Wroxeter ( ) is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Wroxeter and Uppington Wroxeter and Uppington is a civil parish in the English county of Shropshire. The population of the Civil Parish at the 2011 census was 382. It lies mainly between the River Severn and the old A5 (now the B5061) and stretches from Atcham to ...

, in the

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

, England. It is beside the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

, south-east of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. In 1961 the parish had a population of 657. ''

Viroconium Cornoviorum Viroconium or Uriconium, formally Viroconium Cornoviorum, was a Roman city, one corner of which is now occupied by Wroxeter, a small village in Shropshire, England, about east-south-east of Shrewsbury. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated t ...

'', the fourth largest city in

Roman Britain 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 Caes ...

, was sited here, and is gradually being excavated. In 2024, archaeologists uncovered a 2,000 year old mosaic depicting dolphins and fish. The village contains one of Shropshire's commercial vineyards.

History

Roman Wroxeter, near the end of the

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

that ran across Romanised Celtic Britain from ''

Dubris Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England. As the closest point to continental Europe and the site of the estuary of the River Dour, Kent, Dour, the site chosen ...

'' (

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

), was a key frontier position lying on the bank of the River Severn whose valley penetrated deep into what later became known as

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and also on a route south leading to the Wye valley. Archaeology has shown that the site of the later city first was established about AD 55 as a frontier post for a

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

legionary

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: Cohort Sociological * Cohort (military unit), the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum Scientific * Cohort ...

located at a

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

near the Severn river crossing. A few years later a legionary fortress (''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'') was built within the site of the later city for the

Legio XIV Gemina Legio XIV Gemina ("The Twinned Fourteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen ''Gemina'' (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrengthed legion after the ...

during their invasion of

. The local British tribe of the Cornovii had their original capital (also thought to have been named *Uiroconion) at the

hillfort 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 ...

the Wrekin The Wrekin ( ) is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire Council, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of ...

. When the Cornovii were eventually subdued their capital was moved to Wroxeter and given its Roman name. This legion XIV Gemina was later replaced by the

Legio XX Valeria Victrix Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English the Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Vale ...

which in turn relocated to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

around AD 88. As the military abandoned the fortress the site was taken over by the Cornovians' civilian settlement. The name of the settlement, meaning "Viroconium of the Cornovians", preserves a

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

Brittonic

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

that has been reconstructed as *Uiroconion (" he cityof *Uirokū"), where *''Uiro-ku'' ( "man"-"wolf") is believed to have been a

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

meaning "

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

". Viroconium prospered over the next century, with the construction of many public buildings, including

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

and a colonnaded

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

. At its peak, it is thought to have been the 4th-largest settlement in

, with a population of more than 15,000.Frere, S. S. ''Britannia: a History of Roman Britain.'' London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1987. . The Roman city is first documented in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's 2nd century ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' as one of the cities of the

Cornovii The Cornovii is the name by which two, or three, Iron Age tribes in Britain, tribes were known in Roman Britain. One tribe was in the area centred on present-day Shropshire, one was in Caithness in northernmost Scotland, and there was probably on ...

tribe, along with

(

Deva Victrix Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary castra, fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix, Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the ...

). Following the

Roman withdrawal from Britain The end of Roman rule in Britain occurred as the military forces of Roman Britain withdrew to defend or seize the Western Roman Empire's continental core, leaving behind an autonomous post-Roman Britain. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus wit ...

around AD 410, the Cornovians seem to have divided into

Pengwern Pengwern was a Brythonic settlement of sub-Roman Britain situated in what is now the English county of Shropshire, adjoining the modern Welsh border. It is regarded as possibly being the early seat of the kings of Powys before its establish ...

and

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, although the territorial name may have continued into this period. The minor

Magonsæte Magonsæte was a minor sub- kingdom of the greater Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, thought to be coterminous with the Diocese of Hereford. The former territory of the Cornovii tribe was conquered by Oswiu of Northumbria in 656, while he was ov ...

sub-kingdom also emerged in the area in the interlude between Powysian and

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

n rule. Viroconium may have served as the early post-Roman capital of Powys prior to its removal to

Mathrafal Mathrafal near Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales, was the seat of the Kings and Princes of Powys probably from the 9th century until its destruction in 1213 by Prince Llywelyn the Great. Location On the banks of the River Banwy, just above its ...

sometime before 717, following famine and plague in the area. The city has been variously identified with the Newman, John Henry & al
p. 92.">''Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre'', Ch. X: "Britain in 429, A. D.", p. 92.
James Toovey (London), 1844. and Ford, David Nash.

at Britannia. 2000. which appeared in the 9th-century ''

History of the Britons ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions have ...

''s list of the 28

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

().

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

(). ''Historia Brittonum'', VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource. N. J. Higham proposes that Wroxeter became the eponymous capital of an early sub-Roman kingdom known as the '' Wrocensaete'', which he asserts was the successor territorial unit to Cornovia. The literal meaning of ''Wrocensaete'' is 'those dwelling at ''Wrocen''', which Higham interprets as Wroxeter. It may refer quite specifically to the royal court itself, in the first instance, and only by extension to the territory administered from the court. The Roman city was rediscovered in 1859 when workmen began excavating

the baths The Baths is a beach area on the island of Virgin Gorda among the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Geography The Baths is situated about south off Spanish Town, British Virgin Islands, Spanish Town at the southern tip of the island betw ...

complex. A replica Roman villa was constructed in 2010 for a Channel 4 television programme called ''Rome Wasn't Built in a Day'' and was opened to the public on 19 February 2011. On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with

Uppington Uppington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is situated 7.5 miles East from Shrewsbury and 4 miles South-East fro ...

to form "Uppington & Wroxeter".

St Andrew's

At the centre of Wroxeter village is Saint Andrew's parish church, some of which is built from re-used Roman masonry. The oldest visible section of the church is the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

part of the north wall which is built of Roman monumental stone blocks. The chancel and the lower part of the tower are

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

. The gatepiers to the churchyard are a pair of Roman columns and the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

in the church was made by hollowing out the capital of a Roman column. Later additions to the church incorporate remains of an Anglo-Saxon preaching cross and carvings salvaged from nearby

Haughmond Abbey Haughmond Abbey ( ) is a ruined, medieval, Augustinians, Augustinian monastery a few miles from Shrewsbury, England. It was probably founded in the early 12th century and was closely associated with the FitzAlan family, who became Earls of Arund ...

following the Dissolution of the Monasteries. St. Andrew's was declared

redundant Redundancy or redundant may refer to: Language * Redundancy (linguistics), information that is expressed more than once Engineering and computer science * Data redundancy, database systems which have a field that is repeated in two or more table ...

in 1980 and is now managed by The

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. St. Andrew's parish is now united with that of St. Mary,

Eaton Constantine Eaton Constantine is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Leighton and Eaton Constantine, in Shropshire, England. It is located just off the B4380 road, between Atcham and Buildwas, near The Wrekin hill. In 1931 the p ...

Literary reference

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

visited the site and was impressed enough to write of "when Uricon the city stood", the poem ending "Today the Roman and his trouble Are ashes under Uricon."

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

has the main character of ''

The Saxon Stories ''The Saxon Stories'' (also known as ''Saxon Tales''/''Saxon Chronicles'' in the US and ''The Warrior Chronicles'' and most recently as ''The Last Kingdom'' series) is a historical novel series written by Bernard Cornwell about the history of A ...

'' visit Wroxeter in ''

Death of Kings ''Death of Kings'', published in 2011, is the sixth novel of Bernard Cornwell's ''The Saxon Stories, Saxon Tales'' series. It continues the story of Saxon warlord Uhtred of Bebbanburg who resists a new Danish invasion of Wessex and Mercia. Plo ...

'', referring to it as an ancient Roman city that was "as big as London" and using it as an illustration of his pagan beliefs that the World will end in

chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Science, technology, and astronomy * '' Chaos: Making a New Science'', a 1987 book by James Gleick * Chaos (company), a Bulgarian rendering and simulation software company * ''Chaos'' (genus), a genus of amoebae * ...

.Bernard Cornwell, ''

'', Part Two – "Angels", 2012

Sport

The village previously had a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team named Wroxeter Rovers. In 2017, the club relocated to nearby

and was renamed to Shrewsbury Juniors, in order to provide a senior football team for children progressing through the club's junior football system to take part in after the age of 16–17. The club were champions of the Shropshire County League Premier Division in 2020-21.

References

External links

Photos of Wroxeter and surrounding area on geograph.org.ukEnglish Heritage: Information for teachers
{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Populated places on the River Severn Former civil parishes in Shropshire