Caerwent (Venta Silurum) – Quick Facts

Where

Caerwent, Gwent, Wales Map & Website

When

  • Venta Silurum was founded around AD 75, shortly after the 2nd Augusta Legion was based in nearby Isca/Caerleon.
  • The walls of Caerwent date from around the late 3rd century AD.
  • At its peak in the early 4th century it is estimated to have had a population of between 2400 to 3800 people.

What Remains

  • An almost complete walled town enclosing 44 acres or 18 hectares of a mixture of fields, modern village and Roman ruins.
  • The western walls tower 12 feet, amazingly high for extant Roman town walls. In some places the walls almost reach 15 feet, their original ancient height. But what is equally impressive about Caerwent’s ramparts is that they are almost the entire way round. Some of the northeast corner is very low and hidden by shrubs or missing completely.
  • The perimeter is 1.6 kilometer.
  • Foundations of the forum and basilica
  • Foundations of a Celtic-Romano temple. An altar was found in Caerwent that was dedicated to the god Mars-Ocelus.
  • Foundations of houses and shops set among the modern inhabited houses, in some cases the foundations run right up to the fence of one yard.
  • Inside the village church, St. Stephens, there is a large stone with an inscription from the civitas of Venta Silurum to Tiberius Claudius Paulinus, a commander of the 2nd Augusta Legion in Caerleon from AD 211-217. Paulinus later became governor of Britannia Inferior.