In Boudica's footsteps
Thetford to Colchester
Unlike
their Roman conquerors, the Iceni lived relatively simple lives in simple
buildings – round houses grouped together. Boudica's palace in Thetford
would have been made of wood and other perishable materials: nothing remains
of it today.
However, below Thetford's Norman castle mound in the east of the town is evidence of substantial Iron-Age defences. And at Gallows Hill, north of the Fison Way Industrial Estate, a grandiose rectangular enclosure of 32,000 square metres (344,460 square feet), surrounded by deep ditches, was constructed in about AD 50. A straight corridor running between stout wooden fences of upright posts led, via a massive timber gateway, into an inner enclosure some 80m (265ft) wide and 140m (460ft) long. Anyone entering this would have been faced by a largely empty arena, to the rear of which stood a two-storeyed building.
This would have been perfect for large gatherings of people, for secular or religious purposes. Some of the those who did gather there lost their brooches – 47 have been found. This could very well have been where the Iceni met to decide whether to follow Boudica in her rebellion against the Roman empire.
That decision went Boudica's way. Then, amazingly, she persuaded the Trinovantes – the tribe that occupied modern Essex and south Suffolk and who traditionally had been the Iceni's enemies – to join her cause and march with the Iceni.
What you can see
Gallows Hill Iceni enclosure, Thetford
There is nothing from AD 60 to see here, but the landscape still remains.
The enclosure is north of the Fison's Way Industrial Estate, off Mundford Road. Gallows Hill itself can be seen at the junction of the A134 and the A11 bypass.
Thetford: the Iron-Age defences
Enlarge image
Iron-Age defensive works, Thetford
A massive mound, 25m (81ft) high, 305m (1,000ft) in diameter, was constructed
after the Norman Conquest, but defensive works on the site date back to
the Iron Age, including the time of Boudica.
On Castle Hill, at the east end of the town. Entrance off Castle Lane.
Iceni Village and Museums
A reconstructed Iron-Age village, complete with snake pit, hanging
skeleton, stocks and a pillory, recreates the lives of the Iceni tribe
at the time of the Roman occupation.
Cockley Cley, Norfolk, three miles south-west of Swaffham, off the
A1065 towards Oxborough. Tel: 01760 724 588.
Butser Ancient Farm
www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/index.html
'The Open-air Laboratory for Archaeology'. Using evidence from excavations
of prehistoric and Roman sites, the farm has been constructed as closely
as possible to what it would have been like at the time of Boudica and
earlier. Re-enactors allow visitors to experience the everyday life of
the early Britons.
Signposted off the A3 between Petersfield and Portsmouth in Hampshire.
Tel: 023 9259 8838.
Stonea Camp Hillfort
www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4543
An ancient hillfort that is the possible site of an important battle
between the Romans and the Iceni in AD 47.
Near March, Cambridgeshire, off the B1093 – follow the signposts
to Stiches Farm.
Following the Romans' invasion of Britain in AD 43, the emperor Claudius had staged a ceremonial entry – complete with elephants and camels – into what is now modern-day Colchester, the chief town of the Trinovantes. Six years later, the town was renamed Camulodunum and became the first Roman colonia, a settlement set aside solely for Roman citizens (primarily retired soldiers). It was also the capital of the Romans' new province until the foundation of Londinium in about AD 50.
The Trinovantes' land was seized, and members of the tribe were enslaved to build the colonia and taxed to pay for it. The tribe's grievances had simmered ever since. Shortly before the revolt, six young men killed by blows to their skulls were deposited in a ditch, presumably by the Romans. Boudica's proposal undoubtedly came at just the right time.
The mixed rebel force, with Boudica in command, left Thetford for Camulodunum, about 40 miles to the south-east. The colonia had many fine Roman buildings: council chambers, a theatre and a huge temple of Claudius, part of the imperial cult. This temple became a particular target for the Britons, representing as it did everything they hated about the Romans.
As the rebellious Iceni and Trinovantes swept towards Camulodunum, they numbered about 100,000 – far more than the colonia's inhabitants, many of whom were away fighting in Wales with the governor Suetonius Paulinus. For those left behind, things didn't look good.
Without any evident cause, the statue of Victory at Camulodunum fell prostrate and turned its back to the enemy, as though it fled before them. Women excited to frenzy prophesied impending destruction; ravings in a strange tongue, it was said, were heard in their Senate-house; their theatre resounded with wailings, and in the estuary of the Tamesa had been seen the appearance of an overthrown town; even the ocean had worn the aspect of blood, and, when the tide ebbed, there had been left the likenesses of human forms – marvels interpreted by the Britons as hopeful, by the veterans as alarming.
Tacitus
The Romans sent a messenger requesting that Procurator Decianus send troops without delay. He sent the 9th Legion Hispana – 5,000 men – but Boudica had already received news of their impending arrival. Ambushed just north of Camulodunum, they were completely wiped out.
Camulodunum was doomed. The original defences had been removed to allow the new building to be carried out. Some of the residents fled to the temple; after holding out for two days, they were all slaughtered. The colonia was burned to the ground. Today, excavations all over the town have revealed a 'Boudican destruction layer': wattle-and-daub buildings that were burned to a distinctive hard red clay. The Britons also hacked off the head of the temple's enormous statue of Claudius and, in a Druidic ritual act, threw it in a river, where a boy discovered it in the early 20th century.
On their return to Camulodunum, the Romans made sure that nothing like this could happen again. In particular, they built enormous city walls to protect the colonia, part of which can still be seen.
With Camulodunum in flames and its inhabitants vanquished, the rebels marched on to Londinium, about 50 miles to the south-west.
What you can see
Colchester Castle Museum
www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/
castle/castle_index.html
The museum is located in the Norman castle, which was built on the
vaulted foundations of the original Roman temple of Claudius, virtually
destroyed by Boudica. In the museum, you can experience an audio-visual
drama that explains why she burned the town to the ground, and see, among
much else, the charred remains of dates, grain, pottery and a piece of
a mattress and the decapitated skulls of some of the Romans' victims.
The museum is situated in Castle Park, at the eastern end of the High
Street. It is a five-minute walk from the bus station and Colchester
Town railway station.
The George of Colchester
www.colchestergeorgehotel.co.uk
In the basement of this coaching inn, a section of soil about 1.8m
(6ft) below the surface is revealed, protected by a pane of glass. Look
closely at the top and you will see distinctive bright-red burnt clay,
which is part of the 'Boudican destruction layer'.
High Street, Colchester, 200m past the Town Hall. Tel: 01206 578 494.
