Shropshire's Great Days Out - Wroxeter Roman City
See day six of our 31 great days out as Ben Bentley continues his month-long campaign to highlight the area's top visitor attractions. Click here for an overview of the great days out campaign and check back each day for the latest idea.
See day six of our 31 great days out as Ben Bentley continues his month-long campaign to highlight the area's top visitor attractions.
Where is it? Wroxeter, on the B4380 five miles east of Shrewsbury, SY5 6PH.
What is it? Rediscovered in 1859 when workmen began excavating the baths complex, Wroxeter is the remains of the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, and today, visitors can wander around the ruins of this once great fortress and civilian city.
Outstanding features include the remains of the 2nd century municipal baths, and the Roman Town House, a recreation of a Roman merchant's house, which gives the whole site a sense of scale.
You'll be meeting a 'TV star too' – the Roman Town House was built by modern building trade workers for the Channel 4 series Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, using traditional methods and materials.
How much is it? Admission prices are £5 for adults, £4.40 for concessions and £3 for children. A family ticket (two adults and up to three children) is £13, and English Heritage members get in free.
What is there to do? Become a Roman for the day and step in the footsteps of the people who properly knew how to build stuff.
To truly immerse yourself in these historic surroundings, take an audio tour on a walk around the ruins. Your 'guide' for the day will explain how the small walls you see today would have formed part of the exercise hall or the baths.
New for 2012 are furnishings inside the Roman Town House to help visitors understand how the different rooms would have been used, from the Triclinium with its three couches where visitors would have been welcomed by the master of the house, to the bathroom, with its plunge pool and a large bath that would be heated by a fire under the floor. They knew how to live, those Romans!
Interesting fact: The ruins you see today are only a fraction of the city, which housed around 5,000 people at its height. The Roman Town House is constructed on a mound of aggregates, which preserves any remaining archaeology underground from the building. Following the building of the Town House, visitor numbers rocketed by 177 per cent.
Opening times: Daily from 10am to 5pm.
Verdict: The Roman Town House puts vivid colour onto the story of Roman Britain. It's easy to see why it was such a TV star!
Further information: www.english-heritage.org.uk/wroxeter or call 01743 761330.
