Ariconium

''Ariconium'' was a road station of Roman Britain mentioned in Iter XIII of the ''Iter Britanniarum'' of the Antonine Itineraries. It was located at Bury Hill in the parish of Weston under Penyard, about east of Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, and about southeast of Hereford. The site existed prior to the Roman era, and then came under Roman control. It was abandoned, perhaps shortly after 360, but precisely when and under what circumstances is unknown.

Discovered as a result of efforts to map the stations of the Antonine Itineraries, research and excavation have provided the only information on its history, to date showing it to have been a place of bloom furnaces, forges, and iron working throughout its existence.

Context

The Forest of Dean and nearby areas were an ancient source of iron ore and charcoal. There is evidence of early mining and smelting, and there were many sites consisting of groups of forges. The site of ''Ariconium'' was on the rise of a hill, where airflow is increased due to the terrain. This favoured the establishment of bloomeries, an ancient process that produced imperfect iron, together with cinders, dirt, and unreduced oxide. A Roman contribution was the use of bellows, causing an air blast that was hotter and produced better but unforgeable iron, requiring a further refining by reheating, and using a great deal of charcoal. The cinder refuse or ''scoriae'' was dumped in great piles at such sites.

Discovery of the site

In the early years of serious research into the locations of stations on the Antonine Itineraries, the location of ''Ariconium'' was in doubt, and William Camden (1551–1623) suggested '' Magnis'', the site of modern Kenchester, some northwest of modern Hereford. Later analysis of the Antonine Itineraries, notably by John Horsley (1685–1732), refined previous estimates and ultimately placed ''Ariconium'' at Bury Hill, Weston under Penyard, west-northwest of '' Glevum'' (at modern Gloucester), and northeast of '' Blestium'' (at modern Monmouth). With confidence that the overgrown ruins near Weston under Penyard were actually the site of ''Ariconium'', local people began clearing away the brush, revealing the enormous magnitude of the cinder piles, and further revealing the walls of buildings. Stories emerged of significant Roman-era relics, and there were unverified stories that existing relics having no provenance had actually been found in ''Ariconium''.

Such capable modern research as has been done so far supports the characterisation of a large iron working site with massive refuse piles covering approximately , pottery remnants, and numerous artefacts. Finds have included pre-Roman British coins, including one minted by Cunobelin, and coins from the Roman arrival until 360, after which there are no coins found.

History

The site was occupied by the pre-Roman Britons, likely as part of an iron working industry. It was continually occupied throughout the Roman era, and the scale of industrial activity increased over the period. It is clear that there was a focus of settlement activity near Bromsash, but the area appears to some archaeologists to have contained dispersed centres of activity and settlement rather than a Roman town. ''Ariconium'''s only documented significance is as a station on Iter XIII of the ''Iter Britanniarum'', with the single mention there being its only mention in classical history.

It seems to have been abandoned shortly after 360. Its sudden abandonment is consistent with a violent end, and may be related to the collapse of authority and widespread marauding at that time, as reported by Ammianus, a situation that lasted for almost a decade, and from which parts of Roman Britain never recovered. Evidence of later occupation of the site has not been found.

The name

The origin of the name ''Ariconium'' is uncertain, as is its pre-Roman name. The Romans often named a place in recognition of some feature of the terrain, or in recognition of the people then living in the area. There is a similarity to other Roman place-names such as '' Viroconium'' (post-Roman Welsh: ''Caer Guricon''), also known as ''Uriconium'', but as yet no established connection to them.

It is generally believed that ''Ariconium'' is the origin of the name of the post-Roman kingdom of Ergyng, although ''Ariconium'' was located outside the later boundaries of Ergyng. It is plausible that both derive from an earlier name for a wider area. In turn, Ergyng is believed to have given its name to Archenfield.

Since 2008, it has been used as the name of a united benefice of six Church of England parishes in the area - Aston Ingham, Hope Mansell, Lea, Linton, Upton Bishop and Weston under Penyard.

In literature

As with many other places in Britain, there have been speculative articles written that connect ''Ariconium'' to the characters in Arthurian tales. Some are careful with their wording and state that they are not asserting historical facts; others are less careful and propagate fiction in the guise of hypothesis.

There are occasional mentions of ''Ariconium'' in poetic works, (for example) but there is nothing to connect them with the Ariconium of this article. They may be references to Kenchester at a time when Camden placed the site there, or to a similar-sounding word such as '' Uriconium'', or to some other place or person; or as works of poetry, they may refer to nothing in particular at all.

References

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Notes

{{Authority control

History of metallurgy
Iron Age sites in England
Roman towns and cities in England
Archaeological sites in Herefordshire