Talk:Viroconium Cornoviorum

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was Do Not Move Viroconium Cornoviorum → Viroconium

The name was simply Viroconium; for some reason tribal names are being automatically appended to Romano-British towns when this was not always the case - unlike the Venta names, for instance, there wasn't another Viroconium to confuse it with. Paul S (talk) 00:01, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

• Object -- The present article title is the full formal name of the town. Since it was the cantonal (tribal) capital of the Cornovii, the full name was Viroconium (which is cognate with Wrekin) of the Cornovii. However Viroconium should continue to exist as a redirect. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:57, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Can you cite a source confirming this "full formal name" rather than simply Viroconium? Paul S (talk) 22:35, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Offhand "No", as I do not have the requisite books to hand. However, I think it is on an inscription from the Baths or forum preserved in the museum there, and it is probably in Rivet and Smith, Place-names of Roman Britain, possibly in Ordnance Survey's tabulation of information in their Map of Roman Britain. I think the addition of the tribal name in the genitive plural applies to all tribal capitals. Peterkingiron (talk) 22:46, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I can't get hold of Rivet & Smith, but the OS Roman Britain just has it as Viroconium, no suffix. For primary sources, the Antonine Itinerary mentions it twice, as Uriocono and Viroconio (datives), no tribal suffix, even though other places listed (e.g. Venta Icenorum) do. Paul S (talk) 14:49, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

The entry in Rivet's Place-names of Roman Britain is headed "Viroconium Cornoviorum". It then goes on to say that only the Rravenna itinerary refers to it as such. There is some uncertainty, but as "Viroconium Cornoviorum" is the title the book first uses, I think we should do the same. Nev1 (talk) 15:00, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

It looks as though whether Cornoviorum gets appended or not depends on which manuscript you are using as a source. The Vatican one appends. Paul S (talk) 20:36, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

The name

The interpretation of the name is not correct. The syllables should be split as follows: Uir - oc - on. That's 'man' - 'abundance' - plural suffix. It was probably intended to convey a meaning of a densely populated area of fellow-tribesmen.WallHeath (talk) 17:37, 19 April 2020 (UTC)

A E Housman

I am astonished there is no mention of one of A E Housman's most successful poems 'On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble' https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44413/a-shropshire-lad-31-on-wenlock-edge-the-woods-in-trouble -

"'Twould blow like this through holt and hanger
When Uricon the city stood:
'Tis the old wind in the old anger,
But then it threshed another wood."

"The gale, it plies the saplings double,
It blows so hard, 'twill soon be gone:
Today the Roman and his trouble
are ashes under Uricon."

I propose adding it Wolstan Dixie (talk) 12:01, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

Archaeological Controversy

The page does not mention that the Dark Age occupation in Wroxeter is very controversial among archaeologists. Barker's interpretation of building 10 is heavily criticised since it is only based off of a highly damaged platform cut through by robber trenches. There is no evidence of any building being built past the beginning of the 5th century. There are no post holes, few reliable carbon dates, and there aren't the normal imported pottery and glass found at Western Celtic sites at the time. The whole baths basillica sequence is not certain, and the more modern understanding is that there was only minor Early Mediaeval occupation of the site. See - Alan Lane, Wroxeter and the End of Roman Britain (2014). There are also a lot of uncited claims in the article, such as that it was the capital of Powys.

I suggest a rewrite to properly balance both interpretations, and will be happy to do so when I have time to learn how to do so on wikipedia. 31.205.84.74 (talk) 04:18, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

First excavation?

Thomas Telford, during his works at the Shrewsbury Castle, also unearthed a Roman house at Viroconium near Wroxeter in ~ 1790: Telford, Thomas (1838). John, Rickman (ed.). Life of Thomas Telford, civil engineer, written by himself, containing a descriptive narrative of his professional labours, with a folio atlas of copper plates. London: J. and L.G. Hansard and Sons, sold by Payne and Foss, p. 23 + Atlas, image 3. This appears to be the first archaeological excavation on the site. --AHert (talk) 16:56, 18 August 2025 (UTC)