Newport; Saturday, 14 June, 2025

I had a bit of a lie in and head down for breakfast just after 9, which turned out to be a bad move as pretty much everyone else in the hotel had decided to turn up for breakfast at the same time and there clearly wasn’t enough room, or food, to cope with them all. I finally managed to get a seat and something to eat, but it was a chaotic experience.

Fuelled for at least the morning I headed out of the hotel and walked the short distance to the city’s Museum and Art Gallery to have a look around their displays. The museum has quite a lot of displays and information on all the Roman sites that are located in the vicinity, including artefacts from the nearby Roman fortress at Caerleon.

From the museum it was a short walk down to the bus station to pick up the bus out to Caerleon itself to have a look around the town. At the height of the Roman occupation this was the site of Isca Augusta, home base to the Second Legion, who were instrumental in the conquest of Britain at the start of the 1st century, and who spent a good 25 years subduing the local tribes of South Wales from their base here.

As it was such an important base there are significant remains including the Roman Baths, Barrack Blocks and one of the most complete Amphitheatres in Britain, which I spent quite a bit of time exploring.

I finished my look round Caerleon by visiting the National Roman Legion Museum which houses collections not just from this fortress but also from across Wales and also has a reconstructed Roman Garden in the grounds.

I caught the bus back into Newport and had about 20 minutes before the next bus, so was able to quickly grab a bite to eat before hopping on the bus out to the second Roman site of the day in Caerwent.

Caerwent is the site of the Roman civilian settlement of Venta Silurum and includes some of the most complete Roman Walls and other structures in the country. I started my visit by walking around the edge of the Roman town following the substantial Roman Walls that are still standing over more than 50% of their original course, in placed almost to the full height they would have been in their heyday.

After tracing the walls I then headed in towards the centre of the village to take in some of the other key Roman structures that have been unearthed including the Forum and an adjacent Temple, a row of houses and shops as well as the remains of a large Courtyard house located close to the Northwestern corner of the site.

I managed to fit everything in with just enough time to make it back to the bus stop before the arrival of the hourly bus back to Newport and a well-deserved dinner before heading back to the hotel for an early night.