Silchester

Silchester is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, an Iron Age and later Atrebates settlement first occupied by the Romans in about AD 45. The site includes what is considered the best-preserved Roman town wall in Great Britain and the remains of what may be one of the earliest Christian churches found in the British Isles. Today, the modern village lies just outside the ancient Roman walls and maintains a rural character, with a small population and local amenities including a village hall, a pub, and access to walking trails on its extensive commons.