ARCHIVED news story
New excavations at Caistor Roman Town
Released on 21 August 2009
I am particularly pleased that visitors will be able to see archaeology close up on a site at last receiving the public attention it so deserves, and without being a drain on local ratepayers. I look forward to our findings.
Councillor Keith Weeks
Next week, for the first time in 75 years, new excavations will start at the Roman town of Venta Icenorum at present day Caistor St. Edmund.
This follows more than two years of preliminary work by the Caistor Project team, led by Dr Will Bowden (Associate Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Nottingham).
Parts of the site were excavated from 1929-1935 following the publication of dramatic aerial photographs showing the streets and public buildings, but the site has since laid undisturbed.
Dr Bowden said:
“Caistor is one of the most important but least understood sites of Roman Britain. To have the opportunity to excavate here is the chance of a lifetime.”
The Roman town is thought to have been established in the aftermath of Boudica’s rebellion of AD60/61 in which the Iceni tribe sacked Colchester, London and St Albans before being defeated by the Romans. The new town was founded in the heart of the Iceni territory, functioning as its regional capital.
It has long been suspected that the Roman town was built on top of a major Iceni settlement, perhaps a tribal centre. A geophysical survey carried out by the Caistor Project reinforced this impression, showing possible prehistoric features beneath all the areas of the Roman town.
The new excavations, which will take place in the field to the south of the walled town, will target some of these pre-Roman features. The aim is to establish whether the Roman town occupies the site of a much older settlement.
Caistor Roman Town is a Scheduled Ancient Monument owned by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust and managed in partnership with South Norfolk Council.
South Norfolk Councillor Keith Weeks said:
“As a long time member of the Caistor Advisory Board this is the day I have long dreamed of, and am extremely grateful to Dr Will Bowden for his efforts in bringing this about.
“I am particularly pleased that visitors will be able to see archaeology close up on a site at last receiving the public attention it so deserves, and without being a drain on local ratepayers. I look forward to our findings.”
The first turf of the new project will be cut at 9am on Tuesday 25 August by Matthew Martin, Chairman of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, with Philip Fellowes-Prynne, chief executive of May Gurney, and South Norfolk Councillors Trevor Lewis and Keith Weeks, recreating the inauguration of the 1929 excavations shown in a recently discovered photograph.
The excavations will be open to the public, free of charge, 7 days a week from 29 August until 19 September.
Funding for the new project has been raised partly through the University of Nottingham and partly through Caistor Roman Project Ltd, a charitable company set up to help the work.
Funders of the excavation include the Foyle Foundation, the Roman Research Trust, South Norfolk Council and May Gurney, who are providing all the heavy equipment for the project.
Dr Bowden said:
“May Gurney supplied the tools for the original excavations in 1929, so we are particularly pleased that they have agreed to renew their support 80 years later.”
Philip Fellowes-Prynne, chief executive of May Gurney added:
“We’re delighted to repeat our support for the excavation, 80 years since we first helped out. We’ll be supplying wheelbarrows, spades, shovels and other tools to help the archaeological team discover what lies beneath Caistor St. Edmund. It’s extremely intriguing and we’re looking forward to seeing what they uncover at this very important historical site.”
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