1881 Census England

The history of Chichester is mixed with the history of the Roman invasion of 43ad and back almost two thousand years. The time when the Romans first recognized its strategic importance and built the fort and now home to a thriving market Town Shopping Centre.

In 43 AD the Romans invaded Britain and about 44 AD they built a fort on the site of Chichester. It has been a source of water (the river Lavant) and close to a port for supplies may be brought by ship from France. Soon the Roman army evolved.

The king of the local Celtic tribe, Cogidnubus, cooperated with the Romans, rather than resist them. The Romans left as a puppet king of Sussex. After the Romans had left the fort Codignubus decided to return and make a city. The Romans called Noviomagus Chichester, which means new market.

Chichester Roman has been built on a grid. The main streets form a cross, which remains today as North, South, East and West streets. In the center of the city was the forum, a market with shops and public buildings. People of Roman Chichester used cesspools and obtained their water from wells, but in the streets there were drains for rainwater.

In the late 2nd century a moat was dug around Chichester Roman earthen ramparts were built with a wooden palisade on top. At the beginning of the third century stone walls were built. In the 4th century, they were strengthened by bastions, towers, semi-circular. A triggerfish, a form of giant crossbow, may be mounted on.

About 80 AD an amphitheater was built near the Roman Chichester. He would have had wooden bleachers for about 800 people. On special occasions gladiators fought to the death but more often the entertainment consists of cockfighting and bear bait. (The animal was chained and dogs were trained to attack).

Another hobby was going to public baths, which stood near Chapel Street. In Roman times to go to the bathroom was not only to wash, but was also a way to socialize, the Roman equivalent of going to the pub. In Roman Chichester there was also a temple of Neptune and Minerva at the junction of North Street and Lion Street.

In Chichester Roman rich people lived in houses with glass windows, mosaics, murals on the walls and even a form of central heating called a hypocaust. Of course, most people were very poor and had none of these things.

In Roman Chichester, there were carpenters, blacksmiths, bronze smiths, potters and leather workers. There were also people who made combs and boxes from bones. In the 4th century Chichester fell with the rest of Roman Britain. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 407 AD.

At the end of the 5th or 6th century to the early Saxons arrived. Chichester is named after a Saxon called Cissa. The Saxons called a group of Roman buildings a CEAST. They called this city CEAST Cissa. It changed Cisscester then finally in Chichester.

Nothing is known of what happened at Chichester until the late 9th century. At that time, Alfred the Great created a network of fortresses in the kingdom where men could gather, when the Danes attacked. Often, he used old Roman towns and forts. Chichester is a town.

The strategy worked. In 894, the Danes landed in West Sussex, but the men of Chichester and the surrounding area went to meet them. They defeated the Danes, killing several hundred men and capturing several ships. This was the heyday Chichester.

However, the town of Chichester was not only a stronghold. It has also been a flourishing city with a weekly market. In the 10th century there was a kind of mint, Chichester by then it must have been an important community.

At the time of the Norman Conquest Chichester probably had a population of less than 1,500 people. This seems very.