Lindinis

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Modern boundary stone commemorating the Roman origins of Ilchester

Lindinis (or Lendiniae) was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Ilchester, located in the English county of Somerset.

Name

The name "Lindinis" appears in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography. The alternative "Lendiniae" is derived from two inscribed construction stones from Hadrian's Wall which refer to a tribal detachment from the "Civitas Durotrigum Lendiniensis".[1] It was a town in the territory of the Durotriges tribe, but the inscriptions seem to imply that the town was a separate civitas to that of Dorchester (Durnovaria).[1]

Iron age settlement

There were two large Iron Age hill forts in the region of Lindinis, at Ham Hill and Cadbury Castle, but also a small settlement to the south of the later Roman town. The name is Brythonic for Swampy Lake. The town grew around a fort which was situated where the Fosse Way crosses the river Yeo.

1st-century fort

A timber walled fort was established there around AD 60 and later a second fort seems to have been built. Originally surrounded by native round houses, these were later supplanted by a vicus or unplanned civil area of around 30 acres (120,000 m2).[2]

Roman town

After the army’s withdrawal in the late 1st century, a civilian street grid was set up with timber domestic dwellings and workshops, as well as outer roadside industrial suburbs. There is evidence of iron, glass and bone working and pottery production, as well as agricultural plots within the town. In the late 2nd century, the central area was surrounded by a defensive bank and ditch with stone gateways. Stone walls were erected in the mid-4th century. It became the only walled town in the territory of the Durotriges other than Durnovaria.[1] By this time, the town seems to have largely consisted of luxury private homes of affluent owners rich enough to install fine mosaic floors. More than thirty has been discovered and it has been suggested that the town contained a workshop of the Corinium Saltire School of mosaicists or else of its own Lindinis School.[3] Odd finds of 5th century pottery imports imply that Lindinis remained in Romano-British occupation until at least that time, after which the local elite may have relocated to the nearby hill fort of South Cadbury.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Putnum, Bill. The Romans. Discover Dorset. The Dovecote Press. p. 39. ISBN 1-873336-74-1 Check |isbn= value (help). 
  2. ↑ Havinden, Michael. The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 67. ISBN 0-340-20116-9. 
  3. ↑ White, Roger (2007). Britannia Prima. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 114, 133. 
  • Burnham, Barry C; Wacher, John (1990). The Small Towns of Roman Britain. London: B T Batsford. 

Coordinates: 51°00′04″N 2°40′55″W / 51.001°N 2.682°W / 51.001; -2.682

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