above.
The entrance hall was flanked on either side by similarly sized rooms probably accessible from the central courtyard. The one on the west contained washing facilities and a gutter leading to a soak-away in the central part of the building, the room to the east may possibly have been a guardroom. On the western side of the courtyard were three small rooms which opened out onto the central colonnade at ground level. The function of these rooms is uncertain, but they were probably used as private accommodation for users of the mansio. The largest room in the mansio lay in the north-east corner, the chamber was heated by a channeled hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
system added some time after the building was first completed.
To the west of the mansio lay the public bath-house, separated from it by a cobbled road between 2.4 and 3 m (7.9 and 9.8 ft) wide. From the street, a paved area led into a colonnade fronting the building on the east and continuing round the north side. Large doors in the centre of the eastern colonnade opened into a large, covered courtyard. This courtyard may have been a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
; a settlement of this size would be expected to have one, and this is the only candidate on the site. At the far north end of the bath complex was the stoke-room or praefurnium
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
, which contained the wood-fired furnaces of the hypocaust system. This underfloor heating system was present in the tepidarium
Tepidarium
The tepidarium was the warm bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system.The specialty of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from the walls and floor.There is an interesting example at Pompeii; this...
, the caldarium
Caldarium
right|thumb|230px|Caldarium from the Roman Baths at [[Bath, England]]. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor....
and the laconicum
Laconicum
Laconicum , the dry sweating room of the Roman thermae, contiguous to the caldarium or hot room. The name was given to it as being the only form of warm bath that the Spartans admitted...
where the floors were supported on pillars of tiles or pilae. The hot combustion gases from the stoke-room furnaces circulated under the floor between these pillars and were drawn up around the sides of the building through box tiles embedded in the walls, to escape finally through vents in the barrel-vaulted roof.
Late Roman defences; abandoned mansio and bath-house
Letocetum lost its public buildings near the end of the 3rd century; the bath-house and mansio were destroyed by fire. Around this time, very solid defences were built which did not include the bath-house or mansio sites. The reason the bath-house and mansio were abandoned can not be determined but the reason was probably economic. Other mansio sites around Britain appear to have been abandoned at this time. This did not imply an end to the posting service at Letocetum, it may have been a less costly reorganization. The late defences were built in about 300 CE astride Watling Street, approximately 150 metres (492.1 ft) east of the mansio site. The defences consisted of a stone wall about 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) thick, fronted by three ditches and with a contemporary turf rampart to the rear, the area within the walls was 2.1 hectares (5.2 acre). The northern and western sides were identified and sectioned in 1964 and the foundations of a wall at the south west corner were uncovered. On the western side a section of wall was found still standing 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) high above shallow foundations but below the ploughed soil. The wall is believed to have been built within the period 275–325 CE.It is thought that the construction of these defences was related to a general uprising of the Welsh tribes, the Ordovices
Ordovices
The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in Great Britain, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in present day Wales and England between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east...
and Silures
Silures
The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire of present day South Wales; and possibly Gloucestershire and Herefordshire of present day England...
, that occurred at this time. The revolt was soon quelled, but, to guard against further disruptions, a series of strongholds including Letocetum, Pennocrucium
Pennocrucium
Pennocrucium was a Romano-British settlement and military complex located at present day Water Eaton, just south of Penkridge, Staffordshire, with evidence of occupation from the mid-1st century until the 4th century....
, and Uxacona
Uxacona
Uxacona was a Romano-British settlement located near to present-day Oakengates, Shropshire.The settlement lies at the highest point of the Roman Watling Street, approximately 11 miles from Viroconium Cornoviorum to the west, and 11 miles from Pennocrucium to the east...
were established along the length of Watling Street. All 4th century archaeological remains have come from within the defences and none from outside, suggesting that the whole population were within the defences by the 4th century. The latest coin to be found at Letocetum was minted in the time of the Emperor Gratian
Gratian
Gratian was Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers...
and dated to 381 CE. Roman administration collapsed at the beginning of the 5th century and nothing has been found at the site that is datable after this time.
Post-Roman abandonment and later re-occupation
The settlement must have been significant for some time; it is listed in the 9th century Historia Brittonum, and Reno writes "Wall, appearing as Cair Luitcoyt, and undoubtedly correctly ascribed, appears rather incongruously among such major towns and military depots as YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Wroxeter
Wroxeter
Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington and is located in the Severn Valley about south-east of Shrewsbury.-History:...
and Caerleon
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
but nevertheless must have been a place of important consequence because of its inclusion as a strategic city." The late defences led to its description as a Caer
Caer
In the Welsh language, caer means "fortress", "fort" or "citadel"/"castle".Caer is the Welsh name for the city of Chester, situated in northwest England. It also forms, as a prefix, the Welsh equivalent of -caster, -cester and -chester in place names...
and a British, possibly Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
ian, outpost was established there. We have no knowledge of the period immediately after the Roman departure as no historical or archaeological evidence is present.
Letocetum lost all importance with the development of nearby Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
in the 7th century as the seat of a Bishop
Bishop of Lichfield
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 4,516 km² of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed...
. When the place again emerged historically it was under a new name, Wall. This name referred to the remains of the late Roman defences, parts of which were still standing in the early 19th century.