A NEW book is shedding light on the secrets of ancient Winchester.
Venta Belgarum: Prehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman Winchester is the latest in the groundbreaking Winchester Studies series and draws on discoveries made as far back as the 1960s.
The authors are Francis Morris and Martin Biddle who has been involved in archaeological excavations in Winchester for 60 years.
A charity, the Winchester Excavations Committee, is launching the book at the School of Art on Wednesday February 7.
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Prof Biddle spent years since the 1960s undertaking digs that uncovered Winchester’s Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval history.
This is the first of the Winchester Studies series to publish detailed site reports of the field and urban archaeology from his excavations.
Prof Biddle's work at Winchester has been recognised as one of the most important archaeological studies in the world.
In proposing him for freedom of the city in 2010, Cllr Therese Evans said: “Probably his best-known achievement was the excavation of the Old Minster on the Cathedral Green where he and his wife Birthe Kjolbye-Biddle achieved the first near completion of an Anglo-Saxon cathedral and changed perceptions of Winchester’s archaeology.
“His work showed the importance of this site in the history of the city and of the kingdom of Wessex. He also showed how the ruined Roman town was developed into a royal and ecclesiastical centre in the 7th to 9th centuries, and became the central place in a network of defended ‘burhs’ which provided protection from the Danish attacks which had overrun much of the country."
The book comes in two volumes and is 1,410 pages and costs £240. An e-version is available for £16. It is published by Archaeopress Archaeology.
The early reviews have been positive. Martin Henig, of Wolfson College, Oxford, wrote: "…the single fullest and most impressive volume on any Roman town [bringing] together the observations and excavations over three centuries. A volume of prime importance to everyone interested in Roman Britain, it should be on the shelves of every Archaeological Unit and indeed every excavator."
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