Editing Caerleon (section)

==History==
===Pre-Roman history===
The area around Caerleon is of considerable [[archaeological]] interest, with a number of important [[Neolithic]] sites. By the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], the area was home to the powerful [[Silures]] tribe and appears to have been the centre of a wealthy trading network, both manufacturing and importing [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] style goods.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peterson |first1=R. |last2=Pollard |first2=J. |last3=Morris |first3=E. |year=2006 |chapter=Prehistoric Pottery |title=Lodge Hill Camp, Caerleon, and the Hillforts of Gwent |publisher=British Archaeological Reports |location=Oxford |series=BAR British Series |volume=407 |pages=33–37 |isbn=978-1841719351}}</ref> From the 5th century BC, the town was the location of a great Iron Age hillfort crowning a hill overlooking the [[River Usk]] and what would become the Roman port. The hillfort at Lodge Wood Camp is defended by three lines of massive ramparts and ditches, and is the largest fortified enclosure in South Wales.<ref name=Coflein93396>{{Coflein |desc=Lodge Wood Camp |num=93396 |access-date=8 April 2023}}</ref>

The excavation in 2000 found that the hillfort had been continuously occupied from its founding in the 5th century BC until the construction and occupation of [[Isca Augusta]] (also called Isca Silurum) around 78 AD. There is no evidence that the fort was taken militarily, and the abandonment of the fort may have been part of the terms of peace.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Howell |first1=R. |last2=Pollard |first2=J. |title=Caerleon, Lodge Wood Camp |journal=Archaeology in Wales |year=2000 |issue=40 |pages=81–83}}</ref> The fort was reoccupied during the Roman period and remained in use following the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]], suggesting that some version of the Pre-Roman society survived the occupation.

===Roman era===
{{Main|Isca Augusta}}
[[File:Roman Legions camps - AD 80.png|thumb|A map of Roman legionary camps in Europe with Caerleon (3) noted|alt=|left]]

Caerleon is the location of a [[Roman Empire|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.<ref name=Coflein93396/> The Romans called the site ''Isca'' after the River Usk (Welsh ''Wysg''). The name ''Caerleon'' may derive from the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] for "fortress of the [[Roman legion|legion]]"; around 800 AD it was referred to as ''Cair Legeion guar Uisc''.<ref>Hywel Wyn Jones, ''The Place-Names of Wales'', University of Wales Press, 2005, p.19, {{ISBN|0-7083-1458-9}}</ref>

[[File:Aerial view of Caerleon Roman amphitheatre.jpg|thumb|left|An aerial view of Caerleon's Roman amphitheatre site in 2005]]

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9210919.Caerleon_Roman_harbour_find_hailed/ |title=Caerleon Roman harbour find hailed |date=24 August 2011 |publisher=southwalesargus.co.uk |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref> According to [[Gildas]], followed by [[Bede]], Roman Caerleon was the site of two [[early Christian]] [[martyrdom]]s, those of [[Julius and Aaron]]. Recent finds suggest Roman occupation of some kind as late as AD 380.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caerleon.net/history/dig/2008/index.html |title=Priory Field Caerleon dig |year=2008 |publisher=Cardiff University and UCL |first1=Peter, Dr. |last1=Guest |first2=Andrew, Dr. |last2=Gardner |website=caerleon.net |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref> Roman remains have also been discovered at [[The Mynde (Caerleon)|The Mynde]], itself a distinctive historical site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caerleon.net/mynde |title=The Mynde, Caerleon, Wales |website=caerleon.net |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
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 ''[[Welsh Triads|Triads of the Island of Britain]]'' notes that Medieval Caerleon is an exceptional city, "superior to all the towns and fortifications in [[Cambria]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bromwich |first1=Rachel |title=Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain |date=15 June 2016 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-1-78316-305-2}}</ref> 

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 [[crosier]]s, signifying the Bishoprics of Caerleon and [[Bishop of Llandaff|Llandaff]]).<ref name=Toke>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05179a.htm Toke, Leslie. "St. Dubric." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 14 April 2015]</ref> 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 ''[[St David's|Mynyw]]''. Caerleon was also the location of the [[Synod of Victory]], officiated by [[Saint David]] around 569 AD.<ref>''[[Annales Cambriae]]''.</ref> 

Another medieval saint, [[Cadoc]], is associated with the church built over the ''principia'' (legionary headquarters). [[St Cadoc's Church, Caerleon|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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kennerley|first1=Eija|title=Saint Cadoc's Church, Caerleon|journal=Gwent Local History|date=Spring 1981|issue=50|pages=3–12|url=https://journals.library.wales/view/1337678/1338124/4|via=[[Welsh Journals]]|publisher=Gwent Local History Council}}</ref>

===Norman era===
A [[Norman architecture|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.<ref name=domesday>{{cite web |url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/ |title=The Domesday Book Online |website=www.domesdaybook.co.uk}}</ref> Also listed on the manor were three Welshmen with as many ploughs and carucates, who continued their Welsh customs (''leges Walensi viventes'').<ref name=domesday/> Caerleon itself may have remained in Welsh hands, or may have changed hands frequently.<ref name="caerbaer">{{cite web |last=Jermyn |first=Anthony |year=2010 |title=4: Caerleon through the centuries to the year 2000 |url=http://www.acanterthroughcaerleon.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=58 |access-date=13 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620143235/http://www.acanterthroughcaerleon.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=58 |archive-date=20 June 2013}}</ref>

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,<ref>B.L. Harley 4757, f.7</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}} possible illegitimate son of [[Bernard de Newmarch]],<ref>{{cite report |last1=Newmarch |first1=George Frederick |last2=Newmarch |first2=Charles H. |title=The Newmarch Pedigree |quote=Verified by public records, authentic manuscripts, and general and local histories |place=Cirencester, UK |year=1868 |page=2}} Contains scanty information, not sourced to any ancient records.</ref> c. 1155 the Welsh Lord of Caerleon, Morgan ab Owain, grandson of King Caradog ap Gruffudd, was recognized by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]].<ref name=hywel>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Robert Thomas |year=1959 |section-url=http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-MORG-APH-1210.html |section=Morgan ap Hywel |title=[[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]] |publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref> Subsequently, Caerleon continued 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{{clarify|date=July 2023}} until this time and were probably demolished for their building materials.

===Glyndŵr Rising===
[[File:Caerleon-Round Tower.jpg|thumb|upright|Round Tower at The Hanbury Arms in 2010]]

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.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = The Bull Inn, Caerleon, June 2007 | url = http://www.thebellatcaerleon.co.uk/info/glyndwr.htm | title = Owain Glyndwr, the Bell at Caerleon | access-date = 9 October 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120306204225/http://www.thebellatcaerleon.co.uk/info/glyndwr.htm | archive-date = 6 March 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-2996-tower-to-the-south-west-of-and-attached-to|title=Tower to the south west of, and attached to, The Hanbury Arms |first=Good|last=Stuff|publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref>

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

===18th and 19th centuries===
[[File:The Town of Caerleon on the River Usk (1132562).jpg|thumb|Caerleon in 1800, from the south and showing the bridge|alt=]]
The old wooden bridge was destroyed in a storm in 1779 and [[Caerleon Bridge|the present stone bridge]] was erected in the early 19th century. Until the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] development of the downstream docks at [[Newport Docks]], Caerleon acted as the major port on the River Usk. The wharf was located on the right bank, to the west of today's river bridge which marked the limit of navigability for masted ships. A [[tinplate]] works and mills were established on the outskirts of the town, in Ponthir, around this time, and Caerleon expanded to become almost joined to Newport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caerleon.net/archive/literature/glh/49tin.htm |title=Caerleon Mills and Ponthir Tinplate Works |first=Eija |last=Kennerley |series=Gwent Local History |publisher=Caerleon.net |date=Autumn 1980 |access-date=27 March 2016}}</ref> A plaque on the Mynde wall in High Street references the [[Newport Rising]] of 1839 in which [[John Frost (Chartist)|John Frost]] of Newport was a prominent figure in the [[Chartism|Chartist]] movement. John Jenkins, owner of Mynde House and owner of Ponthir Tinplate Works, built the wall to keep demonstrators out. The name of the former Drovers' Arms on Goldcroft Common bore witness to the ancient [[drovers' road]] on the old road from [[Malpas, Newport|Malpas]]. It is thought that the common itself was once the site of a cattle market.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caerleon.net/archive/literature/glh/37market.htm |title=Caerleon Market Hall |first=Eija |last=Kennerley |series=Gwent Local History |publisher=caerleon.net |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref>
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===Modern histories===
An informative and wide-ranging history of Caerleon was published in 1970 by local amateur historian Primrose Hockey [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hockey |first=Primrose |year=1981 |title=Caerleon Past and Present |place=Risca, UK |publisher=Starling Press |isbn=0-903434-43-1}}</ref> who was a founder member of Caerleon Local History Society. An archive of her local history collection is kept by the [[Gwent Record Office]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/onlinelists/GB0218%20D4165.pdf |title=Gwent Record Office, Primrose Hockey Collection, ca. 1915-1993, D4165 at nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref>