Roman Fortress [55 - 75]

The Location

Exeter was founded by the Roman army. Around AD 50-55 the site now occupied by the centre of the city, hitherto simply open farmland, was chosen for a new legionary fortress - the winter headquarters of the Second Augustan legion during its conquest of South-West England. The legion must have been attracted to the site by its commanding position over the lowest crossing place over the river Exe, defended on two sides by steep valleys. Its name Isca was adopted from the ancient Celtic name for the Exe; it simply means water or river. The modern name Exeter developed from this.

The Fortress

The new fortress was of typical 'playing card' shape - a rectangle with rounded corners - covering an area of 42 acres whose centre was close to the modern crossing of High Street and Fore Street, South Street and North Street. It was defended by a circuit of an earth and timber rampart fronted by a deep ditch, with gates and towers at regular intervals. Within was a grid of streets and densely packed timber buildings which accommodated the 6000 or so soldiers who formed the legion. The fortress provided not only accommodation - long barracks for each century of soldiers, with separate houses for the senior officers - but like a self-contained town catered for all the needs of an army at war: granaries for the corn supply, a hospital for the wounded, a workshop where weapons and armour could be made and repaired, and a bath-house for the soldiers' leisure. Around the edges of the fortress were the barracks in which they were housed; at its centre were more vulnerable buildings, such as the hospital, workshops, granaries and the headquarters building.

Only a small part of the fortress has been excavated by the city's archaeologists, but sufficient information has been recovered to offer a reconstruction of its layout. Portions of barracks have been recovered on several sites, with parts of granaries, the workshops and other structures.