Caesaromagus

A Roman settlement once stood on the site of present-day Chelmsford. Called Caesaromagus, it lay midway between Londinium and Camulodunum. The name probably recalls a victory won there by Claudius before the conquest of Colchester in 43 AD. Excavations have uncovered two early military camps built one after the other. A mansio with a large courtyard and bath-house formed the heart of the civilian town. Most buildings were wooden and streets ran irregularly. In the north an octagonal temple stood from about 325 AD until the fifth century. A rampart and ditch enclosed the town in the second century. No stone walls replaced them later as happened elsewhere. Outside the defences graves were found. By the fifth century the place was abandoned. Its status remains unclear, for no public buildings typical of a tribal capital have been recognised.