The National Roman Legion Museum (

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) ( cy, Amgueddfa Lleng Rufeinig Cymru) is a museum in

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

, near Newport, south-east

. It is one of three Roman sites in Caerleon, along with the Baths museum and the open-air ruins of the

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

and barracks. It is part of the wider network of

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, branded as simply Amgueddfa Cymru (formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and legally National Museum of Wales), is a Welsh Government sponsored body that comprises seven museums in Wales: * ...

History

Roman Wales was the farthest point west that the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

extended to, and as a defence point the fortress at Isca Augusta, now Caerleon, built in 75 AD, was one of only three permanent

Roman Legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...

ary fortresses in

. It was occupied and operational for just over 200 years. The National Roman Legion Museum lies inside what remains of the fortress, and contains many artefacts from the period of Isca Augusta of Legio II Augusta from

Roman currency Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...

to uniforms. A short walk from the National Roman Legion Museum is the remains of Isca Augusta: * Part of the military bath house in the

Roman Baths Museum The Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths museum ( cy, Caer a Baddonau Rhufeinig Caerllion Amgueddfa) is a historical site located in the town of Caerleon, South Wales. Near to the city of Newport, it is run by the Welsh historic environment serv ...

* The most complete Roman

in Britain * Sections of the fortress walls * The only remains of a

Roman legionary The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Repub ...

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

on view anywhere in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

at Prysg Field

Museum

The museum is located in the centre of Roman Isca, on what was the ''via principalis'' leading to the amphitheatre. The first museum building was the Antiquarian Museum of 1850. This was built to a design by H.F Lockwood of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, a simple box-shaped building of

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

. Its only architectural feature of note was the pillared

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

in the Greek

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

style. Little is known of the original building but it is known to have re-used ship's timbers in its roof and stone details from the Old Market House of Caerleon which had been demolished shortly before. It is often claimed that the timbers are from , although this ship was in service at the time and had no obvious connection to Newport. The museum building was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in 1951, but was largely demolished during the 1987 rebuilding and enlargement of the museum. Only the portico now remains. The new building is in a modernist style, but equally featureless and windowless as the original. As of February 2019, the site is being redeveloped and is closed to the public until autumn 2019. It will continue to offer facilities for local schools. Legionary museum model

References

External links

Official website – National Roman Legion MuseumSix pages of artifacts held within the museum and relating to Roman Caerleon at Gathering the Jewels
{{authority control National museums of Wales Culture in Newport, Wales History of Newport, Wales Organisations based in Newport, Wales Museums in Newport, Wales Landmarks in Newport, Wales Museums of ancient Rome in Wales Military and war museums in Wales Archaeological museums in Wales Caerleon Grade II listed buildings in Newport, Wales

History

Museum

See also

References

External links