Clausentum

Clausentum was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia [1]. The site is believed to be located in Bitterne Manor, which is now a suburb of Southampton [1]. The settlement is located on a promontory jutting into the River Itchen [1]. The first archaeological excavations were conducted in 1935, and Molly Cotton undertook excavations from 1951 to 1954 [1]. The excavations showed that it was the site of a small town in the 1st and 2nd centuries [1]. At a later date a stone defensive wall was erected around the site [1]. The early excavators dated the erection of this wall to around 370, but later evidence showed that the walls were erected around 280–90, at about the same time as the fort at nearby Portchester [1]. Four Roman milestones and three possible milestones were found at Bitterne between 1800 and 1850 [1].