According to a recent poll, the four hundred years when the Romans were in Britain are among the country’s favourite periods in history. (If you missed the survey, the two world wars and Victoria’s reign are also very popular.) Exeter has a notable place in our country’s Roman history --- just look at the number of local companies that use the Roman name “Isca”! With long stretches of Roman walls still standing (despite the two world wars and Victorians), we have every right to be proud of our city’s Roman links.
Earlier this year, as was noted in this Newsletter, the author John Pamment Salvatore published a history of Roman Exeter (“Exeter A Roman Legionary Fortress and Civitas Capital”), This brought together the results of archaeological digs in and around the city over the last fifty or so years, most notably the Roman legionary bathhouse that lies under Cathedral Green and the west front of the cathedral. At about the same time, excavations for the Guildhall revealed more evidence of the size of the legionary fortress. The fortress ceased to be important for the army when the Romans moved to Caerleon and a military headquarters in South Wales. So from about 80AD onwards, Exeter was largely a civilian city.
St Leonard’s is outside the fortress and the walls of the city; any Roman remains have probably been obliterated by the development of houses over the last two hundred years. However, the book stresses how important Topsham Road was to both the Roman army and, later, the city of Isca itself. First, there were two significant sites studied in the 1970s around the Acorn car park and in Holloway Street. Second, there was another important discovery when the St Loye’s site was developed and parking for the adjoining crematorium was extended. In both places there was evidence of some buildings from very soon after the Roman occupation, but for civilian use. These were ---- probably --- traders supplying goods and services to the army, and acting as intermediaries between the invaders and the local population. Topsham Road was Isca’s out of town shopping centre; we can only speculate how many other buildings there were along its length.
However, Topsham Road was not only for shopping; it was a supply route. It’s easy to forget that until two or three centuries ago, goods and long-distance travellers went by sea. The archaeological evidence is considerable for believing that Topsham was Exeter’s port under the Romans. When the M5 viaduct was being built, archaeologists found evidence of Roman buildings by today’s main road, and these were supplemented by the “dig” before the supermarket Aldi was constructed. And these buildings included warehouses between road and river. Very recent studies by geographers have looked at the change in sea level over two thousand years, and suggest that sea-going ships could sail to near Lympstone and transfer their cargoes to smaller barges which could be brought to a wharf near the supermarket --- and then wagons could trundle up to the merchants in or near the city. Among the many “finds” are items from across the Roman Empire brought by sailors and entrepreneurs.
So, what did the Romans do for St Leonard’s? They gave us a road, they gave us businesses, they gave us foreign travel.
