a charity registered in England & Wales, no  1163854.

The Roman Roads Research Association was formed to advance knowledge of the Roman road network and promote the study of Roman roads and Roman heritage throughout the British Isles. Our work is inspired by Ivan D. Margary whose “Roman Roads in Britain ” (1955) remains the most comprehensive gazetteer ever compiled. As we approached our first birthday, RRRA was extremely proud to mark the 40th anniversary of his death in 1976 by hosting the inaugural Ivan D Margary Memorial Conferences. Programmes for the conferences, and a selection of the papers presented, are still available by clicking the “2016 Conferences” tab above.

The RRRA is working to update and enhance the work that Margary started using new technologies such as lidar, as with the example below in Lincolnshire.

Introducing R.R.R.A.

A ‘new’ Roman road in Lincolnshire discovered using LiDAR

The homepage image is refreshed on a frequent basis. We would  be pleased to consider contributions from members and non-members alike for use on this page, and for use in the gazetteer as it develops. As the Gazetteer develops, we will need a huge number of good quality images from all over the country

LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a surveying method usually operated from an aircraft that measures distance to the ground below by illuminating it target with a laser, and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor. The resulting data can then be used to make digital 3D-representations of the landscape, even removing vegetation and buildings if required, and by using specialist software can reveal features such as Roman roads which are impossible to detect by eye on the ground.

As part of the on-going work on The Roads of Roman Britain, our new Gazetteer, LiDAR data from the Environment Agency is being used to check the routes of known roads, such as Ermine Street (RR2d), north of Lincoln. Occasionally, there are some big surprises. In this case whilst Ermine Street shows exactly where we knew it was (you can hardly miss it!), a previously unknown road was identified heading north-north-west from Lincoln. The agger, the raised mound on which most Roman roads were built, shows very clearly. The road has also been traced northwards on aerial photographs to the point where it meets RR28a, the main road branching from Ermine Street to Doncaster and York. It’s basically a short cut, cutting out the junction of the two roads where they meet next to Lincolnshire Showground and saving nearly a mile in the process. A short branch road shows, heading to Burton-by-Lincoln, perhaps to a Roman villa or settlement.

19 MARCH 2018

LAUNCHING OUR NEW WEBSITE

Our new website, the Roads of Roman Britain, is now live! The site features the first phase of our comprehensive gazetteer of Roman roads in Britain, and includes every Roman road in Yorkshire or leading into Yorkshire  (53 in total). It also features new interpretations of the British sections of the Antonine Itinerary and the Notitia Dignitatum.

26 DECEMBER 2017

DAVID RATLEDGE’S CUMBRIA PAGES NOW ONLINE

David Ratledge, best known for his work over many years on Roman roads in Lancashire and for his Lancashire web pages on this site, has now completed three years of work reviewing Roman roads in Cumbria.

David’s work will be incorporated into our standard gazetteer format in 2018, but rather than wait we thought it important to make the results of his invaluable work accessible straight away. Access through The Roads of Roman Britain tab on the main menu, or just click the hyperlink above.

SEPTEMBER 2017

THE ROMAN ROAD AT HOLTYE, EAST SUSSEX

In the 1930s, Ivan D. Margary excavated a 250 yard long length of RR14, near Holtye in East Sussex, and exposed a short length of road (about 40 yards) which was fenced off so that it could be viewed by the public. Margary then gave the site, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, to the Sussex Archaeological Society. The road itself is a valuable example of the Roman use of local materials in road construction, in this case iron slag from nearby Roman iron workings in the Weald.  

RRRA and the Sussex Archaeological Society are currently working together to evaluate how the road’s survival may be guaranteed in perpetuity, and to assess how this nationally  important site may be best presented to the public. .