Verlamion

It was a major centre of the Catuvellauni tribe from about 20 BC until shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43.

[1] Its location was on Prae Hill, 2 km to the west of modern St Albans.

[2] The elements *wer- and *lamā- meant "high" and "hand" respectively in Common Brittonic (*-i- is adjectival, denoting a place, and *-on is the usual o-stem neuter suffix).

An alternative etymology may be guessed via back construction from modern Welsh, as bank of the (River) Ver, where Ver could mean short, or be a contracted form of Veru, or Berw, meaning a foaming or bubbling river (cf Berwyn).

One possible site was favoured by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, a feature called the Devil's Dyke a few miles to the north near Wheathampstead, which has been interpreted as part of the defences of a large oppidum bordering the River Lea.