Gobannium

Gobannium was a Roman fort and civil settlement or Castra established by the Roman legions invading what was to become Roman Wales and lies today under the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales.

Gobannium was first recorded in the Antonine Itinerary of the late 2nd century AD as 'Gobannio' sited some 12 miles from Burrium, (modern Usk) and 22 miles south of Magnis (now Kenchester, Herefordshire). Gobannium is also mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography as 'Bannio', sited between Isca Augusta the major legionary fortress covering South Wales (Caerleon) further down the River Usk, and Bremia (Llanio, Ceredigion).

The name is thought to have a Celtic or Brythonic language origin and linked to Gobannus and Gofannon and may mean 'the place of the blacksmiths'.

Gobannium lies in the broad valley of the River Usk surrounded by hills and mountains, such as the Sugar Loaf Mountain, Wales, the Skirrid and the Blorenge, just before the valley narrows and the site has some archaeological evidence of human activity dating from the British Iron Age and earlier British Bronze Age. The valley was certainly used as a major prehistoric route through the land of the Silures between the coastal plain of the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels and the Brecon Beacons.