Segontium Roman Fort - Caernarfon, Wales, UK
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 53° 08.238 W 004° 15.955
30U E 415315 N 5888292
From 77AD to 394AD this Roman fort controlled northern Wales.
Waymark Code: WM4H1F
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/24/2008
Views: 79
Although now surrounded by modern housing, the Segontium Roman Fort still commands the high ground over the town of Caernarfon in Wales.
The site consists of stone walls and foundations of the Roman fort and a small museum dedicated to preserving the artifacts found on the site and in the area. Visitors are encouraged to purchase a small map to understand the layout of the fort and how it operated.
An interpretive sign at the museum provides a brief history:
These low foundations are the remains of the Roman fort of Segontium (after the River Seiont). Built towards the end of the A.D. 77, when the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola had finally conquered the native Ordovices of north Wales, it was part of a military network of forts and roads constructed by the Roman army in Wales and supported by major legionary bases at Chester and Caerleon.
The fort, which extends either side of the modern road, was built to accommodate a regiment of auxiliary infantry up to 1,000 strong. Auxiliaries were not as heavily armed as legionary soldiers; drawn from various parts of the empire, they would normally serve for 25 years but were not Roman citizens.
Segontium was garrisoned until about A.D. 394 - longer than any other Welsh base. It later passed into legend as Caer aber Seint in The Dream of Macsen Wledig, one of the early Welsh tales of the Mabinogion.
Most Relevant Historical Period: Roman Empire > 27 B.C.
Admission Fee: free
Opening days/times:
12:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Closed Mondays - except Bank Holidays
Web Site: [Web Link]
Condition: Some remaining traces (ruins) or pieces
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