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England
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Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Bristol, Cheltenham, Stroud,
Cirencester, Tewkesbury)
The city centre of Gloucester stands on
the site of a Roman fortress dating from the 60s, which by about AD
97 had been made a colonia a self-governing city with similar rights
to those of Rome itself.
The original fortress provided the lines for a defensive wall around
the core of the colonia. This is still reflected by the main street
names because they led to gateways through the wall, and by the
curving corner of Brunswick Road and Parliament Street, which was
the corner of the original fortress.
Gloucester was one of three cities captured by the Saxons following
the battle of Dyrham in 577. It is still not clear how much of the
Roman town survived at this time, nor when the Saxons actually
occupied it, although gradually archaeology is helping to clarify
the picture.
In about AD 900 'helfl', daughter of
Alfred the Great, and wife of 'helred, Earl of Mercia, founded a
free chapel royal here to house the remains of St Oswald. She
probably also refounded the city as a burh and laid out the street
pattern which largely survives in the centre.
It is thought that she probably also
built a palace at Kingsholm Gloucester, which was later used by
several Saxon and Norman kings for councils and parliaments.
Probably the most famous occasion was that in 1085 after which
William the Conqueror ordered the Domesday Survey.
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