Buried deep inside Berkshire woodland you'll find what remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman settlement. Wickham Bushes is situated in Crowthorne Wood to the south of Bracknell.

Although barely anything remains of it now, it was once situated near one of the most important roads to and from London built by the Romans. Devil's Highway previously connected the nation's capital to a city named Calleva Atrebatum (near the village of Silchester) on the Berkshire /Hampshire border.

Excavations carried out at Wickham Bushes have demonstrated that the area hosted a mixture of agricultural homes and semi-industrial workshops after the Roman Conquest in 43 AD. The buried remains of a number of large, multi-roomed buildings with tiled roofs have also been identified, according to Roman Britain.

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These were first built in the years immediately after the invasion as the main road towards Silchester took shape. It is likely that the settlement expanded because of its association with trade along the road, and it may have had an official government building where messengers and imperial officials could stop to rest or change horses.

The lost Roman road can be tracked at Riseley
The lost Roman road can be tracked at Riseley

Pottery, a brooch and other artefacts suggest the settlement was occupied well into the 4th century AD. This was around the same time the Calleva Atrebatum settlement collapsed as Rome's control over Britain dwindled.

Wickham Bushes is a scheduled Historic England monument, of which it is described as a very rare type. The settlement appears to be much larger than most other Roman settlements, as similar examples have only been found in the north of England and in the downs of Wessex and Sussex.

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