{"id":"6984792d533dbb4b7311864f","title":"Walk 623 Calleva Atrebatum Pamber Forest And Silchester Com","path":"walks/scrapbook/by-year/2024/volume-47-jan-to-mar-2024/walk-623-calleva-atrebatum-pamber-forest-and-silchester-com","contentMarkdown":"# 🥾 Walk 623 - Calleva Atrebatum, Pamber Forest and Silchester Common\n\nTwenty of us (including some regular guests from other groups) met in the free car park at Wall Lane on Saturday 3rd February for a 7¾ mile walk around Silchester.\n\nWe started the walk by heading over to the remains of the walls that once enclosed and protected the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum. It is believed that there was an Iron Age settlement on this site before the Romans built their town here in ~43 AD.\n\n![Part of the south section of the Roman wall around Calleva Atrebatum.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume47/images/calleva_atrebatum_wall.jpg)\n\nIt always amazes me that so much of the city wall is still standing after nearly two thousand years. Some sections of the wall have ancient oak and yew trees growing out of them! The Romans clearly new a thing or two about civil engineering.\n\nAbout half way round, we arrived at the 12th century church of Saint Mary the Virgin, built within the Roman wall and believed to be on the sight of an earlier Roman temple.\n\n![The church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Silchester.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume47/images/calleva_atrebatum_church.jpg)\n\nOur next stop was the Roman Amphitheatre, built just outside the city wall in around 70/80 AD. We stood in the centre of this arena, trying to imagine what might have taken place here to entertain the thousands of spectators that would have looked down into it from wooden seating, now long gone.\n\nOnce our circumnavigation of the wall was completed, we headed off towards Pamber Forest, stopping off in nearby Early Bridge Copse for lunch. There were a number of fallen trees that provided seating for us while we ate our packed lunches.\n\n![One of the fallen trees that provided seating for lunch.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume47/images/silchester_lunch_stop.jpg)\n\nWe entered Pamber Forest on a very muddy bridleway before following a much better forestry path towards the west of the forest. Here we joined the Brenda Parker Way, which we followed north-eastward, back through the forest, leaving it just after crossing Silchester Brook. We followed a stream before heading northward and uphill, through mixed woodland and into the gorse-covered heathland of Silchester Common.\n\nWe emerged from the common by the junction of Pamber Road and Kings Road. Briefly following Kings Road, we turned north again into the pine plantation at Aldermaston Soke and Benyon's Inclosure. We followed a well made forestry track through the plantation, turning east towards Pond Farm.\n\n![Following a stream through Pamber Forest.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume47/images/pamber_forest.jpg)\n\nSnowdrops lined the path as we approached Church Road, which we followed briefly before taking another footpath across a field of sheep and joining a track that took us back to Wall Lane, right opposite the entrance to the car park. See our route on Google Maps.\n\n![Crossing Silchester Common on our way to Aldermaston Soke.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume47/images/silchester_common.jpg)\n\n*Thanks go to Emma and Rob for leading this walk.*\n\n## 📸 Back to Volume 47\n\nReturn to volume index","contentHtml":"

🥾 Walk 623 - Calleva Atrebatum, Pamber Forest and Silchester Common

\n

Twenty of us (including some regular guests from other groups) met in the free car park at Wall Lane on Saturday 3rd February for a 7¾ mile walk around Silchester.

\n

We started the walk by heading over to the remains of the walls that once enclosed and protected the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum. It is believed that there was an Iron Age settlement on this site before the Romans built their town here in ~43 AD.

\n

\"Part

\n

It always amazes me that so much of the city wall is still standing after nearly two thousand years. Some sections of the wall have ancient oak and yew trees growing out of them! The Romans clearly new a thing or two about civil engineering.

\n

About half way round, we arrived at the 12th century church of Saint Mary the Virgin, built within the Roman wall and believed to be on the sight of an earlier Roman temple.

\n

\"The

\n

Our next stop was the Roman Amphitheatre, built just outside the city wall in around 70/80 AD. We stood in the centre of this arena, trying to imagine what might have taken place here to entertain the thousands of spectators that would have looked down into it from wooden seating, now long gone.

\n

Once our circumnavigation of the wall was completed, we headed off towards Pamber Forest, stopping off in nearby Early Bridge Copse for lunch. There were a number of fallen trees that provided seating for us while we ate our packed lunches.

\n

\"One

\n

We entered Pamber Forest on a very muddy bridleway before following a much better forestry path towards the west of the forest. Here we joined the Brenda Parker Way, which we followed north-eastward, back through the forest, leaving it just after crossing Silchester Brook. We followed a stream before heading northward and uphill, through mixed woodland and into the gorse-covered heathland of Silchester Common.

\n

We emerged from the common by the junction of Pamber Road and Kings Road. Briefly following Kings Road, we turned north again into the pine plantation at Aldermaston Soke and Benyon's Inclosure. We followed a well made forestry track through the plantation, turning east towards Pond Farm.

\n

\"Following

\n

Snowdrops lined the path as we approached Church Road, which we followed briefly before taking another footpath across a field of sheep and joining a track that took us back to Wall Lane, right opposite the entrance to the car park. See our route on Google Maps.

\n

\"Crossing

\n

Thanks go to Emma and Rob for leading this walk.

\n

📸 Back to Volume 47

\n

Return to volume index

\n"}