Exeter was founded by the Roman army. Around
AD 50-55 the site now occupied by the centre of the city, hitherto
simply open farmland, was chosen for a new legionary fortress -
the winter headquarters of the Second Augustan legion during its
conquest of South-West England. The legion must have been attracted
to the site by its commanding position over the lowest crossing
place over the river Exe, defended on two sides by steep valleys.
Its name Isca was adopted from the ancient Celtic name for the Exe;
it simply means water or river. The modern name Exeter developed
from this. |
The new fortress was of typical ‘playing card'
shape - a rectangle with rounded corners - covering an area of 42
acres whose centre was close to the modern crossing of High Street
and Fore Street, South Street and North Street. It was defended
by a circuit of an earth and timber rampart fronted by a deep ditch,
with gates and towers at regular intervals. Within was a grid of
streets and densely packed timber buildings which accommodated the
6000 or so soldiers who formed the legion. The fortress provided
not only accommodation - long barracks for each century of soldiers,
with separate houses for the senior officers - but like a self-contained
town catered for all the needs of an army at war: granaries for
the corn supply, a hospital for the wounded, a workshop where weapons
and armour could be made and repaired, and a bath-house for the
soldiers' leisure. Around the edges of the fortress were the barracks
in which they were housed; at its centre were more vulnerable buildings,
such as the hospital, workshops, granaries and the headquarters
building.
Only a small part of the fortress has been excavated
by the city's archaeologists, but sufficient information has been
recovered to offer a reconstruction of its layout. Portions of barracks
have been recovered on several sites, with parts of granaries, the
workshops and other structures.
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