The first African Community in Britain

Some people think that the first black people came to the UK from the British colonies in Africa and the Caribbean – the places that Britain was ruling over – but this isn’t true.

There is lots of evidence of black people living in the UK thousands of years ago.

There is evidence of black communities living in the UK in Cumbria, 2000 years ago, when Britain was part of the Roman Empire.

Here are a couple of examples:

Septimus Severus

Septimus was an Emperor of Rome. He was born in Libya in the year 145 AD of African and Roman heritage.

He came to Britain and rebuilt a lot of Hadrian’s Wall.

He died in the year 211 AD in York.

The Ivory Bangle Lady

This is the name given to a rich black woman, whose remains were discovered in York in 1901.

She was born in Britain around the year 350 AD, and was from African heritage.

Her remains were buried with all sorts of expensive items, such as jewellery, beads, and a mirror. She was clearly wealthy when she was alive.