Manchester's Roman ruins hidden in plain sight which show a glimpse of how the city began

Manchester is a city full of hidden gems and secret spots. From walks in the park to quiet drinking holes, you’ve got lots of great places to stumble across. Some of these places date back to the very beginnings of the city, and show just how far it's come over the years.

One of these is in Castlefield, which is the oldest part of Manchester and dates back to the age of the Roman occupation of Great Britain. Mamucium is the remains of a Roman fort which gives a glimpse into the history of the city and where it began. 

The fort is a mixture of original buildings and recreations which help to paint a picture rich  with history. It is estimated that work on Mamucium began in AD 79 and this was one of three main phases of construction, with the other two being in AD160 and AD200. 

Although it is a large enough structure, Manchester has been built around it and I found it to be a place very much hidden in plain sight. The Metrolink line runs to the nearby Deansgate-Castlefield stop just above, and Manchester's vast canal network - built to help get the city moving through the industrial revolution - runs next to it. 

I went for a walk around Mamucium on what was a grey afternoon, misty rain soaking me through as I made my way from the Metrolink stop down to the fort. Dodging some of the heavier showers under the railway bridge, I practically had the place to myself. The structure is dwarfed by remnants of Manchester’s industrial age and structures which have since put it on the map in the 21st century. 

Castlefield has built itself up around what was left of this Roman fort, but if anything this only adds to the ruins. You can see some of the newest skyscrapers in Manchester, towering above the city, and just yards away you can be stood by some of the area's oldest history. 

As I walked around the ruins, it felt as though they would pass the rest of the city by. Narrow, out of the way streets lead to the ruins and the train lines take passengers over the area too quickly to notice. The area is calm and unassuming nature to where the ruins are, and information boards help to further paint a picture of what life for some of the earliest Mancunians was like. 

Manchester is a city which continues to look forward into the future. However, a walk around Mamucium is a nice way of taking the opportunity to look back on a part of the city’s rich history.