| Now,
first let's get our bearings… the light coloured field just
to the right of centre at the top of the picture is the Amphitheatre
field; the cars are parked where cars still park. Nowadays the excavated
area is used for rugby, football and cricket. To some it is still
known as Bearhouse Field though its 'proper name' is Berrow's Field.
To see the
same field from the opposite direction, in a view which also includes
the amphitheatre, and a plan of the site - follow
this link.
The excavations
were supervised by V. E. Nash-Williams, though he unfortunately
never had chance to publish his findings as he died in 1956. Much
of the excavation was in the form of a series of test pits. The
area covered by these pits was found to be the Roman's Parade
Ground. Underneath this the archaeologists found structures which
may well have been the original camp of the builders of the fortress.
The area to the bottom right of the picture, which has seen a
more detailed excavation, is a complex of shops. These would have
been for the civil settlement (the Canabae) here on the outside
of the Fortress to the west of it. A local who took part in the
excavations remembers that one of the shops was 'full of' oyster
shells. The strip between the shops and the parade ground was
a road.
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