The Roman town of Caistor St Edmund was once Norfolk's capital. 1700 years ago you would have been standing outside the high walls of a large bustling market town, a centre of local government, trade and entertainment.
Caistor is one of only a few Roman towns in Britain that have not been damaged or hidden by later buildings. A general site map shows the wealth of Roman remains that have been found in and around the town.
The most impressive part of Roman Caistor, the town wall on the north side, still stands to a height of 6 metres (20 feet). Since the end of Roman rule other areas of the town have not fared so well. As it fell into disuse, flint and tiles were taken away by the cartload and re-used for new buildings and road mending. Fortunately the lower parts of the buildings and town wall were left untouched, with much of the rich archaeological evidence safely preserved below ground.
To discover more about the town you can follow a circular walk, starting here at point 1, the car park (just click on the symbol with the yellow feet, below). If you visit the site in person you can also take a longer riverside walk (marked on the map in green).
The objects found in the area can be viewed at the Norwich Castle Museum in the centre of the City.
All those responsible hope that you will enjoy your visit. The text and illustrations for this tour were designed and produced by Sue White, Landscape Archaeology Section, Norfolk Museums Service. Copyright for text and illustrations are held jointly by Norfolk Archaeological Trust and Norfolk Museums Service. This Web version is held at the School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia.
John Peterson, an honorary member of the School, is studying the application of computers to the study of ancient landscape.
(e-mail j.peterson@uea.ac.uk)