Roman Circus Discovered at Colchester
A Roman circus has been discovered at the ancient town of Colchester in Essex.
An expert on the Roman period from the British Museum in London recently said that he was certain that a Roman circus would be discovered in Britain one day, and that he was all but certain that it would be at Colchester.
He was right.
Colchester is the oldest town in Britain. Not only was it an important Roman town, it was the capital of civilised Britain even before the arrival of the Romans. It was here that the great Cunobelin (Shakespeare's Cymbeline) held sway.
This amazingly old town has much of its town walls still standing. Unlike Canterbury, Chester, Chichester and York, however, these are not mediaeval walls. They are Roman Walls. Not only that, but the mighty Colchester Castle stands on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius.
Colchester's Roman circus was discovered when builders moved in to create a new housing estate on part of the land used by the army as barracks.
The builders have pledged that they will mark out the extent of the circus once excavations are completed and the housing built.
Posted by colin on Sunday 19th November, 2006 at 7:01pm