The Cornovii (perhaps meaning people of the horn Cornwall), were a people of Iron Age and Roman Britain, who lived in the modern counties of North Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire in the English West Midlands. Their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on The Wrekin. Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography names two of their towns: Deva Victrix (Chester), and Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter), which became their capital under Roman rule. Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county at the extreme South-West of England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... In the British Isles, the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non-Romanised parts. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Shropshire (abbreviated Salop or Shrops) is a traditional, ceremonial and administrative county in the West Midlands region of England. ... The Cheshire Plain - photo taken adjacent to Beeston Castle The Cheshire Plain - photo taken towards Merseyside The Cheshire Plain - photo taken from Mid-Cheshire Ridge The Cheshire Plain panorama - photo taken from Mid-Cheshire Ridge Cattle farming in the county Cheshire (or archaically the County of Chester) is a palatine... The West Midlands is a geographical term describing the western half of central England, known as the Midlands. ... The term hill fort is commonly used by archaeologists to describe fortified enclosures located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. ... The Wrekin is a prominent elevation capped by a hill fort almost 8 hectares (80,000 m²) in size, located within in the English county of Shropshire. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ... // Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Chester is the county town of Cheshire in North West England. ... Viroconium was a Roman city in England. ... Wroxeter is a village in the county of Shropshire, England, on the east bank of the River Severn, at grid reference SJ563082. ...

The Cornovii produced little in the way of identifiable ceramic wares. Their sites are identified by construction details of their hill forts and metalwork artifacts. The Cornovi built numerous hill forts, including Titterstone Clee near Bitterly. Old Oswestry hill fort is also thought to have been inhabited by the Cornovii. One of these hill forts is probably that referred to by the historian Tacitus as the last refuge of the resistance led by Caratacus in 50 AD. However, the nature of hill forts is strongly contested among archeologists, with some crediting them only as tribal status symbols or cattle stockades rather than defended settlements. The term hill fort is commonly used by archaeologists to describe fortified enclosures located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. ... Old Oswestry is a large and impressive early Iron Age hill fort in the Welsh Marches near Oswestry. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius (or: Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... Caratacus (Brythonic *Caratācos, Greek Καράτακος; variants Latin Caractacus, Greek Καρτάκης) was a historical British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. ...

The tribe developed no known coinage, but their control of the south-Cheshire salt-making industry and parts of its distribution network probably gave them a fair degree of wealth, multiplied by trading and cattle breeding. However, their economy was mainly a pastoral one. Since the early Iron Age they had had a network of paved & semi-paved roads good enough to transport their famous chariots.

It should not be assumed that the Cornovii looked like paint-daubed savages; the Romans, who described the British as "vain", noted their attention to appearance & personal hygiene. Gold & bronze torcs (i.e.: heavy necklaces made of twisted strands of metal) have been found at Iron Age sites in the region. They were expert in weaving & dyeing, and loved bright colours. Women wore their hair in two thick thigh-length plaits. A torc, also spelled torq or torque (from Latin torqueo, to twist, because of the twisted shape of the collar) is a rigid circular necklace that is open-ended at the front. ...

After Roman occupation, the lands of the Cornovii became a centre of military and economic operations. Viroconium Cornoviorum became one of the most important cities in Roman Britain, where Legio XIV Gemina was garrisoned for some time. The Romans also exploited metals such as copper, lead and silver in the area. Some Romanised Cornovii are known to have served as Roman legionaries. Viroconium was a Roman city in England. ... Aureus minted by Septimius Severus to celebrate XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, the legion that proclamed him emperor. ...

At the end of Roman rule in Britain (circa 410) it is thought that the Viroconium became a centre of British resistance to Anglo-Saxon invaders, with speculation that it may have been used as a base by King Arthur. This theory is based on 6th Century reinforcements made to the city and the existence of a substantial palace. A tenth-century manuscript in the British Library records that Viroconium was occupied around 493AD by Owain Ddantgwyn, a late fifth-century king and an important warlord. There is contemporary historical evidence that he was actually known as Arthur. Events Alaric I deposes Priscus Attalus as Roman Emperor. ... Viroconium was a Roman city in England. ... King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship in both war and peace. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... Viroconium was a Roman city in England. ... Owain Ddantgwyn (Owain White-Tooth) was a king of Rhôs and possibly also of Gwynedd at the beginning of the 6th Century. ...

After this period, and with the relentless expansion of Anglian power in the British midlands, the Cornovi tribal area came under the rule of the Kingdom of Pengwern. Pengwern was consumed by neighbouring Mercia after 642AD. The local Cornovi people may have continued to reside in the area, perhaps as the Wrekensaete, under Mercian rule. Pengwern is the name of a dark age kingdom that existed in what is now the West Midlands region of England. ... Pengwern is the name of a dark age kingdom that existed in what is now the West Midlands region of England. ...

The tombstone of a thirty-year-old woman of the Cornovii called Vedica has been found at Ilkley in Yorkshire. Ilkley is a town in the metropolitan borough of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, built on the south bank and valley of the River Wharfe in Wharfedale. ... Yorkshire is the largest traditional county of Great Britain, covering some 6,000 sq. ...

See also

• List of Celtic tribes

This is a list of Celtic tribes and associated celtic peoples with their geographical localization. ...

External links

• Cornovii at Roman-Britain.org

References

• Graham Webster, The Cornovii (2nd Edition, much revised.)
• Tom Garlick, The Romans in Cheshire.