Castor, Cambridgeshire
| Castor | |
|---|---|
 Castor
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| Castor shown within Cambridgeshire | |
| Population | 817 (2001 census) |
| OS grid reference | TL124985 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Peterborough |
| Postcode district | PE5 |
| Dialling code | 01733 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Castor Home Page |
Castor is a village and civil parish in the City of Peterborough unitary authority, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the city centre. The parish is part of the former Soke of Peterborough, which was considered part of Northamptonshire, but is now part of Cambridgeshire.
Castor's toponym is derived from the Old English "ceaster", possibly referring to the Roman fort across the River Nene at Durobrivae, or more probably referring to the massive Praetorium on the hilltop at Castor.
In the Roman period, there was a huge palatial structure at Castor. This was extensively excavated in the 1820s by Edmund Artis, the agent for the Fitzwilliam estate, who published a volume of illustrations about his work, which he suggested was a Praetorium. Recent small-scale work has confirmed that it extended over a considerable area: Roman buildings covered an area of 290 by 130 m (3.77 ha) and had at least 11 rooms with tessellated floors and mosaics, at least two bathhouses and several hypocausts. The masonry which survives points to a monumental architecture indicating two major phases of building.
A recent survey by Stephen Upex suggested that the earlier smaller building dates to the 2nd century, but that the major palatial building dates to 240 – 260 AD. The structure is linked to a similar structure at Stonea 35 km to the south. It is suggested that in the Roman period, the Fens were a vast imperial estate and that at first Stonea was the seat of the procurator where the taxes were collected, and that after 250 this function was transferred to Castor.
This Praetorium must be seen in conjunction with the town of Durobrivae (modern Water Newton) on the other side of the river Nene. The whole area was the centre of the Nene valley pottery industry which was one of the three major pottery producing areas in late Roman Britain, producing pottery on an industrial scale.
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Wikipedia