Charterhouse is a name used for a former

Roman-British Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesa ...

town, located west of the later village of Charterhouse-on-Mendip in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. A nearby pre-Roman

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

, Charterhouse Camp, is also located nearby. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name of the town in the Roman era is unknown; it may have been ''

Iscalis Iscalis was a Roman settlement described by Ptolemy. The exact location has not been clearly identified but the possible sites are in the modern ceremonial county of Somerset, England. One of the possible sites is at Gatcombe which was occupied f ...

'', but this is far from certain. Based on inscriptions on a pig of Roman lead BRIT. EX. ARG. VEB, meaning "British (lead) from the VEB... lead-silver works", the Roman name has also been reconstructed as ''Vebriacum'' (in which case, ''Iscalis'' was more likely at the future site of

Cheddar, Somerset Cheddar is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It is situated on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, north-west of Wells, south-east of Weston-super-Mare and south-west of Bristol. The civil parish includ ...

). The Roman landscape has been designated as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Mining settlement

The settlement grew up around the north-western edge of prehistoric

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mines, which were exploited by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. Mendip lead ore had up to 0.4% silver content, which the Romans used to pay the army. Extraction is thought to have begun as early as AD 49 (although the evidence of dateable lead ingots found in the neighbourhood has recently been questioned.) At first the lead and silver industries were tightly controlled by the

Roman military The military of ancient Rome was one of largest pre-modern professional standing armies that ever existed. At its height, protecting over 7,000 kilometers of border and consisting of over 400,000 legionaries and auxiliaries, the army was the m ...

(in the south-west, by the Second Legion) and there was a small 'fortlet' adjoining the mines during the 1st century, which may, however, have been little more than a fortified compound for storing lead

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

. After a short time, the extraction of these metals was contracted out to civilian companies, probably because of low silver content. Smelting was undertaken on site where industrial workshops have been excavated, and the metal exported along a minor road to the

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis ( Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bat ...

, and probably through a small inland port at nearby Cheddar.

Amphitheatre

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) 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 ('), meani ...

stood west of the settlement. It is the only one in England to exist at a lead mine and is additional evidence of the importance of Mendip lead to the Romans. It measures 32 m x 24.4 m and the banks for the seating survive 4.5 m above the arena. It was surveyed in 1909. It was probably a place of entertainment for the soldiers at the Roman fort which was established here.

References

{{coord, 51.3023, N, 2.7150, W, source:wikidata, display=title History of Somerset History of mining in the United Kingdom Roman towns and cities in England Scheduled monuments in Mendip District Mendip Hills Former populated places in Somerset Amphitheatres in Roman Britain

Mining settlement

Amphitheatre

See also

References