Visiting Roman Ribchester
Margaret and Barry Williamson
January 2023
Just 30 miles from our Fylde Coast base lies the old cotton-weaving village of Ribchester in the Ribble Valley. In the second week of a very cold and wet January we chose a rare fine day to visit Lancashire’s only specialist Roman Museum and excavations there.
The small museum was opened in 1914 on the site of Roman Bremetennacum, an important cavalry fort on the crossroads of military routes to York, Manchester and Carlisle. There was also access to the coast along the River Ribble. Museum entry is £4 (£3.50 for Seniors) and it’s open all year, with a few parking spaces outside the adjacent Church (suggesting donations in the box). Alternatively, there is a well signed Pay & Display car park nearby in the village, next to the Potters Barn Café. Well displayed finds cover prehistoric to Roman times, the star exhibits being a replica of the bronze ceremonial Ribchester Helmet (original in British Museum) and a tombstone showing a Roman cavalryman defeating his Celtic adversary.
Over the road from the museum it’s a short walk along a signed riverside footpath past the primary school to the excavated Roman bath house, dating from the early 2nd century AD. On this occasion the swollen Ribble made the footpath impassable but a local walker directed us to the other bath house entrance in the village. We learnt that the baths were free for soldiers, children and slaves – and there is still no charge for visitors.
The beautiful St Wilfrid’s parish church next to the museum was also open. We wondered where the stones and columns for this substantial building had originated! Just behind the church you can see the foundations of the Roman granary, freely accessible.
Lunch at the recommended Potters Barn Café was on our agenda but (unusually) it was closed for a new kitchen fitting - which makes a good excuse for a future return to Ribchester.
January 2023
Just 30 miles from our Fylde Coast base lies the old cotton-weaving village of Ribchester in the Ribble Valley. In the second week of a very cold and wet January we chose a rare fine day to visit Lancashire’s only specialist Roman Museum and excavations there.
The small museum was opened in 1914 on the site of Roman Bremetennacum, an important cavalry fort on the crossroads of military routes to York, Manchester and Carlisle. There was also access to the coast along the River Ribble. Museum entry is £4 (£3.50 for Seniors) and it’s open all year, with a few parking spaces outside the adjacent Church (suggesting donations in the box). Alternatively, there is a well signed Pay & Display car park nearby in the village, next to the Potters Barn Café. Well displayed finds cover prehistoric to Roman times, the star exhibits being a replica of the bronze ceremonial Ribchester Helmet (original in British Museum) and a tombstone showing a Roman cavalryman defeating his Celtic adversary.
Over the road from the museum it’s a short walk along a signed riverside footpath past the primary school to the excavated Roman bath house, dating from the early 2nd century AD. On this occasion the swollen Ribble made the footpath impassable but a local walker directed us to the other bath house entrance in the village. We learnt that the baths were free for soldiers, children and slaves – and there is still no charge for visitors.
The beautiful St Wilfrid’s parish church next to the museum was also open. We wondered where the stones and columns for this substantial building had originated! Just behind the church you can see the foundations of the Roman granary, freely accessible.
Lunch at the recommended Potters Barn Café was on our agenda but (unusually) it was closed for a new kitchen fitting - which makes a good excuse for a future return to Ribchester.