ANYONE who knows Caerleon would know at one look where this picture was taken.

It is in the centre of the village on Caerleon High Street, which is one of the places there where the road divides into many side streets.

South Wales Argus: An old photograph of the centre of Caerleon

An old photograph of the centre of Caerleon

Today it is home to Burlesque hair dressers and Coffiology to name just a few of the businesses.

According to Johns' Directory of Caerleon, 1934: Caerleon is an ancient market town, civil parish and Urban District, three miles N. E. from Newport, and is a polling station for the parishes of Tredunnock, Llanhennock, Kemeys Inferior, Llanthewy Vach, Llandegveth, and Llangattock-Caerleon.

It is situated on level ground on the right bank of the River Usk, and is connected by a substantial stone bridge with Caerleon village (Caerleon-Ultra-Pontem), which is in the parish of Christchurch.

Geoffrey of Monmouth states that Caerleon was originally built in the third or fourth century before Christ.

During the Roman occupation it was the headquarters of the second Augustan Legion, being the capital of the province of Britannia Secunda, and the remains of an amphitheatre are to been seen in a field to the south of the church, together with parts of the town wall.

MORE NEWS:

A new series of excavations were commenced in 1926, under the direction of the Director National Museum of Wales on a site secured and presented for the purpose by one of the principal London daily newspapers.

The result has been to lay bare many very interesting buildings and foundations.

Choice specimens of Roman pottery, amber, ornaments, etc. have also been recovered, and the work is still proceeding. There is likewise a large artificial mound now known as the Mount.

South Wales Argus:

As early as A.D. 314 Caerleon was the seat of a Bishopric (283 years before the arrival of St. Augustine).

It is also noteworthy for its historical connection with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Many valuable and interesting relics of the Roman occupation have been discovered and are deposited in the Legionary Museum, admission to which can be obtained on application at the Schoolhouse opposite.

At the Hanbury Arms there is a room where Tennyson wrote part of his "Idylls of the King."

The Afon Llwyd or Torvain, which rises on the western side of the Blorenge mountain, joins the Usk a little to the N.E. of the town. There is a railway station connected with Newport, Pontypool, and Hereford section of the Great Western system, and the Eastern Valleys line to Cwmbran, Pontypool and Blaenavon.