Roman roads in Britannia facts for kids
The Roman roads in Britain were like the ancient motorways, built by the Roman army almost 2,000 years ago! For nearly 400 years (from AD 43 to 410), Britain was a Roman province, and these roads were super important.
It's thought that the Romans built about 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) of paved main roads across Britain. Most of this network was finished by AD 180. The main reason for building them was to move soldiers and supplies quickly. But soon, they became vital for trade, business, and moving goods around the country.
Many Roman roads were still used every day for hundreds of years after the Romans left Britain in AD 410. Some of these old routes are even part of the UK's modern road network today! Others have disappeared or are only interesting to archaeologists and historians.
After the Romans left, no one in Britain built paved highways in a planned way again until the early 1700s. The Roman road network was the only national road system in Britain until the Ministry of Transport was set up in the early 1900s.
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How Roads Were Built
Before the Romans arrived, people in Britain mostly used unpaved trackways. These were old paths, some from prehistoric times, that often followed high ground like hills. While most were just dirt tracks, some British tribes had started building proper roads in the 1st century BC.
Starting in AD 43, the Romans quickly built a national road system. Engineers from the Roman Army usually planned and built them from scratch. They connected important places, both military and administrative, using the most direct routes they could find. Main roads were covered with gravel or paving stones. They had bridges made of stone or wood, and special stops called mansiones where travelers or soldiers could rest. The roads were designed to be waterproof, so people could travel on them in all seasons and weather.
After the Roman soldiers left in AD 410, the road system soon started to fall apart. Some parts were kept by the Anglo-Saxons and became important routes in Anglo-Saxon Britain. But many large sections were abandoned and lost.
Building and Keeping Roads in Good Shape
The Romans used standard road building methods that they had developed over a long time in Europe. A road would take up a wide strip of land, marked by shallow ditches. This strip could be from 25.5 meters (86 pedes) wide on Ermin Way to 100 meters (338 pedes) wide on Akeman Street. A main road in Britain was usually 5 to 8 meters (about 16 to 26 feet) wide. Watling Street was 10.1 meters (33 feet) wide, while the Fosse Way was about half that. Some unnamed roads were even wider than Watling Street, like the one from Silchester to Chichester, which was 11.2 meters (37 feet) wide.
In the middle, a carriageway (the part for vehicles) was built on a raised mound called an agger. First, they removed the soft topsoil. Then, they used the best local materials, often sand or sandy gravel, to build the agger. The two strips of ground between the agger and the boundary ditches were for people walking and animals. These were sometimes lightly covered with gravel. The agger often had deep ditches on its sides to drain rainwater and keep the road as dry as possible.
The road surface had two layers. A base layer of medium to large stones was covered by a top layer, often a mix of small flint and gravel packed tightly. About a quarter of Roman roads had a base of large stones, especially in the north and west where stone was easy to find. Some important roads in Italy used volcanic mortar to bind the stones. A few places in Britain show signs of Roman concrete or limestone mortar. In areas like the Weald where iron was produced, road surfaces were made from iron slag. On average, the road surface was about 51 centimeters (20 inches) deep, but it varied a lot, from just 10 centimeters (4 inches) to up to 4 meters (13 feet) in some places, probably built up over many years.
The main roads were first built by the Roman army. Important officials called curatores viarum were in charge of regular repairs and upkeep. However, the local county (civitas) authorities probably paid for these costs. Sometimes, roads were completely resurfaced or even rebuilt, like the Via Aemilia in Italy, which was rebuilt and widened by Emperor Augustus centuries after it was first made.
After the Romans left Britain in AD 410, regular maintenance on the roads stopped. Repairs happened only now and then, and were not part of a big plan. Even without national management, Roman roads remained very important travel routes in England throughout the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Planned building of paved highways didn't start again until the first turnpike roads were built in the early 1700s.
What We Find Today
Today, what's left of Roman roads is often worn down or covered by later surfaces. Some well-preserved parts, like Wade's Causeway in Yorkshire and Blackpool Bridge in the Forest of Dean, are thought to be original Roman surfaces, but we can't be completely sure. In many places, Roman roads were built over in the 1700s to create turnpikes. Where they haven't been built over, farmers have often ploughed them up, or people have taken their stones to use for other roads.
However, many parts of Roman roads have survived, even if they are overgrown with plants. You can see them as footpaths through woods or common land, like a section of Stane Street in Eartham Wood near Bignor in Sussex. These are often marked on maps with dotted lines. Peddars Way in Norfolk is a Roman road that is now a long-distance footpath.
The Romans also had "wayside stations" along their roads, like modern motorway service areas.
- About every 6.4 kilometers (4 miles), there was a mutatio (meaning "a change"). These were basically stables where messengers on horseback could swap horses and a tavern for food and drink. Soldiers, especially cavalry, were the main messengers. With fresh horses and riders, urgent messages could travel at about 32 kilometers per hour (20 mph). So, a message from York to London (about 320 kilometers or 200 miles) could be delivered in just 10 hours! Mutationes were small, so it's hard to find their exact locations today.
- About every 19 kilometers (12 miles), which was a typical day's journey for an ox-drawn wagon, there was a mansio (meaning "a stay"). These were full-sized inns with large stables, a tavern, rooms for travelers, and even bath-houses in bigger ones. Mansiones also had soldiers who guarded and patrolled the roads. They would check people's identities, travel permits, and goods. These inns might also have been where tax collectors (called imperial procurators) collected a toll (portorium) on goods being moved on public roads. This tax was about 2 to 2.5 percent of the goods' value and was collected at toll points, probably near mansiones. At least six mansiones have been found in Britain, like the one at Godmanchester (Durovigutum) on Ermine Street.
Mutationes and mansiones were key parts of the cursus publicus, which was the Roman Empire's postal and transport system. This system was mainly for government or military officials, carrying money from taxes or for soldiers' wages, and official messages. Private people could use it too, but only with special permission and for a fee. The Vindolanda tablets, which are letters written on wooden tablets by soldiers at Hadrian's Wall, show how the cursus worked in Britain.
Milestones were stone markers placed along the roads. About 95 of these have been found in Britain. Most are from later Roman times (after AD 250) because old ones were replaced when roads were repaired. Milestones were usually cylindrical and 2 to 4 meters (6.5 to 13 feet) tall. Most just said who the current Emperor was and how many miles it was to a certain place. Only three give extra information, showing that local authorities helped with road maintenance. One even says that Emperor Caracalla (ruled 211–217) "restored the roads, which had fallen into ruin and disuse through old age."
Maps and travel guides from the Roman era also help us learn about places, routes, and distances in Britain. The most important one is the Antonine Itinerary, from the late 3rd century, which lists 14 routes in Britain.
Road Names After the Romans Left
We don't know the original Roman names for roads in Britain because there aren't many written records. This is different from Italy and other Roman provinces where names have survived. In Britain, most major Roman routes have Welsh, early Anglo-Saxon, or later Middle English names. These names were given after the Romans left Britain (during the Early Middle Ages). This means the names aren't based on how the Romans originally named their highways.
For example, the Anglo-Saxons called the entire route from Dover/Portus Ritupis to Wroxeter, passing through Londinium (London), Watlingestrate (now Watling Street). The Romans might have given different names to different sections of this road as it was built over many decades.
Official Roman road names were usually taken from the Emperor who was ruling when they were finished. For example, the Via Traiana in southern Italy was named after Emperor Trajan. Since the Dover to London section of Watling Street was started after the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, it might have been known to the Romano-Britons as the Via Claudia, in honor of Emperor Claudius who led the invasion.
The only name that might be linked to an original Roman name is the Fosse Way, between Exeter and Lincoln. "Fosse" might come from fossa, the Latin word for "ditch". But this was probably a popular, rather than official, Roman name for the route. Generally, Roman roads in Britain are named after Anglo-Saxon giants and gods. For instance, Wade's Causeway in North Yorkshire is named after Wade from Germanic and Norse mythology.
English place names still show the influence of the Anglo-Saxons. As these Germanic people moved across Britain, they found the old Roman Empire's roads falling apart. Many settlements were founded on or near Roman roads (look for names ending in -street, like Watling Street). The beginning of a name, like strat-, strait-, or streat-, was used for settlements near these old imperial highways. Stretham means "homestead or village on a Roman road," and Stretford means "ford on a Roman road." There are seventeen places in England named Stretton.
Main Routes
The first Roman roads were built by the army to help with military communication. So, they focused on connecting army bases. By AD 80, as the Roman-controlled area grew, three important cross-routes connected the main legionary bases:
- Exeter (Isca) – Lincoln (Lindum)
- Gloucester (Glevum) – York (Eboracum)
- Caerleon (Isca) – York via Wroxeter (Viroconium) and Chester (Deva)
Later, many other cross-routes and branches were added to this basic network.
After Boudica's Revolt, London (Londinium) became very important. It had the main bridge over the Thames, connecting the northern and western army bases with the ports in Kent that linked to Boulogne (Gesoriacum) and the rest of the Empire. Six main roads were built to connect the new capital to the existing network. Here are some of them, ignoring their later English names:
- London – Canterbury (Durovernum). At Canterbury, this route split into four major branches to important Roman ports:
- London – Chichester (Noviomagus), which was a port.
- London – Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum). At Silchester, this route split into three major branches:
- Silchester – Portchester (Portus Adurni), a port, via Winchester (Venta) and Southampton (Clausentum)
- Silchester – Old Sarum (Sorviodunum), which connected to Exeter and Dorchester (Durnovaria)
- Silchester – Caerleon, where the 2nd legion was based, via Gloucester
- London – Chester, where the 20th legion was based, via St Albans (Verulamium), Lichfield (Letocetum), and Wroxeter, continuing to Carlisle (Luguvalium) on Hadrian's Wall.
- London – York, where the 9th and 6th legions were based, via Lincoln, continuing to Corbridge (Coria) on Hadrian's Wall.
- London – Colchester (Camulodunum), continuing to Caistor St Edmund (Venta).
Images for kids
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Roman lighthouse at Dover Castle, from the 3rd century. Dubris was the start of Watling Street to London and Wroxeter.
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Via Appia, near Rome. This is the oldest major Roman road in Italy, opened in 312 BC. This well-preserved part, from Rome to Boville, is paved with stone blocks. In Britain, simpler materials were usually used.
