The Centre of the Roman Town

The heart of both the Iron Age and Roman towns is where the administrative and religious buildings stood.  

The forum as it might have appeared in the fourth century AD. This area of town also contained residential houses, shops and workshops constructed using both timber and masonry. (Drawing by Peter Urmston) © English Heritage A new, rectilinear grid of gravelled streets was laid out in the later first century, and continued to be used throughout the life of the town. The town's main east–west street was the principal route to the West Country from London. It was lined with shops and workshops. 

There would have been a second-century forum basilica complex, a great public building at the very centre of the town, which would have combined administrative and judicial roles (basilica) with a market function (forum).  Next to the forum, was the site of a possible Christian church, while further beyond was a Romano-Celtic temple.