Crick, Monmouthshire an important junction on the Roman road sometimes known as the "Via Julia" which ran from Bath ("Aquae Sulis") across the Severn estuary to Sudbrook and on to Caerwent ("Venta Silurum") and Caerleon ("Isca Augusta"), now in Wales. At Crick the route met the roads to Gloucester ("Glevum") and Monmouth ("Blestium"). There is also evidence of an early Norman motte and bailey castle at Ballan Moor near Crick, probably built by the Ballon family in the late 11th or early 12th century. In July 1645, during the English Civil War, a mediaeval hall at Crick was the site of a
Insula (Roman city) forum around which the most important public buildings would be sited. Insula (Roman city) An insula (Latin for "island") is a city block in an ancient Roman city plan, i.e. one that is surrounded by four streets. The term was also used for apartment buildings that took up an entire city block. A standard Roman city plan was based on a grid of orthogonal streets and was probably founded on the ancient Greek model of Hippodamus and was used when new cities were established, e.g. in Roman coloniae. The main streets of each city would be the Decumanus Maximus (east–west-oriented)