Silchester
Silchester (18th century)Shown on an old map by Harrison 1788
- settlement, town - Holdsett Hundred - Hampshire
Period - 1780s
otherwise: Vindonum; Caer Segonte; Murimintum
The place is described in text Cox 1738
- Hampshire
Silcester, the ancient Vindonum, the chief City of the Segontiaci; the Britons called it Caer Segonte, i. e. the City of the Segontians, as Ninnius tells us, and we at this Day, Silcester. That this Place was the Vindonum of the Ancients, seems evident by its Distances from Gallena or Guallenford, and Venta or Winchester, as Antoninus has set them down in his Itinerary; and so much the more, because there is a military Way still visible between this Place and Winchester.
Ninnius tells us, that this City was built by Constantius, the Son of Constantine the Great, and that it was once called Murimintum, perhaps for Muri viridun, i. e. the Walls of Vindonum, and that he sowed it with three Grains of Wheat, that none of the Inhabitants might ever grow poor. The same Author says, that Constantius died here, and that his Sepulchre was to be seen at the Gate of it, with an Inscription bearing his Name; but we will not warrant the Truth of these Things; because he is full of Fables in other Things, and in this there is an apparent Falshood, for Constantius died in the East, as he was advancing against Julian the Apostate.
... Britain was in that Emperor's Division of the Roman provinces, and 'tis probable an honorary Sepulchre or Borrow might be made here for Constantius after his Death, as was the Custom; and the Soldiers of the Garrison had their solemn Exercises yearly round it in honour of the Dead; but all writers agree, that Constantius died Mopsuestia or Mebsete in Cicilia, and was from thence carried to the Burial place of his Ancestors at Constantinople.
... Our British Historians report, that our famous King Arthur was crowned in this City, and that sooon after it was demolished, either in the Saxon Wars, or when Athelwolfe being assisted by the Danes, rebelled against his Brother, King Edward, and ravaged all the Country as far as Basingstoke. Nothing now remained but the Walls, which are very high, (tho' the Coping and Battlements are down) and in a great Measure entire, except where the Gates have been. They are about two Italian Miles in Compass, and out of them in some Places grow Oaks of such vast Bigness, incorporated as it were with the Stones, that they are an Admiration to all that behold them. Hence some think Silcester implies a great City.
... On the West Side of the Walls, where 'tis level, there runs a long Ridge, cast up for the Defence of the Place, containing about eighty Acres of Land, a good fat Soil, now divided into Fields, with a little Grove towards the West, and Eastward near the Gate a Farm-House with a small Church of modern Building, in which are the Arms of divers good Families in the Windows, as of the Blewets which are, In a Shield Or, an Eagle displayed with two Heads, Gules; of the Cusanz, which are, In a Field Sable, seven Fusils Argent bendwise; and of the Baynards, which are, in a Field Sable, a Fesse, between two Cheverons Or; which three Families were owners of this Manor, from near the Time of the Conqueror, for some Generations.
In the Conqueror's Time this Estate was in the Possession of William de Ow, a Norman, who being accused of Treason, and demanding to vindicate his Innocency by Combat, was overcome, and threrupon blinded and dismembred.
The Soil about this Town is rich and fertile, yet the Husbandmen have constantly observed, That their Corn will not grow so well in some Places as others, from whence they conclude, that the Streets of the old City ran formerly where there is least Thrift.
British Tiles and Roman Coins are commonly dug up here: These last the common People call Onion Pennies, from one Onion, whom they talk of as a Giant, who was an Inhabitant of Vindonum. Several inscriptions have been found here, but not being understood, are lost; one of them was preserved and sent up to the Lord Treasurer Burghley in Queen Elizabth's Days, viz.
MEMORIAE / FL. VICTORI / NEA T. TAM / VICTOR CONIVX / POSVIT.
Some think that was a Monument erected in memory of Victorina who was called Maker Castrorum, i. e. the Mother of the Camp, who raised the Victorim, Son and Grandson, Postumus, Lollianus, Marius and Tetricus Caesars in Gaul and Britain, against Gallienus the Emperor: But there having been two Victors flourishing in Britain at the same Time, the one the Son, and the other the Praefect of the Guards to the Emperor maximus, it cannot be determined which of them set up this Monument.
As there is one military Roman Way that leads from hence directly Southward to Winchester, so there is another that goes Westward tho' Pamber, a thick and woody Forest, and so by some Places that are now uninhabited, till it runs near
