Editing South West England (section)

===Roman period===
[[File:Silbury Hill - geograph.org.uk - 776.jpg|thumb|right|[[Silbury Hill]] – Europe's largest man-made earthwork]]
During the [[Roman Britain|Roman era]], the east of the region, particularly the Cotswolds and eastern Somerset, was heavily Romanised but Devon and Cornwall were much less so, though Exeter was a regional capital. There are villas, farms and temples dating from the period, including the remains at Bath.

The area of [[Somerset]] was part of the [[Roman Empire]] from AD 47 to about AD 409.<ref name="rajan">{{cite news |first=Amal |last=Rajan |title=Around a county in 40 facts: A (very) brief history of Somerset |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/around-a-county-in-40-facts-a-very-brief-history-of-somerset-462828.html |work=Independent on Sunday |date=24 August 2007 |access-date=21 October 2007 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214141911/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/around-a-county-in-40-facts-a-very-brief-history-of-somerset-462828.html |archive-date=14 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The empire disintegrated gradually, and elements of [[Romanitas]] lingered on for perhaps a century. In AD 47, Somerset was invaded from the south-east by the [[Legio II Augusta|Second Legion]] ''Augusta'', under the future emperor [[Vespasian]]. The [[hillfort]]s of the [[Durotriges]] at [[Ham Hill Country Park|Ham Hill]] and [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]] were captured. Ham Hill probably had a temporary Roman occupation. The massacre at Cadbury Castle seems to have been associated with the later [[Boudicca|Boudiccan Revolt]] of AD 60–61.<ref name="Dunning"/>

[[File:Roman Baths c1900 2.jpg|thumb|left|A 19th-century [[Photochrom]] of the Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset]]
The Roman invasion, and possibly the preceding period of involvement in the internal affairs of the south of England, was inspired in part by the lead mines of the [[Mendip Hills]], which also offered the potential for the extraction of silver.<ref name="havinden">{{cite book|last=Havinden|first=Michael|title=The Somerset Landscape|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|location=London|series=The making of the English landscape|page=979|isbn=0-340-20116-9|year=1981}}</ref><ref name="RBSomerset">{{cite web | title=Romano-British Somerset | work=Somerset County Council: History of Somerset | url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Romano-brit.htm | access-date=29 October 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017030550/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Romano-brit.htm | archive-date=17 October 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Forts were set up at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and [[Ilchester]]. The lead and silver [[mining|mines]] at [[Charterhouse Roman Town|Charterhouse]] in the Mendip Hills were run by the military. The Romans established a defensive boundary along the new military road known the [[Fosse Way]] (from the Latin ''fossa'' meaning "ditch"). The Fosse Way ran through [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Shepton Mallet]], [[Ilchester]] and south-west towards [[Axminster]]. The road from [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] ran through [[Yeovil]] to meet the Fosse Way at Ilchester. Salt was produced on the [[Somerset Levels]] near [[Highbridge, Somerset|Highbridge]] and [[quarry]]ing took place near Bath, named after the [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Roman baths]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Roman Baths Treatment Centre |work=Images of England |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=442194 |access-date=15 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615202319/http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=442194 |archive-date=15 June 2009 }}</ref>

Excavations carried out before the flooding of [[Chew Valley Lake]] also uncovered Roman remains, indicating agricultural and industrial activity from the second half of the 1st century until the 3rd century AD. The finds included a moderately large [[Roman villa|villa]] at Chew Park,<ref name="ross">{{cite book | editor = Ross, Lesley| year = 2004 | title = Before the Lake: Memories of the Chew Valley | publisher = The Harptree Historic Society | isbn=0-9548832-0-9 }}</ref> where wooden writing tablets (the first in the UK) with ink writing were found. There is also evidence from the [[Pagans Hill Roman Temple]] at [[Chew Stoke]].<ref name="ross"/><ref name="hucker">{{cite book | author = Hucker, Ernest| year = 1997 | title = Chew Stoke Recalled in Old Photographs | publisher = Ernest Hucker  }}</ref> In October 2001 the [[West Bagborough Hoard]] of 4th-century Roman silver was discovered in [[West Bagborough]]. The 681 coins included two [[denarius|denarii]] from the early 2nd century and 8 [[miliarense|miliarensia]] and 671 [[siliqua]]e all dating from AD 337 to 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors [[Constantius II]] and [[Didius Julianus|Julian]] and derive from a range of mints including [[Arles]] and [[Lyon]]s in France, [[Trier]] in Germany, and Rome.<ref>{{cite web|title=The West Bagborough Hoard |url=http://www.sanhs.org/Newsletter67.htm#WestBag |work=Newsletter Spring/Summer 2003 |publisher=[[Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society]] |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717174526/http://www.sanhs.org/Newsletter67.htm |archive-date=17 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2010, the [[Frome Hoard]], one of the largest ever hoards of Roman coins discovered in Britain, was found by a metal detectorist. The hoard of 52,500 coins dated from the 3rd century AD and was found buried in a field near [[Frome]], in a jar {{convert|14|in|cm}} below the surface.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10546960.stm|title=Huge Roman coin find for hobbyist|work=BBC News|date=8 July 2010|access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref> The coins were excavated by archaeologists from the [[Portable Antiquities Scheme]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://finds.org.uk/blogs/fromehoard/ |title=The Frome Hoard |date=8 July 2010 |first=Anna |last=Booth |publisher=[[Portable Antiquities Scheme]] |access-date=8 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712200444/http://finds.org.uk/blogs/fromehoard/ |archive-date=12 July 2010 }}</ref>