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Caerwent

(A description written in 1891)

A Parish on the Nedern and transversed by the high road from Newport to Chepstow, 5.1/2 miles west-south-west from Chepstow and 3 north-west from Portskewett station on the Severn Tunnel Junction & Chepstow section of the Great Western railway; in the Southern division of the county, Hundred of Caldicot. Petty Sessional division, Union and County Court district of Chepstow; and in the middle division of Netherwent rural deanery, Monmouth archdeaconry and Llandaff diocese.

Caerwent, now an ordinary village, with nothing to distinguish it beyond the remains of the ancient walls, was originally the site of the Roman station Venta Silurum. where the second legion fixed itself on the north-west side of the Severn, with the view of penetrating further into the country of South Wales: it is extraordinarily rich in Roman remains, and everywhere throughout the village and the grounds of the Great House Farm, within its walls (considerable parts of which still stand), Roman coins are found in great numbers, and numerous patches of tessellated pavement, formed of the ordinary cubes about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, coloured and worked into various designs, show where the baths and villas stood. Most of the Roman pavements and other remains have been destroyed, but a part has been removed to the museum at Caerleon, and a room, as it originally existed, has been reconstructed there, as nearly as the materials would admit: the remains of one pavement are still in situ, and vestiges of several of the Roman buildings may yet be seen. The whole of the walls of the Roman city may be distinctly traced, and on the south side they are in a remarkably perfect condition. An encampment or fortification at Sudbrook is supposed by some to have been utilised by them as a protection for the landing of soldiers, whilst other authorities maintain that the camp at Sudbrook is altogether subsequent to the Roman period: it is certain that the whole of Caldicot Level and the country around it has been the scene of important historical events in early periods, and much of the evidence is patent to an ordinary intelligent observer. The Roman city formed a parallelogram, 505 yards in length on the north and south sides, and 395 in the east and west, and the villas and baths covers an area of upwards of 50 acres,

It is said that Caerwent was once a seaport and that rings were to be seen in the walls on the south side of the ancient city to which ships were fastened. That ships could ever have come up to the walls is very doubtful, but it is not improbable that there may once have been a navigable creek running up from the [Bristol] Channel along the valley where the Nedern flows, and it is said that the village of Crick derived its name from this circumstance.

In the time of Agricola, Caerwent seems to have been at the height of its fame, and was famous for its temples, baths and theatres. Roger says that there was at this place the first academy, or university, in Britain, and that it was noted as the seat of learning and refinement. The neighbouring town of Chepstow probably came into repute as Caer-Gwent (the ancient city of Gwent) and declined in importance.

The church of St Stephen is an ancient stone building consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing one bell: the chancel is Early English and has a very peculiar triple arcade on the south side, now built up: the nave is Perpendicular, to which period the fine porch also belongs: in the church is a fine old pulpit of carved oak with the date 1632 and the arms of Sir Charles Williams of Llangibby, whose family owned this manor for many years: there are 250 sittings. The register of Baptisms and Burials dates from the year 1567. The living is a discharged vicarage annexed in 1885 to Llanvair Discoed, £300 yearly tithe rent-charge, gross yearly £228, with 5 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff, and held since 1882 by the Rev. Thomas Davies Jones, of Hertford College, Oxford. Parish Clerk: Thomas Woodland

There is a chapel for Baptists - Rev. James Berryman, minister, Caerwent House

Post Office:

Mrs Ann Church, receiver. Letters arrive from Chepstow at 9 a.m; dispatched at 5.50 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Caldicot & telegraph office at Portskewett. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. Pillar Box in the hamlet of Crick cleared at 6 p.m.

Schools:

National School, built in 1856, for 130 children; average attendance, 70; John E Hardwick, master

Charles Edward Lewis Esq. D.L., J.P. who is lord of the manor, J A Walker Esq. and Pollard Micklethwait Esq. J.P. are the principal landowners. The soil is loam; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley and roots. The area is £1,962 acres; rateable value, £2,709

The population in 1881 was 400

(extracts from Kelly's 1891 Directory of Monmouthshire, transcribed by J. Doe)

 

Time Team dig at the Roman site in Caerwent, Summer 2008

 

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