Burrium
Attested: Burrio on iter 12 and iter 13 of the Antonine Itinerary
Where: Usk, where a short-lived large Roman fort at SO37840052 was succeeded by a much smaller fort and a veterans' settlement when the main Roman base shifted to Caerleon.
Name origin: Latin burrus ‘orangey-red’, from Greek πυρρος ‘flame-coloured’, describing the local Raglan Mudstone, which can be seen in modern Usk Bridge and in soil beside Red Hill, a road near the fort. Other red names for Roman sites seem most likely to refer to the colour of a river, so maybe that applied to the river Usk here, which ran “red with mud after all the rain” as described here.
Notes: Celtic suggestions by Rivet & Smith and others are not credible. This site probably had some of the first stone buildings in Wales.
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Last edited 29 March 2023 To main Menu