Ancaster, Lincolnshire
| Ancaster | |
|---|---|
 St Martin's Church, Ancaster |
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 Ancaster
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| Ancaster shown within Lincolnshire | |
| Population | 1,317 (2001) |
| OS grid reference | SK983438 |
| • London | 100 mi (160 km) S |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Grantham |
| Postcode district | NG32 |
| Dialling code | 01400 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Ancaster is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, on the site of a Roman town. The population of the civil parish was 1,317 at the 2001 census increasing to 1,647 at the 2011 census. The civil parish includes the settlements of Sudbrook and West Willoughby.
Ancaster was a Roman town at the junction of Ermine Street and King Street.
During the Romano-British period, the Romans built a roadside settlement on the site of a Corieltauvi settlement. It was traditionally thought to have been named Causennis, although that is now believed to be Saltersford near Grantham. Ancaster lies on Ermine Street, the major Roman road heading north from London. To the northwest of Ancaster is a Roman marching camp and some 4th-century Roman earthworks are still visible. Excavations have found a cemetery containing more than 250 Roman burials, including 11 stone sarcophagi. In the later years of Roman occupation, a large stone wall with accompanying ditches was erected around the town, possibly for defence against marauding Saxons.
The place-name 'Ancaster' is first attested in a twelfth-century Danelaw charter from the reign of Henry II, and in a legal document of 1196, where it appears as Anecastre. The name means 'the Roman fort of Anna'.
An excavation by television programme Time Team in 2002 revealed a cist burial bearing an inscription to the god Viridius. The dig also uncovered Iron Age to 3rd-century pottery, a 1st-century brooch, and some of the Roman town wall.
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