Settlement in the area dates back to prehistoric times, with three Iron Age
hillforts, Oram's Arbour, St Catherine's Hill and Worthy Down all in the near
vicinity. In the Late Iron Age a more urban settlement-type developed, known as
an oppidum, although the archaeology of this phase remains obscure. After the
Roman conquest of Britain, this town became the capital of the local tribe or civitas, known as the Belgae, a
confederation of Gaulish tribes who conquered large parts of the southern
Britain beginning around 100 BCE. The city was known as Venta Belgarum, which
