Section of Roman Road 150m south of Park Farm Cottages

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 section of Roman road 150m south of Park Farm Cottages is a well preserved example of its class. Elsewhere many of the physical remains of this routeway have been removed. The road will contain archaeological deposits providing information about its construction, contemporary and subsequent use and associated environment.

Details

The monument includes a 120m section of Roman road, 150m south of Park Farm Cottages, running approximately north east-south west, which is thought to be part of the road between the legionary fortress at Lake Farm on the banks of the Stour at Wimborne to the south west and the settlement at Southampton to the north east. The Roman road is marked by a raised agger (embanked road), up to 8m wide which rises to a maximum height of 0.4m above the surrounding ground level. When first recorded in 1928 a silted up, but perceptible ditch, approximately 2m wide, was recorded on each side of the agger, although only the southern ditch is still clearly visible. The western end of this section of road is marked by an unmade farm track giving access to the Park Farm buildings, now demolished. There is no visible earthwork to the west of the track. At the eastern end the agger has been disturbed by a pond and is no longer visible beyond it. Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts, and the surface of the track where it crosses the monument, although the ground beneath these features 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:

29586

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Margary, I D, Roman Roads in Britain, (1967), 94-95

End of official list entry

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