Clausentum

[1] In 1610, William Camden identified Southampton as being the site of Clausentum and described how at Bitterne he had seen "old broken walls, and trenches of an ancient castle".

[3][4] In 1792,[3] the antiquary Richard Warner[3] investigated those claims and found a ditch, an earth bank and some Roman coins.

Wickham is at the junction of two Roman Roads and is a better fit to the distances documented in Route VII of the Antonine Itinerary.

[1] The case for Clausentum being situated at Bitterne Manor is based on archaeological evidence,[6] and the geography of the site (nestled inside a sharp bend in the River Itchen) which clearly allowed it to be turned into a good defensive position.

[6] Today, all that is visible are the fragmentary remains of a small 2nd-century bath house, and a fragment of the 3rd century fortified walls.

View over the Itchen river at the approximate site of Clausentum