The Cornovii (perhaps meaning people of the horn), were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles before and after the Roman invasion of Britain. The tribe lived in the modern counties of North Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. Claudius Ptolemaeus, Geography (II.ii) places them to the east of the Ordovices in what is now Wales and remarks on their towns Deva Victrix (Chester), seat of Legio XX Valeria Victrix and Viroconium (Wroxeter). The important Roman settlement called Viroconium Cornoviorum became their capital when they were moved there from their hill fort on The Wrekin.

The Cornovii produced little in the way of identifiable ceramic wares. Their sites are identified by construction details of their hill forts and metalwork artifacts. The Cornovi built numerous hill forts, including Titterstone Clee near Bitterly . Old Oswestry hill fort is also thought to have been inhabited by the Cornovii. One of these hill forts is probably that referred to by the historian Tacitus as the last refuge of the resistance led by Caratacus in 50 AD. However, the nature of hill forts is strongly contested among archeologists, with some crediting them only as tribal status symbols or cattle stockades rather than defended settlements.

The tribe developed no known coinage, but their control of the south-Cheshire salt-making industry and parts of its distribution network probably gave them a fair degree of wealth, multiplied by trading and cattle breeding. However, their economy was mainly a pastoral one. Since the early Iron Age they had had a network of paved & semi-paved roads good enough to transport their famous chariots.

It should not be assumed that the Cornovii looked like paint-daubed savages; the Romans, who described the British as "vain", noted their attention to appearance & personal hygiene. Gold & bronze torcs (i.e.: solid heavy necklaces) have been found at Iron Age sites in the region. They were expert in weaving & dyeing, and loved bright colours. Women wore their hair in two thick thigh-length plaits.

After Roman occupation, the lands of the Cornovii became a centre of military and economic operations. Viroconium Cornoviorum became one of the most important cities in Roman Britain, where Legio XIV Gemina was garrisoned for some time. The Romans also exploited metals such as copper, lead and silver in the area. Some Romanised Cornovii are known to have served as Roman legionaries.

See also: List of Celtic tribes

External link

• RomanBritain.org: Cornovii

References

• Graham Webster, The Cornovii (2nd Edition, much revised.)
• Tom Garlick, The Romans in Cheshire.