04-26-2018, 07:46 PM
Hi Thomas,
If you are in that part of the world. Cardiff castle is well worth a visit - the main structures are medieval but the Roman fort is in the same site and there are reconstructed walls:
https://www.cardiffcastle.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Roman_Fort
It was heavily restored in the 19th C and is quite interesting otherwise. Sadly as far as I am aware, there is no Roman gallery at the National Museum of Wales as they seem to take the view that this is all covered at the Caerleon museum. The latter is excellent but they have some much Roman and Iron age stuff in Wales that I really feel they are missing the chance to enhance their display by not including the ancient period at the main museum in Cardiff. I recall they did have Roman material back in the 1990s in the NMW in Cardiff.
Back in England, Great Witcombe Roman villa is not too far from Cirencester, and Chedworth Roman vllla is 20 minutes away by car. These are not as spectacular as the villas you might see in Spain or France, but they are worth a look and anything run by the National Trust has a good catering facility to refuel.
A thought on the timing - if you visit in September, sites are likely to be open about an hour later than from October, and in the dog days of winter once you are into December/January, it gets dark about 3.30pm and winter closing may say 4pm or dusk if earlier, so you should check the websites for CADW and other guardians of the places you want to visit. I think the baths at Caerleon are open until 5pm all year but the other sites (barracks, amphitheatre, walls etc) are in the open air so visitable at "any reasonable time" as they say in the books, but after 4pm in November you'll be tripping over in the dark! Chedworth villa, for example, closes altogether at the end of November.
Regards,
John
If you are in that part of the world. Cardiff castle is well worth a visit - the main structures are medieval but the Roman fort is in the same site and there are reconstructed walls:
https://www.cardiffcastle.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Roman_Fort
It was heavily restored in the 19th C and is quite interesting otherwise. Sadly as far as I am aware, there is no Roman gallery at the National Museum of Wales as they seem to take the view that this is all covered at the Caerleon museum. The latter is excellent but they have some much Roman and Iron age stuff in Wales that I really feel they are missing the chance to enhance their display by not including the ancient period at the main museum in Cardiff. I recall they did have Roman material back in the 1990s in the NMW in Cardiff.
Back in England, Great Witcombe Roman villa is not too far from Cirencester, and Chedworth Roman vllla is 20 minutes away by car. These are not as spectacular as the villas you might see in Spain or France, but they are worth a look and anything run by the National Trust has a good catering facility to refuel.
A thought on the timing - if you visit in September, sites are likely to be open about an hour later than from October, and in the dog days of winter once you are into December/January, it gets dark about 3.30pm and winter closing may say 4pm or dusk if earlier, so you should check the websites for CADW and other guardians of the places you want to visit. I think the baths at Caerleon are open until 5pm all year but the other sites (barracks, amphitheatre, walls etc) are in the open air so visitable at "any reasonable time" as they say in the books, but after 4pm in November you'll be tripping over in the dark! Chedworth villa, for example, closes altogether at the end of November.
Regards,
John
