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The Amphitheatre Site Before Excavation

King Arthur's Round Table - Caerleon Amphitheatre - illustration from "The Book of South Wales the Wye and the Coast" 1861
Illustration from "The Book of South Wales the Wye and the Coast" 1861

Though it diminishes the size of the site, the romanticised image above captures its magic. The pencil sketch by WH Greene, below, more accurately depicts the amphitheatre before excavation. (Follow this link for more about WH Greene.)

Sketch of King Arthur's Round Table - Caerleon Amphitheatre Before Excavation - by W H Greene, early 1890s

You can make out the amphitheatre in the aerial shot below from the early 1920s. (centre, top)

Aerial photo of Caerleon showing the amphitheatre before it was uncovered in 1926

And the figure standing in the middle of the hollow gives you a scale of the site in the photo below.

Caerleon Amphitheatre before the 1926 excavations.

Finally a 19th century engraving. The amphitheatre can be seen half way up the right hand side. Nowadays, as before the amphitheatre was uncovered, it is not easy to capture the whole site in a picture other than an aerial view.

Nineteenth Century engraving showing the amphitheatre before it was excavated.