Roman road north east of Vernditch Chase: part of the Roman road between Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) and Vindocladia (Badbury)

Reasons for Designation

Roman roads were artificially made-up routes introduced to Britain by the Roman army from c.AD 43. They facilitated both the conquest of the province and its subsequent administration. Their main purpose was to serve the Cursus Publicus, or Imperial mail service. Express messengers could travel up to 150 miles per day on the network of Roman roads throughout Britain and Europe, changing horses at wayside 'mutationes' (posting stations set every 8 miles on major roads) and stopping overnight at 'mansiones' (rest houses located every 20-25 miles). In addition, throughout the Roman period and later, Roman roads acted as commercial routes and became foci for settlement and industry. Mausolea were sometimes built flanking roads during the Roman period while, in the Anglian and medieval periods, Roman roads often served as property boundaries. Although a number of roads fell out of use soon after the withdrawal of Rome from the province in the fifth century AD, many have continued in use down to the present day and are consequently sealed beneath modern roads. On the basis of construction technique, two main types of Roman road are distinguishable. The first has widely spaced boundary ditches and a broad elaborate agger comprising several layers of graded materials. The second usually has drainage ditches and a narrow simple agger of two or three successive layers. In addition to ditches and construction pits flanking the sides of the road, features of Roman roads can include central stone ribs, kerbs and culverts, not all of which will necessarily be contemporary with the original construction of the road. With the exception of the extreme south- west of the country, Roman roads are widely distributed throughout England and extend into Wales and lowland Scotland. They are highly representative of the period of Roman administration and provide important evidence of Roman civil engineering skills as well as the pattern of Roman conquest and settlement. A high proportion of examples exhibiting good survival are considered to be worthy of protection.

The part of the Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) to Vindocladia (Badbury) Roman road between the Broad Chalke to Martin road and Old Lodge Copse represents a well-preserved section of an important routeway, much of which has been levelled over the years. The road is a good and visual example of its class and contains archaeological information relating to its construction, contemporary and subsequent use.

Details

The monument includes a c.730m stretch of the Roman road from Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) to Vindocladia (Badbury), running north eastwards from north of the Broad Chalke to Martin road towards Old Lodge Copse. The course of the Roman road is marked by a raised agger which peters out at the south western and north eastern ends of this section. The agger, up to 9m wide, rises to a maximum height of 1.1m above the surrounding ground level but is augmented by a probable boundary bank up to 0.75m high and 4m to 5m wide along or near the edge of the fields at the south eastern side of the road. Fine gravel metalling can occasionally be seen on the ground surface and some large flint nodules from the foundations of the road are also visible in some areas. The side ditches have become infilled over the years, but a slight linear depression c.2.5m wide and 0.4m deep can be seen at the north side of the road near its southern end. Stone-robbing has destroyed almost 50m of the south western end of the road and a field under cultivation extends across and truncates the line of the road to the north east. These areas are not included in the scheduling. There are no known records of archaeological excavation of the road. Excluded from the scheduling are all fencing and associated posts, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

24329

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.