Silchester

Silchester, a village in the extreme north of Hampshire, 7 miles N. of Basingstoke, famous for the remains of the ancient Romano-British town of Cæcer Segeint, called by the Romans Calleva, and by the West Saxons Silceastre. The chief visible remains are the amphitheatre, 50 yards by 40, and the walls, 2760 yards in length; excavations have shown the foundations of a basilica, the forum, a temple, baths, &c.; and coins, seals, rings, and much broken pottery have been found. New excavations were begun in June 1890. See The History and Antiquities of Silchester (1821), and the work on Silchester by Plummer (1879).