Transcribed from the fourth, 1863, edition ,
THE
RUINS OF THE ROMAN CITY
OF
Uriconium,
AT
WROXETER, NEAR SHREWSBURY.
BY
THOMAS WRIGHT, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A.
Fourth Edition,
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
SHREWSBURY: J. O. SANDFORD,HIGH-STREET.
LONDON: KENT & CO.,PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1863.
p.iiiPREFACE.
It is the aim of the followingpages to give the degree and kind of popular information believedto be wanted by the numerous visitors to the excavations atWroxeter, who have no Guide to explain what they see, and are notpossessed of that amount of minute antiquarian knowledge whichwould enable them to understand everything without suchexplanation. It is the first instance in which there hasbeen, in this country, the chance of penetrating into a city ofmore than fourteen centuries ago, on so large a scale, and withsuch extensive remains of its former condition; and when thevisitor has walked over the floors which had been trodden last,before they were thus uncovered, by the Roman inhabitants of thisisland, he will appreciate more justly, and with greaterinterest, the objects which have been discovered, and aredeposited in the Museum, at Shrewsbury; and he will learn to lookforward with hope to the light which a continuance of theseexcavations must throw upon the condition and history of thiscountry at so remote a period. Whatever this light may be,it must not be p.ivforgotten that we shall be indebted for it, in the firstplace, to his Grace the Duke of Cleveland, who has shown agenerous public feeling in giving permission and encouragement tothe excavations on his land, and to the late B. Botfield, Esq.,M.P., through whose zeal and liberality in the undertaking theexcavators were set at work, when as yet it was uncertain iftheir labours would be attended with any success. I haveendeavoured to fulfil literally the title of this little book,and to give the visitor such information as he would seek from aprofessional Guide, whilst I have gladly left the description ofthe Museum, and especially of those rather numerous human remainswhich form so remarkable a part of our discoveries, to one bestqualified for that task, Dr. Henry Johnson, who has so ably andzealously directed the excavations on the spot, and who has thus,unremunerated, given to the service of the public so much of hisvaluable time.
T. W.
p. vTOVISITORS.
Parties from a distance wishing tovisit the ruins of the ancient Uriconium, at Wroxeter, will find everycomfort and accommodation at the Lion, the Raven, the George, andthe Crown Hotels, Shrewsbury.
Wroxeter is a little more than fivemiles from Shrewsbury. Conveyances may be obtained at theRailway Station, Shrewsbury; at any of the above-named Hotels;and at Howells’s Livery Stables, Cross Hill. Partiesof any reasonable