September 18, 2013

ROMAN REMAINS IN THE UK ...


Dear readers, this week ‘R IS FOR *R*OMAN REMAINS IN THE UK...


Just over two thousand and sixty-five years ago, Julius Caesar invaded Britain. His hope of converting the locals to the joys of central heating and very straight roads did not enjoy instant fulfilment and he was unceremoniously turfed off the south coast. Just 88 years later, the Romans were back and Britain was never quite the same again ...

Here are just some examples of what they left behind:

Hadrian's Wall (above - more pics later)

Cardiff Castle (below)

York Minster

York city walls

Roman Baths, err, Bath

Verulamium (now: St Albans)

Fishbourne Palace, West Sussex

Welwyn Baths, Hertfordshire

Chester Roman Gardens

And back to Hadrian's Wall

And no, not a selfie!

London Roman Wall (Londinium)

Caerleon amphitheatre, South Wales (then: Isca)

And back to those roads:

In the Roman era, people travelled on horseback, in carts pulled by oxen or on foot. Before, Britain had no proper roads. All those built were remarkably straight. (They twigged the shortest distance from one place to another is a straight line though there was a bit of zigzag-cheating sometimes, to make going uphill easier).

They built their roads on foundations of clay, chalk and gravel, placing bigger flat stones on top. The road sloped from the middle to ditches either side, so rain water drained off - as in this photo:

ANY HISTORIC REMAINS WHERE YOU LIVE?

And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who visited or commented.
Enjoy!

NORA & LOLA:)

23 comments:

Cathy Kennedy said...

The only historic remains in our area that I can think of would have to do with the Civil or Revolutionary Wars. Of course, there are lots of old cabins doting the country side where famous historic figures grew up. But there is nothing on a grand scale as these Roman remains, but then again America is considered a baby to the era of Rome. Great "R" post!

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

Thank you for sharing these photos. It is amazing to think what they were able to construct way back in that time! I love to look at the architecture and structures all over the world and can't help but wonder how they all were done without the modern equipment we now have. The historic remains around here are like what Cathy mentioned in her comment.


Blessings & Aloha!
Stopping over through Ms. Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday "R"s.

Anonymous said...

Wow! What history and wonderful photos ~ great post for R ~ carol, ^_^

SarahBeth said...

The Romans were great architects! I am fascinated by that road!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Lovely shots! We have a lot of dinosaur remains and of course, Native American sites....

Rose Clearfield said...

Stunning set of photos! I can't even begin to pick a favorite. Thanks for sharing.

fredamans said...

Awesome remains! I had no idea the Romans left so much behind.
None here where I live though....

Annesphamily said...

Your photos are amazing! It is always a pleasure to stop by and say hello. Enjoy the weekend!

Julia said...

Hola que bonito bloc, me ha encantado, yo tengo uno hace poco al cual te invito a verlo .

Me gustan tus fotografias son una maravilla
Muchas felicidades por tu bloc

Julia
Elracodeldetall.blogspot.com

Valerie said...

A wonderful series, Nora. It is especially interesting since I am hoping to revisit the UK next year. Thanks for sharing both the images and the history.

Gemma Wiseman said...

Love the mystical view of Hadrian's wall. Beautiful. And the ruins of the baths are fascinating. A grand series of photos.

Erika said...

Love the wall in London. Also that so much of it is now underground, really gives meaning to the layers of the ages.

Being Australia, there are heaps of ancient remains, but the trick is recognising them. Anywhere there is water, there will be something. Mostly the finds are scattering of stone artefacts. Some of the inland creeks and rivers have fish traps (stone fences). There are ceremonial bora rings (earth mounds normally) and some of the oldest rock art in the world. Also, at Lake Mungo, the oldest cremations in the world. There were stone huts, substantial enough that the ethnographic records have people riding horses over them. But those were destroyed a long time ago.

Stewart M said...

For the best part of six months I used to walk through York Minster every day! York was a great place to live.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Laura said...

A beautiful series!

chai-and-chardonnay.blogspot.com said...

The very first picture takes my breath away!

Unknown said...

Beautiful! I don't think we have anything that old, but we have some ruins, castles and churches.

Noel Morata said...

fascinating how rich Roman history is in England, thanks for linking up today.

Noel Morata said...

fascinating how rich Roman history is in England, thanks for linking up today.

Tom said...

We walked Hadrian's Wall ourselves this year. Thanks for the reminders. Nice photos.

Ruchika said...

Really a nice post and a must read. I also liked the pics very much. Thanx for sharing this.

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Beeutiful by Design said...

Great post, esp interesting about the roads. The only thing similar we have here in KY is the stone walls around the horse farms, which were built hundreds not thousands of years ago! Jennifer

Granny-Guru said...

These photos certainly make me want to visit Great Britain. Thanks for sharing! When I moved to Manassas, Virginia, I found that a significant number of Civil War battles were fought within 100 miles of here and this city's control went back and forth between the North and South several times because it was a major railway junction.

Jenny said...

The remnants of the Romans are really neat...

I could revel in this rich history for a really long time!

There are a few ghost towns out here in AZ.

Thanks for linking to the letter "R"!

Remarkable job!

A+