Winchester city walls are a series of defensive walls in central Winchester, originally built during the Roman settlement of southern Britain, in what was then the settlement of Venta Belgarum. The area surrounding Winchester had been populated throughout the Iron Age, with Britonnic settlements existing at Oram's Arbour, St Catherine's Hill, and Worthy Down; Venta Belgarum took its name from the Belgae tribes of the area. Earthwork defences were constructed around the end of the 2nd century AD, being rebuilt in stone during the latter part of the 3rd century.