Caerleon

Caerleon ('castle of the legion'), a small but ancient town in Monmouthshire, on the right bank of the Usk, 2½ miles NE. of Newport. The Isca Silurum of the Romans, it was very early the seat of an ancient see—the only one, it seems, in all Wales—which was transferred to St David's in the 6th century. An abbey of Cistercian monks existed here before the Reformation. Many Roman relics have been found, as baths, pavement, altars, tiles, coins, inscriptions, and enamels; and the smaller of these are deposited in a museum. There are also remains of an amphitheatre, measuring 222 by 192 feet, and known as King Arthur's Round Table. Geoffrey of Monmouth it was who connected King Arthur with Caerleon; and to that connection, through Lord Tennyson, Caerleon owes its chief fame. Pop. 1099. See J. E. Lee's Isca Silurum (Lond. 1845).