Expert: Malcolm Speechley - 2/27/2009

Question
How many of the towns that survive today were established in the pre-Roman period?

Answer
Hello matt. Apologies for the delay in replying.

Very little is known about how the population of pre Roman Britain organized themselves because literacy was almost non existence. The only settlements of any significance mentioned by Caesar on his arrival were those at Colchester and Wheathamstead (Near modern day St Albans). Even these were not towns in the sense that we would understand it but more like the size of one of our modern day villages. There was also almost certainly a settlement around London but his this appears to have only grown significantly after the arrival of the Romans.

There may have been sizeable settlements around York and possibly the southern bank of the Humber. However Caesar is unable to tell us anything about these as he did not manage to penetrate very far north of the Thames.

In the absence of written evidence we are forced to rely on the archeological record. While there were numerous settlements scattered around the country it is unlikely that many of these would qualify as towns.

Hope this helps.

Malc.