Wroxeter

From Free net encyclopedia

Wroxeter is a village in the county of Shropshire, England, on the east bank of the River Severn, at Template:Gbmapping. It is located on the site of the Roman city of Viroconium, known in Welsh as Caer Guircon. Viroconium was the forth largest civitas in Roman Britain. As Caer Guircon it served as the early dark ages capital of the kingdom of Powys. Mercian encrochment forced the Welsh to move to Mathrafal castle sometime before 717.

Some impressive standing ruins from Viroconium are located just outside the village, where there is also a small museum. There is a vineyard in the village (Wroxeter Roman Vineyard), which is the only commercial one in the county and since 2004 holds the record for growing the most northerly red wine grapes in the world.

Wroxeter is the only large Roman settlement in Britain that did not grow into a large town or city. There is considerable debate about why this is. One school of thought is that a major event such a flood (still a regular occurrence in the area) caused the population to up sticks and move to Shrewsbury. This suggestion is, however, disputed. Another suggestion is that the Roman defences of the city were too demanding (in manpower and to maintain) for the post-Roman era inhabitants and so the site of Shrewsbury was chosen as it is more easily defended.

Wroxeter is about 5 miles south-east of the town of Shrewsbury and is near to the village of Atcham. The Royal Mail postcode begins SY4.

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