The little village occupies the southern extremity of the Roman city whose circumference measures about 3 miles.  One can trace the limits of the place by the indications of the vallum and fosse.

There is no doubt that Uriconium was the Romanised capital of the Cornavii, a British tribe, and it is equally well known that the town became the centre of a network of great roads leading in different directions.  The walls enclosed an area more than twice the size of Roman London, and one may easily gauge its importance and its princely style of buildings from the traces of its forum and its amphitheatre, as well as from its wide streets.

The huge destruction brought about when the city was overwhelmed by the West Saxons left the place a mass of ruins, for there are evident signs that the place was plundered and burned.  During the Middle Ages there must have been, however, more than mere rubbish heaps, and the many walls then standing were probably destroyed by monks in order to furnish cheap material for ecclesiastical buildings.  There is, notwithstanding this, a great piece of wall 72 feet long by 20 feet high.  The other remains consist of a blacksmith’s shop and the site of a market-place.  A warming apparatus under one of the floors is even more perfect than is usually discovered in Rome.  The key of the enclosure containing the chief portion of the remains is obtainable at the neighbouring cottage.

[Illustration:  Valentine & Sons, Ltd.

WROXETER.

Remains of the Roman city of Uriconium at Wroxeter.  The wall is 20 feet high in places.  A warming apparatus in the foundation of one of the houses is more perfect than those usually found in Rome.]

BUILDWAS ABBEY, SHROPSHIRE

=How to get there.=—­Train from Paddington.  Great Western Rly. =Nearest Station.=—­Buildwas Junction (1/2 mile from Abbey). =Distance from London.=—­160 miles. =Average Time.=—­4-1/2 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 24s. 2d. 16s. 3d. 13s. 
          Return 45s. 6d. 28s. 6d. 26s.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­“Abbey Inn.”

The village of Buildwas is situated at the foot of the Wrekin, on the banks of the Severn, half a mile distant from the ruined abbey lying on the south bank of the river.  It was one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in England, and was founded by Roger de Clinton the Crusader Bishop of Chester in 1135, for monks of the Cistercian order.  The building, erected on the site of a hermitage, to which an early bishop of Lincoln had retired in the time of King Offa, was destined to become one of the richest establishments in the kingdom.  It was partly destroyed in 1536 and the site granted to Edward Grey, Lord Powis, who married Anne, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Sussex.