Caerleon, United Kingdom

Caerleon is the location of a Roman legionary fortress or castra. It was the headquarters for Legio II Augusta from about 75 to 300 AD, and on the hill above was the site of an Iron Age hillfort. The Romans called the site Isca after the River Usk (Welsh Wysg). The name Caerleon may derive from the Welsh for "fortress of the legion"; around 800 AD it was referred to as Cair Legeion guar Uisc.

Substantial excavated Roman remains can be seen, including the military amphitheatre, thermae (baths) and barracks occupied by the Roman legion. In August 2011 the remains of a Roman harbour were discovered in Caerleon. According to Gildas, followed by Bede, Roman Caerleon was the site of two early Christian martyrdoms, those of Julius and Aaron. Recent finds suggest Roman occupation of some kind as late as AD 380. Roman remains have also been discovered at The Mynde, itself a distinctive historical site.

Caerleon features extensively in Medieval Welsh literature and Welsh Mythology, often as a model city against which other settlements are compared. When discussing the disastrous flooding of Cantre'r Gwaelod in the time of Ambrosius Aurelianus, the author of the Triads of the Island of Britain notes that Medieval Caerleon is an exceptional city, "superior to all the towns and fortifications in Cambria".

Medieval Caerleon would remain an important administrative and religious centre for the Kingdom of Gwent, and was an early Metropolitan See associated with Saint Dubricius (who is commonly depicted with two crosiers, signifying the Bishoprics of Caerleon and Llandaff). At the Synod of Brefi in 545 AD, Dubricius is said to have given the See of Caerleon to Saint David, who would later move the seat to Mynyw. Caerleon was also the location of the Synod of Victory, officiated by Saint David around 569 AD.

Another medieval saint, Cadoc, is associated with the church built over the principia (legionary headquarters). Saint Cadoc's Church, is one of many churches associated with Cadoc's travels, and may have been the location of a monastic cell in the 6th century.

A Norman-style motte and bailey castle was built outside the eastern corner of the old Roman fort, possibly by the Welsh Lord of Caerleon, Caradog ap Gruffydd. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded that a small colony of eight carucates of land (about 1.5 square miles) in the jurisdiction of Caerleon, seemingly just within the Welsh Lordship of Gwynllwg, was held by Turstin FitzRolf, standard bearer to William the Conqueror at Hastings, subject to William d'Ecouis, a magnate of unknown antecedents with lands in Hereford, Norfolk and other counties. Also listed on the manor were three Welshmen with as many ploughs and carucates, who continued their Welsh customs (leges Walensi viventes). Caerleon itself may have remained in Welsh hands, or may have changed hands frequently.

From the apparent banishment of Turstin by William II, Turstin's lands were transferred in 1088 by Wynebald de Ballon, brother of Hamelin de Ballon who held Abergavenny further up the River Usk. At about the same time, Wynebald's lands may have passed via his daughter to Henry Newmarch, possible illegitimate son of Bernard de Newmarch, In c. 1155 the Welsh Lord of Caerleon, Morgan ab Owain, grandson of King Caradog ap Gruffudd, was recognized by Henry II. Subsequently, Caerleon remained in Welsh hands, subject to occasional battles with the Normans. Caerleon was an important market and port and possibly became a borough by 1171, although no independent charters exist. In 1171 Iorwerth ab Owain and his two sons destroyed the town of Caerleon and burned the castle. Both castle and borough were seized by William Marshal from Morgan ap Hywel in 1217 and Caerleon castle was rebuilt in stone. The remains of many of the old Roman buildings stood to some height until this time and were probably demolished for their building materials.

During the Glyndŵr Rising in 1402 Rhys Gethin, general for Owain Glyndŵr, took Caerleon castle by force, together with those of Newport, Cardiff, Llandaff, Abergavenny, Caerphilly and Usk. This was probably the last time Caerleon castle was ruined, though the walls were still standing in 1537 and the castle ruins only finally collapsed in 1739: their most obvious remnant is the Round Tower at the Hanbury Arms public house. The Tower is a Grade II* listed building.

Across the Afon Lwyd from Caerleon, in the region of Penrhos Farm, are two Civil War forts. In 1648 Oliver Cromwell's troops camped overnight on Christchurch Hill, overlooking Newport, before their attack on Newport Castle the next day.