Hidden beneath the historic Exeter Cathedral in the United Kingdom lay the remains of an ancient Roman-era street and residence, according to new archaeological findings at the site.
Hidden beneath the Cloister Garden, which once held the medieval cloisters, are the remains of a different time when the Roman Empire ruled most of Britain.
The cloisters themselves were demolished in 1656. Currently, the cathedral is attempting to build a new Cloister Gallery on the site, which is why they are undertaking this archaeological excavation in the first place.
This is further helped by repointing some of the medieval-era walls to help get ready for the construction, such as installing new drainage systems.
Thanks to this new discovery, there is now a clearer picture of what ancient Exeter looked like under Roman rule.
The Exeter Cathedral (Illustrative). (credit: Wikimedia Commons)“The street and early timber buildings date from 50-75 CE and formed elements of the Roman legionary fortress which underlies central Exeter.”
John Allan
Taking a look at Roman-era Britain
“The street and early timber buildings date from 50-75 CE and formed elements of the Roman legionary fortress which underlies central Exeter.”
“The street and early timber buildings date from 50-75 CE and formed elements of the Roman legionary fortress which underlies central Exeter,” cathedral archaeologist John Allan said in a statement. “They probably represent part of a long barrack building which extended towards the grant stone bath-house exposed under the Cathedral Green in the early 1970s. The later stone wall is part of a previously unknown townhouse of the 3rd and 4th centuries.”
The Romans themselves first arrived in the area at around 50 CE and built a town on the river Exe that soon became a town, known to the Romans as Isca.
The town was steadily built up over the years until the collapse of Roman rule on the island. It wouldn’t be for another few centuries before the Germanic Saxons invaded the island and took over that Exeter would be restored and become a thriving urban center.