Caerleon Legionary Fortress

Priory Field Excavations 2008

Cardiff University and UCL will be undertaking a campaign of archaeological excavations and geophysical surveys in Caerleon in June and July 2008 to continue the investigation of the remains of Isca, the Second Augustan Legion's permanent fortress in Britain. This website will be updated with regular reports of our progress.

Read our excavation blog

The project will consist of two connected parts: area excavation of one wing of a courtyard building in Priory Field (probably a warehouse or store-building) and geophysical survey in areas outside the south-western defences of the fortress.

This project, directed by Dr. Peter Guest and Dr. Andrew Gardner, is generously supported by Cadw, National Roman Legion Museum, and many members of the Caerleon community.

The Aims of the Project

The results of the excavation of the courtyard building will provide us with new information about the storage facilities, provisioning and supply of a legion in Britain. Also, there is a good chance that the excavations will tell us about the history of Caerleon at the end of the Roman period in Britain, when it is believed that the Second Augustan Legion was moved from Isca to Cardiff and finally Richborough in Kent.

This will be the first research excavation conducted on a military store-building building in Britain: store-buildings are a largely unknown feature of legionary fortresses not just in Britain, but across the empire. While buildings of potentially similar function have been located in fortresses along the Rhine and Danube, these structures have not been excavated using modern techniques like those at Caerleon.

More on the project's background

Visiting the Site

Public tours will be available twice daily during the excavation season, which runs from June 16th - July 25th 2008 (excluding Saturdays). A guide will meet visitors at the gate to Priory Field on The Broadway (next to the amphitheatre car park) at 11 am and 2.30 pm.

All are welcome to the Open Days on the 28th and 29th June 2008 when Caerleon hosts the Roman Military Spectacular. There will be tours running throughout the weekend, displays of the latest finds and lots of activities for everyone including the chance to take part in a ‘mini-dig’.

National Archaeology Week will take place from 12th – 20th July 2008 and there will be a number of events during this week, not only at Caerleon, but also at Cosmeston Mediaeval Village in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Cardiff University and UCL are also taking part in National Archaeology Week. Please see www.cardiff.ac.uk/events∞ (or ring 02920 876 936) and www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/events/∞ for more details

Contacts

Email the Directors at:
andrew.gardner@ucl.ac.uk
guestp@Cardiff.ac.uk

Useful Links

Caerleon.net www.caerleon.net∞
Caerleon Research Committee: www.cf.ac.uk/hisar/archaeology/crc/∞
Cardiff School of History & Archaeology: www.cf.ac.uk/hisar/aboutus/archaeology∞
Cadw: www.cadw.wales.gov.uk∞
Council for British Archaeology: www.britarch.ac.uk∞
National Archaeology Week: www.nationalarchaeologyweek.org.uk/index.php∞
National Roman Legion Museum: www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/caerleon∞
UCL Institute of Archaeology: www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology∞

Project Sponsors and Supporters

We are very grateful for the support of:
Cadw, Cardiff University, UCL, National Roman Legion Museum, the Caerleon Research Committee, Archaeology South-East, and the Caerleon community.

References

Guest, P and Young, T. 2006 'Mapping Isca: geophysical investigation of Priory Field, Caerleon', Archaeologia Cambrensis 155, 117-33.

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