Columns

I went on a Roman walking tour around Winchester a couple of years ago. In Roman times Winchester was called Venta Belgarum meaning marketplace of the Belgae (a local tribe). If you come to Winchester looking for Roman ruins you may be disappointed I'm afraid, but I do recall on the walk that they thought these pillars in the Cathedral Close might be of Roman origin.

Flooring

Here at the Cathedral where they sell second hand books I noticed this mosaic flooring. This Roman pavement was found in Dome Alley (nearby to the cathedral) in 1880 and was placed here with 2 fragments found in Rome and some English medieval tiles.

Venta

Keeping with the Roman theme from yesterday's post, the mosaic here is in the City Museum, it was excavated from a Roman villa in the late 1960s in Sparsholt, a rural area to the west of Winchester. The mosaic had been protected by a metre of soil and rubble and the only damage was a hole made by a tree root (to the right of the photo).

Forgotten Emperor

The Winchester Discovery Centre (Winchester's Library) currently has an exhibition on "The Forgotten Emperor" that is the Roman Emperor Carausius. Winchester is more associated with the Saxons (King Alfred the Great etc) than the Romans, but long before the Saxons the Romans ruled Winchester, from 70-410 AD. In those days Winchester was called Venta Belgarum, meaning the marketplace of the Belgae (a local tribe).

In the late 3rd century AD the Roman British Feet was commanded by Carausius. Britain was often raided by pirates looking for treasure and slaves and it was Carausius's job to stop them. However there were allegations of corruption, theft and pirate deals, which lead to Carausius's execution being ordered by Rome. When Carausius learned of this sentence he responded by declaring himself Emperor of Britain and northern Gaul (France). He appears to have appealed to native British dissatisfaction with Roman rule, he issued his own coins printed with Restitutor Britanniae (Restorer of Britain) and Genius Britanniae (Spirit of Britain). However he was eventually assassinated by a rival in 296AD.

Unfortunately there is now very little that is visible of the old Roman town above ground in Winchester. At the exhibition there are a number of local finds, below some of the coins Carausius had minted

And a Roman Amphora found nearby in Southampton water

St John the Baptist Church

This is another one of the many places of worship in Winchester and is on St John's Street on the way up to St Giles Hill. It's believed to be the oldest parish church in Winchester. The church building was certainly in existence in 1142, though its exact age remains elusive. Parts of the building may have been significantly older, since the church stands in the middle of an important fourth century Roman-British cemetery. This area became a quite prosperous, partly due to the growth of the St Giles Fair on the hill above the church.

The first scholars at Winchester College attended St John's Church when lodging in the area and whilst the college was being built. The church is also on Pilgrims Way and was one of the last churches that pilgrims would attend before setting out for Canterbury.