Caistor St Edmund (Roman Town)

Lovely flat walk around the ancient Roman town

The Roman town of Venta Icenorum is the Romano-British predecessor of the modern county town of Norwich. Founded during the AD 60s at Caistor St Edmund in the valley of the River Tas, immediately to the south of its confluence with the Rivers Yare and Wensum, this was the largest and most important Roman centre of northern East Anglia.

The Latin name means 'market-place of the Eceni', and Venta was the Roman administrative base for the area of Norfolk, northern Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire. This was the area which had been controlled in the Iron Age by the Eceni (or Iceni) tribe. Along with Silchester (Hants) and Wroxeter (Shropshire), Venta Icenorum is one of only three major Romano-British towns which have not been buried or destroyed by medieval and modern towns and cities. The Trust has owned the defended area of the town since 1984, and has acquired much surrounding land since that date with the aim of protecting and conserving the monument and its setting.

Important research and conservation work continues. Since 2009, a series of excavations conducted by the University of Nottingham, in partnership with the Trust and with South Norfolk Council, has started to provide fascinating new information about Venta. In 2011, the Trust bought an additional 55 acres across the river opposite the West Gate – a valuable addition to the large area already in its care.