The UK is covered in ancient sites, and one of them is extremely long – more than 200 miles long, to be exact. Watling Street was a vital road used for trade, troop movement and communication built by the Romans, all the way from Dover to London, then northwest via St. Albans to the village of Wroxeter in modern Shropshire. Back then, however, it was a city called Viriconium, the fourth largest in Roman Britain. Historic England notes that the condition of Watling Street is “variable” along its length.
However, “overall the major elements survive well, with a clearly defined agger (the raised embankment formed by material from side ditches), metalled road surface, and sections of parallel drainage ditches”. Some sections are still in use today, although it has been overlaid, such as parts of A2 (running from Dover to London) and A5 (London to Wroxeter). Experts say that this divergence in the modern route has left this stretch relatively undisturbed.
“It is quite rare for such a long section of Roman road to survive in so well-preserved a state,” Historic England adds.
Along the route remain unexcavated areas, which no doubt harbour important archaeological deposits, which could contribute to the historians’ knowledge and understanding of Roman infrastructure.
A previous excavation of a stretch of Watling Street in Kilsby in Northamptonshire has revealed that its surface consists of half a metre of hard flinty gravel on a layer of large smooth stones up to 0.3 metres in diameter.
This rests on sandy gravel and clay.
The Battle of Watling Street
Watling Street was the site of a significant battle between the forces of Rome and a British alliance led by Queen Boudica.
A decisive victory for the Romans, the skirmish marked the end of a revolt by native Britons, who vastly outnumbered their opponents from the imperial power.
The exact location of the altercation is unknown, but historians know enough from the Roman writer Tacitus to place it along Watling Street in the Midlands, near Mancetter in Warwickshire, around 25 miles west of modern Birmingham.
The dispute was sparked after the death of King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe, who left his lands to both his daughters and the Roman emperor, Nero.
But this was ignored by the Romans, who seized the territory.