Gladiator, Ready!

Today we walked in the footsteps of the Romano-Britons of Calleva Atrebatvm, the major abandoned Roman town and amphitheatre near Silchester.

Unfortunately we were a day late for the digging season, the viewing platform over the long-running archaeological excavations had just closed , but a kindly University of Reading archaeologist was on hand to say a few things, and to give 6yo a section of Roman floor tile and another of roof tile, which no doubt will feature in a show and tell in the new term at school next month.

The site is unusual because every other Roman town of this size in Britain, it's estimated around five thousand people lived here, has survived as a town or city to the present day. Silchester was abandoned when the Roman power was waning in Britain, and nobody is quite sure why.

Despite the lack of a dig, we still enjoyed walking the walls, and visiting the amphitheatre. Here 6yo is assuming gladiator mode, to give some sense of scale for the site.

Today was also the day we succumbed to the world of geocaching, searching for and finding our first three caches, the site of one of which is more or less within shot.  The idea of hunting for treasure, and exchanging small tokens, has captured the imagination of the youngsters, so I expect we will be searching our local sites once we return to Yorkshire.

After a relatively calm day, we're bracing ourselves for the frenzy that is Legoland, tomorrow's destination.


standing ~ in the footsteps ~ of Romans ~ and don't forget ~ the bears