The Towns of Roman Britain

by J. O. Bevan

Before the invasion of Cæsar, a tribe of the Belgae from Gaul had taken possession of a large portion of South Britain, including Kent.

The principal Roman road was the Watling Street, between Dover and London, which followed much the same course as the modern highway. This road was joined at Canterbury by two others, proceeding respectively from Lympne and Reculver. Two other important Roman stations may be distinguished, Durolevum and Vagniacae, the one probably by Faversham, the other by Springhead, near Gravesend. The important position of modern Canterbury is affirmed by the fact that no fewer than 16 roads and railway routes now converge upon the city. So, too, in the olden time, it was a great nerve-centre, and the mid-point of the important Roman fortresses of Dover, Richborough, Reculver, and Lympne.

The Roman remains found throughout Kent are numerous and important. There were potteries of purple or black ware at Upchurch, on the S. bank of the Medway. Leaden coffins, elaborately ornamented glass and bronze vessels, and gold and silver ornaments, have been found in Roman cemeteries. The city itself occupies the site of the Roman Durovernum (Celtic, dwr—water), and was established upon that ford of the Stour at which the roads from the four harbour-fortresses before mentioned became united into the one great military way through Britain, which became known as Watling Street in later times. The Romans do not seem (at least towards the end of their occupation) to have made the city a military centre, or given it a permanent garrison, but rather to have used it as a halting place for troops on the march. In a commercial sense (lying, as it did, in the direct path of all the south-eastern continental traffic of Britain) its importance at this epoch must have been considerable. The Cathedral stands on the site of a church founded in Roman times, and given by King Ethelbert (together with his own palace adjacent) to Augustine and his monks. St. Pancras (the foundations of which have now been uncovered) was originally Ethelbert's "Idol-house"; and St. Martin's, the sanctuary where the King's christian queen, Bertha, worshipped under the tutelage of Bishop Luithard. The structures existing in Ethelbert's day were destroyed, and ultimately the cathedral was entirely rebuilt by Lanfranc (1005-1089); to this additions were made by Anselm (1033-1109), and by succeeding builders even as late as 1495, when the addition of Goldstone's Central Tower left the Cathedral as we have it to-day.

St. Martin's Church cannot be dismissed in a summary manner. It is said by Bede to have been built whilst the Romans still occupied Britain. It is dedicated to the well-known Bishop of Tours (371-397). Certainly the nave shows evidences of Roman workmanship and plaster. A high arch has recently been discovered in the west wall, on each side of which is a window, apparently Roman in its origin, but which has been subsequently lengthened out by Saxon or Norman builders. The chancel, originally but 20 feet long, is variously conjectured to be Roman work or to have been built by St. Augustine. There is a square-headed Roman doorway and a round-headed Saxon one, in the south wall; also an early English sedile, bordered by Roman tiles on the same side, eastward.

The writer, the present Rector of Chillenden, feels a peculiar pleasure in recalling the fact that two of the Priors took their names from his parish, viz., Adam de Chillenden (d. 1274) and Thomas de Chillenden (d. 1411). The name of the latter, in the Diocesan Calendar, is distinguished by bold type, by reason of the fact that between 1370 and 1410, the present nave and transepts of Canterbury Cathedral, with the middle part of the present central tower, were built upon Lanfranc's old foundations by the Convent under his superintendence, assisted as he was by King Richard II and Archbishops Courtenay and Arundel. The Chapel of St. Michael, the Warriors' Chapel, was also added to by him. Moreover to him is due the building of most of the cloisters, the great Dormitory windows, the vaulting here and along the north alley, as also the foliated window-like screens in the latter alley.

The house in the precincts, known as Chillenden Chambers, was used in mediæval times for the reception of pilgrims. It has been occupied for some years by Dr. Walsh, Bishop of Dover.

CARDIFF.—Castle on the Taff, in the County of Glamorgan.

The position between the rivers Taff and Rhymney, as also between the mountains and the sea, marked out this site, probably to the Romans, certainly to the Normans, as a favourable position for a fortified station. The remains of the Keep of the Castle still exist, and the church of St. John has venerable memories. The buildings of the Blackfriars and Greyfriars have long ago disappeared. The old church of St. Mary, too, was washed away by the sea. To the west, beyond the suburb of Canton, the foundations of Roman buildings have been uncovered and various objects of interest found and lodged in the National Museum.