Former shrines of Roman-era martyrs, Caerleon

‍The shrines of the first two martyrs of Wales have left next to no footprint on this landscape, but the Welsh Cistercian Way pays its respects even so

Highlights‍

• Site of St Aaron’s and St Julius’s martyrdoms

Caerleon has a fascinating early Christian history: the first two martyrs of Wales were killed here during the Roman era. The visitor experience does not however match this historical significance. Nothing now marks the places where St Aaron and St Julius were killed for their faith, perhaps during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century.

There are two sites on opposite sides of Caerleon town, where they were executed and/or buried. The locations are 2 miles apart, one at the end of a suburban housing estate and the other in the middle of a field. I did manage to identify their general locations, after considerable effort – and record them here in part to spare others the same hunt. There might have been medieval churches on both sites, but to date no remains have been uncovered.

The first reference to St Aaron and St Julius is in an early book called On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain. This is a 6th-century history written by the monk St Gildas, who lived on Steep Holm island, 20 miles from Caerleon by sea and land.

Later medieval texts refer to two churches near Caerleon, built in honor of these early martyrs. Bishop Godwin, writing at the end of the 16th century, says that local people could remember where the chapels had once stood, indicating their complete destruction at the Reformation.

St Aaron’s site is hardest to find, in farmland to the north-east of Caerleon. An archaeological report in 2006 tried to identify the exact site of its medieval church, and the likely location is in a field to the south of Whitehall Farm. My GPS coordinates are based on the report Land on either side of the Afon Llwyd River… by Martin Tuck. You can find the report on the internet. A more recent study by Andy Seaman, available on the academia.edu website, offers more concrete evidence that there was at least one 9th-century church in the area, a chapel dedicated to both saints and St Alban combined, but of course, that doesn’t explain away earlier descriptions of individual chapels.

There is no access to the Aaron site, though a public footpath runs alongside an adjacent field, leading up to some earthworks marked on the OS map as a Civil War fort. My attempts to reach them came to an end when I found the path blocked by a field of maize, with a footpath sign pointing into the hopelessly dense crop. It seemed an appropriate place to end the quest for St Aaron.

St Julius’s site is on the opposite side of Caerleon, and is now a northern suburb of Newport. This area of the city is even called St Julian’s, a variant on the saint’s name. The parish church is also dedicated to St Julian, though this building only dates back to 1926. St Julius’s shrine chapel stood beside the River Usk, on the opposite bank to Caerleon. The site is now sandwiched between the river, a rail bridge, and the M4 motorway, beside a modern housing estate. Once again there is nothing here to mark the site of the chapel. There was a country house here, St Julian’s House, but it too was demolished when the housing estate was built. Now there is just a triangle of grassland between the houses and the River Usk.

The lack of any sort of monument comes as a surprise in Wales, where the church and wider community generally have a rather good record of respecting and restoring heritage.

Caerleon does have extensive Roman remains at other sites, including the foundations of an amphitheater a short walk from the National Roman Legion Museum. The church in the middle of Caerleon might have been founded by St Cadoc and is dedicated to him. It is on a former Roman site with Christian remains dating from the 9th century onwards.

Directions

St Aaron’s former chapel: by Usk Road on the east side of Caerleon

W3W: ample.rent.deaf GPS: 51.6164N 2.9495W

St Julius’s former chapel: end of Stockton Close, Newport NP19 7HH

W3W: keeps.banks.memo GPS: 51.6059N 2.9821W

St Julian’s Parish Church, St Julian’s Avenue/Heather Road, Newport NP19 7JT

www.stjuliansparishchurch.co.uk

W3W: soils.cliff.riots GPS: 51.6001N 2.9790W

The exact location of St Aaron’s chapel is uncertain, and the most likely site is inaccessible. It is near the junction of Usk Road, heading east out of Caerleon, and Penrhos Lane, which is a turning on the left just after the last house – it looks like a private driveway but is only marked as private further along the lane. The footpath running through a nearby field starts on the right after 220m, through a stile.

The site of St Julius’s chapel is much more accessible, but confusing to find if relying on maps. Access is under a motorway and an A-road flyover. The easy approach is this: turn south off the M4 at junction 25, heading into Newport along the B4596. Take the first right, along Bank Street, then right again after 275m, along Stockton Road. Park under the huge flyover and walk down the footpath running straight ahead, just after the street signs for Stockton Close. The small parkland is at the end after 100m.

St Julian’s Parish Church is in the same area of Newport, half a mile away. It was locked when I visited, but its website has a treasure trove of historical information.

The National Roman Legion Museum is at High St, Caerleon, Newport NP18 1AE, website: www.museum.wales/roman. St Cadoc’s Church is opposite the museum.