Summary
Buried remains of a section of Ermine Street Roman road dating from early first century AD with evidence of pre-Roman and Roman roadside settlement, including some industrial activity.
Reasons for Designation
A section of Ermine Street Roman road and an associated roadside settlement north of Turnford Brook, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the condition of the road is variable along its length, but overall the major elements survive well, with some surface material and parallel drainage ditches. Archaeological evaluation has shown a good survival of features relating to the roadside settlement too.
* Period: the network of roads established by the Romans constitutes a major feat of engineering and is seen as one of the most distinctive legacies of the Roman occupation of Britain. Engineered roads are highly representative of the Roman period. Their influence upon the development of today's national road network remains clearly discernible.
* Rarity: Ermine Street has in many places been overlaid by later roads but a change in route has left this section unencumbered by later development, and therefore survives physically and remains a valuable heritage asset.
* Potential: excavations have demonstrated that the monument retains highly significant archaeological evidence, therefore unexcavated areas have further potential to retain deposits which can contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the form and construction of this important feature of Roman infrastructure and the associated roadside settlement.
* Documentation: the geophysical survey and excavation reports constitute a significant archive of archaeological documentation.
History
Roman roads were artificially made-up routes introduced to Britain by the Roman army from around 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.
Ermine Street is the name given to the Roman highway from London to York which was constructed by the Roman army soon after the conquest of southern Britain in AD 43-45. In Hertfordshire it enters the south of the county to the west of Waltham Cross, running due north, and continues via Ware and Braughing late Iron Age and Roman settlements, before leaving the county north of Royston. The course survives well as earthworks and cropmarks, and sections are still in use as roads or rights of way.
The scheduled area has been subject to some archaeological investigations. The Hertfordshire Historic Environment Record (HER) describes how the line of the Roman road (at TL 3455 0546, in the north-west corner of the scheduled area), and visible on aerial photographs, was investigated in the early 1950s, as a result of finding Roman sherds and brick fragments during fieldwalking. According to Peter Rooke, 'we did not find a hard road surface as we had hoped, but a great many more brick and tile fragments and some small pieces of pottery, all of Roman origin, came to light' (Rooke, 1955). The brick and tile fragments appeared to be kiln rejects used for roadmaking rubble. This material represents the northern extension of the Roman occupation extending from Cheshunt Park. In 1975, Cheshunt Park Archaeology Group found fragments of tegulae, imbrex and bone at TL 3455 0520, approximately in the centre of the scheduled area.
A recent geophysical survey (carried out by MOLA in February 2023) confirmed the line of a section of the Roman road, to the north of Turnford Brook, along with associated roadside enclosures and occupation features which respect the line of the Roman road.
Further archaeological evaluation was carried out by Tetra Tech in 2024. A total of 223 trenches were cut across the extent of a proposed residential development area with 23 trenches focused on the Roman road and the immediate roadside settlement. Evidence of a late Iron Age enclosure and other pre-Roman features were recorded, but the highest concentration of archaeological features dated from the mid-C1 and mid/late - C2, including the Roman road and the surrounding settlement. It was confirmed that the road surface had in places been truncated or displaced by later farming practices but stratified deposits of surface material provide information about the later use and abandonment of the road and its physical and chronological relationship with the roadside settlement. The finds from the excavations indicate an affluent community with suggestion of industrial activity, particularly iron working, and access to trade and exchange links across the wider empire.
After the late Roman period this section of the road was abandoned, it appears to have been moved towards the east, where it aligned with the section of Ermine Street located near to Ware. The change in direction may have been made to accommodate the changing economic and political environment following the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 420.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the monument includes the buried remains of a section of Ermine Street Roman road dating from early first century AD with evidence of pre-Roman and Roman roadside settlement including some industrial activity.
DESCRIPTION: the site is located on improved, tussocky grassland, which slopes gently southwards to Turnford Brook, which flows eastwards through the wooded area of Priests Osiers. The scheduled area is aligned north-south and measures approximately 450m in length and approximately 105m wide at its northern end and 88m wide at the southern end.
The line of the road was first apparent as a cropmark on a vertical aerial photograph from 1948. The geophysical survey (carried out by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) in February 2023) helped define the line of this section of Roman Ermine Street, along with extensive associated roadside enclosures and occupation features. The road is evident as a parallel pair of ditches, along with small sections of further linear features lying close to, and parallel with these, indicating the course of the road, and possibly recut iterations of drainage ditches on either side.
Concentrations of further rectilinear features in this area relate to associated
occupational plots, generally arranged perpendicularly to the road at the northern and southern ends. The results of the geophysical survey indicate that these include areas of heating (such as ovens or possibly metal working); and a number of circular and ovoid features might indicate backfilled pits or other small deposits of magnetically enhanced soil. The archaeological evaluation carried out in 2024 demonstrated the road surface was truncated or displaced in many areas and the settlement plan was linear in form, with associated field systems branching out to the east. The volume of fine wares and imported artefacts within the finds assemblage indicate this was a thriving and affluent settlement which was likely trading with the wider Empire. The artefacts included a large amount of decorated pottery including cups, bowls, plates, jugs, beakers, flagons, lids, amphora and mortarium of various sizes. Finely decorated Samian ware was found consistently across the site from the early- to late-Roman periods suggesting the settlement remained affluent over several centuries. The later phases of activity were associated with a large amount of metal slag, particularly in a well at the northern end of the site, implying metal processing was practiced nearby.
Given the wealth of archaeological deposits recorded in the limited archaeological evaluation trenches it is clear the site of the Roman road and roadside settlement have considerable potential, if assessed scientifically, to add to our knowledge and understanding of the use and abandonment of this stretch of Roman road and its associated settlement.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the mapped depiction of the site includes the buried remains of the Roman road and a sample of the pre- Roman and Roman roadside settlement.
EXCLUSIONS: all road and path surfaces and fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.
