No discoveries of Roman foundations have been made to the
north of the High Street. This fact, however, formidable though it be,
does not of itself prove that the Roman walls did not coincide with the
mediaeval fortifications; it is even probable that they did, except at
the south-west corner, where stood the mediaeval castle. In any case,
the Roman walls, built we may think in the fourth century, enclosed an
irregular quadrilateral, and possessed four gates out of which issued
those four roads to Old Sarum, to Silchester, to Clausentum and to
Porchester.
In the beginning of the fifth century the Roman administration which
had long been failing, to which one may think the building of those
walls bears witness, collapsed altogether, and with the final departure
of the Legions full of our youth and strength, Britain was left
defenceless. What happened to Winchester in the appalling confusion
which followed, we shall never know. It is said that in 495, three
generations that is to say after the departure of the Legions for the
defence of Rome, Cerdic and his son, Cymric, landed upon the southern
coast, and presently seized Winchester within whose broken walls they
established themselves.
Pages:
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391