The Ham Nomads

29 Apr 2014. <GB-ENG> Wroxeter, & Ironbridge, Shrops —

Woke up near Wroxeter Roman City, basically the ruins of a basilica/bathhouse of the Roman city Viroconium, which straddled Watling Street in the northern outskirts of the Roman Empire from 95AD for about 500 years. The lane up the side of the site is actually part of the original Watling Street, the old Roman highway. Fascinating site — not really much to be seen, but what is there shows the structure of the bathhouse, with its huge basilica (or exercise area, consisting of a central nave separated from an aisle up each side by a line of 13 columns — yes, it sounds like church architecture, but in fact the early churches adopted this secular design!) Then into the bathhouse itself, from the coolest frigidarium, through the tepidarium to the hottest caldarium — much like a modern Turkish bath! We could see the furnace area and the hypocaust which circulated the hot air beneath the floor of the bathhouse.

A few years ago a BBC4 archaeology program mounted a project to build a Roman villa using entirely Roman building techniques. That happened at this site, and the results of their efforts are still there for all to see. I did ask what happened to the archaeology still beneath it, and was told that the old forum (where the villa was constructed) has been extensively examined, but also a metre of soil was put over the entire area to protect it for future excavations.

After a couple of hours here, we left for Ironbridge, the site of the original Iron Bridge, the first ever cast iron bridge and an icon of the industrial revolution. Opened in 1781, it carried traffic until 1934, when it was declared an Ancient Monument and closed to all but foot traffic. The whole town (like Shrewsbury) revolves around the tourist trade, and there is heaps to do. Although we decided not to visit any of the 10 museums, we had a wonderful time wandering the area — and indulging in a glorious ice cream!

Some of the steps

We walked the woodlands walk up to the Rotunda (up Paradise Lane, round the top, and then down Lincoln Hill). Susie says to mention the 29 thousand steps we climbed up. I think she exaggerates a little, but there were certainly a lot of them! The Rotunda actually designates a lookout point where a rotunda was built around 1790. The rotunda itself has disappeared, but there's still a great view of the Iron Bridge and the rest of the gorge.

The view from the Rotunda

At about 5:30 we decided to set off for our next destination, Stokesay Castle. The Garmin took us cross-country via the inevitable country lanes — Susie drove this time — and we found the site with a good lay-by to camp in overnight. Went down the road to a local pub for tea, then returned to settle down for the night. Stokesay Castle opens up at 10am, and we should be up by then!

Distance driven — today, 43 miles ( 69 km ); to date, 431 miles ( 694 km )