Introduction
by Colin Hinkley, 2007
This project began in the summer of 2006 when I volunteered to present a talk on local Roman roads to the History Society. I knew there must have been roads running to and from the fort and I wondered where the roads were and if there was anything left of them. I wanted to find out what evidence remained and, if possible, to walk the routes.
Over the next 9 months I tramped around the fields and byways surrounding Ribchester, peering into streams and over hedges, as I embarked on a fascinating, puzzling, sometimes frustrating, often confusing search for the Roman roads of Ribchester. What follows is my account of what I discovered.
If you know of anything that I have missed, or if you think I have got something wrong, please let me know. You can contact me at colin@ribchesterhistory.org
Who Built the Roads and When?
The Roman invasion of Britain was in 43 CE. For the first few decades the Romans were occupied in the south and east of the country but by 70 CE they were campaigning in the north-west. There had been some exploratory campaigns previously, but Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was later to become governor of Britain, led the first major attempt to consolidate and pacify the region. It was during this time that a fort was built at Ribchester and the roads would also have been built around this time. The Roman method of conquest was to divide up the native tribes by building a series of forts, linked by roads. Thus, the roads and the forts were mutually interdependent: the roads supplied the forts and allowed for the swift deployment of troops, and the forts protected the roads.
Construction of a Roman Road
Roman road construction was broadly similar right across the empire over hundreds of years, although the materials used would vary depending on what was available locally.
The main ridge, or agger, was formed from material from the two lateral ditches. This gives the road its distinctive profile which we can recognise today on many sections.
First, a broad ditch, the fossa, was dug. The base of the fossa was levelled and tamped down to form the pavimentum.
A foundation layer called the statument, consisting of layers of flat stones embedded in earth or clay, was laid on top of the pavimentum. This provided a firm foundation for the road as well as allowing drainage.
On top of the statument was a layer of sand or gravel called the rudus. This gave the road its resilience.
A top layer of gravel, the nucleus, formed the road's surface. This may have been bound with concrete, but not necessarily. In towns, the surface may have been paved, but that would not have been the case in the roads around Ribchester.
Note: Richard Mortimer of Cambridgeshire Archaeology has pointed out that the construction method described above applied to the Roman military roads, but there had been very successful and long-lived Iron Age societies before the Romans arrived, and these societies had roads and tracks of their own, many of which became 'Roman' roads. Even with the military roads, if there was no need to create the foundation they often wouldn't - a road over a good, hard gravel terrace would often only be de-turfed and ditched.
Features of a Roman Road
How do you know where to look?
Placenames can be a clue. The word "street" is an Anglo-Saxon word derived from the Latin "strata" and refers to the layers of stones used in the construction of a Roman road. There are many villages in England named Street and they are almost all on, or close to, the course of a Roman road. Street in Lancashire is on the course of the road from Ribchester to Lancaster. Other names derived from street are Stretford (where a Roman road fords a river), and Streatham (the village on the Roman road).
The word "gate" is derived from the Norse "gata", meaning road. Combined with the word "stone", or some derivation of it (e.g. Stonegate, Stangate, Stoneygate), it can be a clue to the Roman origins of a road. Thus, Stoneygate Lane refers to a stone road, not a stone gate.
Maps. When the first Ordnance Survey maps were produced in the 19th century, many of the Roman roads were more visible than they are today. "Course of Roman Road" was shown on the early Ordnance Survey maps, and this has been carried over to the modern maps even though traces of the roads are much less obvious, or may have disapeared altogether.
Aerial photographs, especially old ones taken before deep ploughing destroyed much of the evidence, often show a line crossing a field where nothing can be discerned on the ground
Boundaries. After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons had no use for a long-distance road network; their economies were essentially local. In any case, there was no central authority to maintain the roads, so they fell into disrepair. It is likely that the Anglo-Saxons saw the roads as convenient dividing lines demarcating farms or villages, and today they often form the boundaries of fields, parishes or even counties.
Of course, if a road was useful, even for only a short stretch, then it would have been used and maintained so, today, many modern roads, tracks or footpaths follow the course of Roman roads. Indeed, the three main routes out of modern Ribchester - Preston Road, Blackburn Road and Stoneygate Lane - are all in part Roman in origin.
What can you expect to find?
Metalling. The Roman roads were constructed from layers of stone, topped with hard-packed sand and gravel, which may have been bound with concrete. We can often see the remains of this metalling today.
In cross-section, a Roman road takes the form of a ridge, with a ditch either side. This ridge, or agger, often survives today, and is one of the most distinctive features of a Roman road. One or both ditches may survive, sometimes forming a convenient route for a stream.
Where a road had to cross a river, a ford would have been easier to construct than a bridge, and we can see the remains of fords in rivers and streams.
In order to ease the gradient when climbing a hill, or to level the road if it ran along the side of a hill, the Romans engineered cuttings and terraces.
The "Line". As everybody knows, the Romans built their roads in straight lines. Often, when there is no other evidence, a straight line drawn between two confirmed sections of Roman road will indicate the course of the road.
All of the above features can be seen in the remains of the Roman roads around Ribchester.
The Roads
- West to Kirkham: There was an important fort at Kirkham, probably built to protect ships landing in the Ribble estuary. From the fort at Ribchester, the road heads west along the track to Parsonage Farm. Note the prominent ridge (or agger) and the ditch either side.
- North-west to Lancaster via Galgate:
Both Ribchester and Lancaster were important Roman settlements. The Roman road left Ribchester slightly west of the modern Preston Road. If you look over the low hedge as you leave the village you can see a distinct ridge with a ditch either side. (N.B. In the 1950s the strip of land immediately beyond the hedge was a rubbish tip which is now buried beneath the field. Its location is revealed by a series of nettle beds. The Roman ridge runs just beyond the nettle beds).
- Link Road Connecting Fort to Main North-South Route
- North to Burrow-in-Lonsdale and Hadrian's Wall
- East to Elslack and York
- South from Manchester
References
Of course, the Roman roads around Ribchester have been explored by others and I am indebted to some of those who have gone before. The following sources were particularly useful:
Thomas Codrington, writing in the early twentieth century, was the first person to completely document Britain's Roman road network in his 1903 book, Roman Roads in Britain. It is now out of copyright and there is an excellent online version by Bill Thayer.
Ivan Margary, writing in the mid-twentieth century, catalogued the roads with a numerical system which is still in use today. I have not been able to locate a copy of his 1973 book, Roman Roads in Britain so I assume it is out of print, but there were many references and quotes from it in other sources.
Phillip Graystone was headmaster of St. Mary's College, Blackburn, during the 1950s and spent his out-of-school hours exploring the Roman roads of north-west England. His excellent series of books was invaluable. To cover all the roads in the Ribchester area you will need three volumes: Walking Roman Roads in Bowland, Walking Roman Roads in the Fylde & Ribble Valley, and Walking Roman Roads in Lonsdale & the Eden Valley. These books are available from Books Cumbria or from Lancaster University. The Ribble Valley volume is available at the Ribchester Museum.
Lancashire County Council has an excellent web-site, including this section on the Roman roads of Lancashire.
Ben Edwards' book, The Romans at Ribchester provides some useful information on the excavations at Ribchester and the history of the fort.
Other useful sources of backround information are this Wikipedia article on Roman roads and www.roman-britain.org.