The Roman Town that VANISHED - The Calleva Story

Today we take a look at The Abandoned Roman Settlement of Calleva Atrebatum. Why is the town no longer here despite being a hugely important?

Sound Effects: Epidemicsound and Storyblocks
Roman Road Diagram - Roman Road Research Association.
Additional Drone Footage:
Maps: OS Maps Crown Copyright 2023 - Media License.
Maps: Google Maps.
Maps: National Library of Scotland
ALL Lidar: EA Via Phil Barrett (Twitter: @Phil_M_Barrett )
Filter: Snowman Digital and Beachfront B-Roll
Other Filters: Storyblocks
Pictures:
Molly Cottons Grave: S Hay
Silchester Excavation: University of Reading.
Joyce Note Book: Reading Musuem
Devils Highway: Sandy B
Great Dover Street: Robin Webster
All Eagle Pictures: Marcus Cyron
Chequer Lane Signpost: Shazz
Silchester Drawn Map: Ivan Lapper
Duke of Wellingtons House: Brendon and Ruth McCatney
Iron Duke Pub: Stuart Logan
Re Roman Map: Feitscerg
Coins: LimmieLine123
Other Pre Roman Map: myself
Winchester: Peter Trimming
Xcavation generic shot: Hut 85

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00
Routes: 00:59
The Eagle: 02:46
The Portway: 05:26
Pre-Roman: 11:46
The Walls: 13:20
Amphitheatre: 17:11
Conclusion: 19:11

[grippingyarnsuk]

It is amazing that you can go out and make a film as well written, original, entertaining and as well filmed as anything on The One Show or Coast … all by yourselves . Thanks !

[johnwinters]

What I find most impressive about that site is that it's just there. There's no ticket office, no visitor centre, no café, no guides. You can just turn up and wander around it. Incredible that so much of the walls survive.

[Showsni]

I remember back when I was at school our Roman Britain teacher was also one of the IT teachers, and one lesson we had to make a website about an aspect of Roman Britain; so somewhere online I had a geocities site all about Calleva Atrebatum, with pages showing the finds from Reading University, etc. I was quite proud of coding the html that let you hover over the modern day map and it would change to the plan showing what it would have looked like in Roman times, all lined up the same.

[robertwinsper]

If I could have had people like you and Rebecca and Martin Zero teaching me history I'd have probably have taken it as a subject.
What you portray is a very real, physical and local history, as opposed to the " Written By The Winners" bunkum with its obsession over dates in history rather than the trends that led to those dates. What you do is truly fascinating, more power to your elbows.

[SEKreiver]

Great clip! For those interested... Keith Taylor's 1983 novel, BARD, is set in 512 AD. Its protagonist starts off in Thanet. By the middle of the novel, the hero is in sub-Roman Calleva. The author does a great job of evoking lost Calleva and the atmosphere of the period.

[dirksawyer]

Excellent. The BBC used to do documentaries long ago and no doubt at some expense. Look at what one guy can do with one camera and knowledge of history. The eagle find inspired Rosemary Sutcliffe to write her novel Eagle of the Ninth. Rather fanciful as scholars today would suggest, as the Silchester eagle isn’t military, more likely a civil eagle decorating a room in a public building. Great video. Thank you for your work

[columbus]

I’m in that pub, Watching this. The Calleva arms.

[Hairnicks]

You have certainly got the right format, very professional, absolutlely fascinating, and your joy at being there really came across. That few extras minutes turns your production from a walk to a documentary, don't get me wrong, I loved your past input but this goes to the next level so all credit to you.

[maverickdisco]

I walk the walls often, it’s a really peaceful place. The Victorian’s dug the site but they were “less than careful” and destroyed much evidence of the past history. Thank you for sharing this. Excellent presentation. Hope it doesn’t attract too many extra visitors.

[arthurmee]

Honestly Paul I don't know why the BBC or some other major TV channel don't sign you up as a documentary maker/presenter. The quality of this vid is amazing and your drone footage is the cherry on the cake.

[barryballard]

Great video Paul. Lots of hard work both researching and editing I'm sure, and it shows. Thanks a lot for this one.

[markstott]

I have to say Paul, this new system of video production is great. Having a video drop out of the blue on a Wednesday was most welcome. Having longer more indepth content really works. I confess i had never heard of the place which is a shame. It's a quite splendid and intriguing abandoned settlement. More of the same is something to look forward to.😊

[dn]

Fascinating 😊. As a child, I had a building on the farm that was taken and built again in the local park. It is now an art centre and cafe. Definitely looks better than it did with just Cows living in there and a milking room 😂

[ste]

Better than anything on the tele this . Better made, better presented and just better full stop . Well done both of you .
Ste, Liverpool

[stuartthornton]

This was a fantastic documentary, easily as good as the things I see on Nebula etc. Thank you peeps.

[malcolmrichardson]

A well-crafted, informative video of a mysteriously short-lived Roman settlement and its pre-Roman origins. Very enjoyable. I can you put a lot of work into this, and hope you do more of them.

[philwildcroft]

It's interesting that Venta Icenorum, the Roman town near Norfolk associated with the Iceni tribe, is similarly abandoned.

[Jimyjames]

Very interesting Paul - If you just walked past it - you wouldn't think it was a Roman wall - just a normal old wall!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[martinmarsola]

Thank you for todays video. A fantastic tour into the Roman past. Always enjoy your videos, always intriguing to comprehend. See you on the next. Cheers Paul! 😊

[glynluff]

The gravestones around the churchyard wall is not uncommon in rural churches in East Anglia as a maintenance aid when many of them have fallen over a long period of years. The grass may then be mowed. Sometimes in city churches where the churchyard is highly elevated this is not uncommon to allow further burial of the dead over the centuries until the churchyard was closed.