West Berkshire’s largest known Roman settlement grew up alongside Ermin Street, the road from Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) to Corinium (Cirencester), where it passes through modern Thatcham. Many archaeological features were recorded in the 1920s-30s when houses were being built in what was then called Thatcham Newtown. The excavation of a Roman well produced many notable finds, and the waterlogged conditions ensured the survival of organic materials that would usually rot away, like this leather sole of a girls shoe. It would originally have been hobnailed.
Further information about the archaeological site is available on the HER: www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MWB3557&resourceID=1030
HER – The Historic Environment Record (HER) is a register of all known archaeological and historical sites in the unitary authority of West Berkshire.
Period: AD 43-410
Place: Thatcham
