Streets of… The ancient roman town of Caerleon
We’re in Caerleon as we look at some of the most interesting and up and coming areas anywhere across South Wales. The Newport suburb slash village can trace its roots thousands of years back to the roman age and over the last few years has continued to grow, with housing developments and even a Netflix TV show.
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00:00 Taking a look around the centre of Cilean, you can see how quaint and beautiful some of the old houses and cottages are.
00:07 And it's things like this that the village has prided itself on over the years, with a number of million pound plus houses.
00:13 The centre is seriously sought after, and from its numerous pubs, cafes and restaurants you can see why.
00:19 There's a local bakery, a sandwich shop and a number of small local independents in the fwrm, the Welsh word for forum, which is the centre of a Roman city.
00:29 The history in this small village is surely one of the most pivotal anywhere in the area.
00:34 The ancient Roman town of Isca was home to thousands of soldiers and was one of the most important posts in Roman Britain.
00:40 And it's not just the fact that we know the history is here, but the fact you can see the history.
00:44 Here behind me we have the amphitheatre. Built around the year 90, it would have entertained 6,000 spectators with bloody gladiator fights and exotic wild animals on display.
00:53 Today the amphi, as the local kids call it, often hosts open air cinema shows and festivals and is a popular place for a nice walk around.
01:00 And here behind me, just a few hundred metres away from the amphitheatre, we've got the barracks, which was the home of thousands of soldiers back when Cillian was Isca,
01:10 and are the only visible Roman military barracks anywhere in Europe.
01:14 Being one of only three permanent military settlements across Roman Britain, this site is of incredible importance.
01:20 And the fact it's still in such good condition almost 2,000 years later makes it all the more impressive.
01:26 Inside the Roman Legionary Museum behind me there are countless artefacts and pieces of information about Roman Cillian, or Isca,
01:36 and even Roman baths which legionnaires would have used thousands of years ago to clean themselves and relax after a long day.
01:42 During term time you'll hardly get a day without a school trip, visiting the museum and other Roman remains,
01:48 with visitors coming from across Wales, the UK and abroad to see it all.
01:52 Now, if we're going to take this little tour of Cillian up to the final notch, we've got a beyond fascinating piece of history on top of the Roman remains.
02:01 As many people around the area and historians have said, the Cillian was actually the home of King Arthur's Round Table.
02:08 The tale comes from 12th century author Gerald of Wales, who said that Roman ambassadors held an audience at the court of King Arthur,
02:15 believed to be that amphitheatre right there.
02:18 It's not just the history that makes this village so fascinating though, as over the last few years it's played host to one of Netflix's most popular recent shows,
02:29 as the old university campus, now a new-build housing development, doubles up as Moordale Secondary School from Sex Education.
02:36 The listed building was spared when the rest of the campus was knocked down to build new houses,
02:41 and now sits proudly in the middle, showing that this village is more than just a village, and was once even a mini-university town.
02:49 For a town which is really just an extended village to have such fascinating and such far-reaching history in such a small place,
02:58 the streets of Cillian are paved with legends.
03:01 James P. Twatkins, Local TV, Cillian.