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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.  Now in our fifth year, we are about to launch our Journal, Itinera - scroll down to find out more.

We continue Margary’s work by researching Roman roads using modern technology such as LiDAR, which uses lasers fired from an aircraft to create an incredibly accurate model of the earth’s surface beneath any vegetation, revealing surviving archaeology otherwise not visible. The example below is a Roman road in Cornwall, where until recently there was no firm evidence of any Roman roads at all. This was spotted in 2018 but at least one other road has recently been identified in Cornwall during lockdown thanks to volunteers with the Understanding Landscapes project led by Dr. Chris Smart (University of Exeter).

Introducing R.R.R.A.

Call for Papers: Itinera Vol.2, the RRRA Journal

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

The first volume of the Roman Roads Research Association own peer reviewed journal, Itinera, will be released in digital form to our members on 24 May 2021, with printed versions available to purchase for delivery in June. We are now accepting submissions for Volume 2. Itinera is the only journal in the world dedicated to publishing research, fieldwork, and new discoveries that relate to Roman roads or Roman transport infrastructure more broadly, both in Britannia and the rest of the Roman Empire.

We welcome papers which contribute to a better understanding of the road network and its place within the wider context of Roman studies, whether in the UK or internationally.

Itinera includes reports of excavations, new discoveries from lidar, aerial photography, and geophysics, designation of 'new' routes through an expanded Margary system, and a range of peer-reviewed scholarly articles exploring the wider context of roads as related to military and civilian activity, forts, planning, surveying and all aspects of Roman life. Itinera 2 will include Roman Roads in 2021, providing an overview of all archaeological work involving Roman roads in Britain during the coming year. Full details, including Notes for Contibutors, can be found here.

The closing date for final submissions is 15th November 2021; however if you are considering submitting material for Itinera, please contact the Editor using the button below.

28 July 2021

RRRA Online Lecture Series - DATE CHANGE

The talk and book launch by Dave Armstrong; THE HADRIAN’S WALL MILITARY WAY: A Frontier Road Explored, will be held on Thursday 19th August 2021, not 26th August as previously advertised.

 

RRRA Online Lecture Series

There are still a few public places available for our next lecture, by Robert Entwistle - Watling Street, Stane Street, and the origins of London - on Thursday 29 July at 7.30pm (free!)

29 June 2021

ONLINE LECTURE ON YOUTUBE

Our second online lecture, Changing the Map: how lidar data is transforming our understanding of the Roman road network in North West England, by David Ratledge, is now live on YouTube

https://youtu.be/MCefNA0o2b8

24 June 2021

ONLINE LECTURE ON YOUTUBE

Our first online lecture, Ivan Margary: Officer, Gentleman, Scholar and Philanthropist, by Dr. David Rudling, is now live on YouTube. https://youtu.be/DLc8lQvVcvM

23 JUNE 2021

RRRA Online Lecture Series

There are still a few public places available for our next lecture, on Thursday 24 June at 7.30pm (free!)

Changing the Map: how lidar data is transforming our understanding of the Roman road network in North West England

by David Ratledge

If you would like to attend, please use our booking form

28 April 2021

ITINERA VOL.1 - PRINT EDITION AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER

Whilst the pdf version of Itinera is free to RRRA members, we are also producing a printed copy which can be PURCHASED HERE.

13 JANUARY 2021

ITINERA VOL.2 - CALL FOR PAPERS

Vol.1 of our brand new journal, Itinera looks like being a huge success. It is now being typeset and will be released in Spring, however we are already accepting papers for Vol.2. If you have a paper you would like to submit (or just an idea for a paper), or a note on fieldwork or new discoveries for inclusion in Roman Roads in 2021, please contact our Editor, Robert Entwistle. The deadline for submissions is 15th November 2021.

OCTOBER 2020

RRRA MEMBERSHIP HITS 250

We were pretty chuffed when our membership passed 200 in July, but to add another fifty in the following three months is amazing! We would like to thank all our members for their continued support, which has enabled us to embark on projects such as Living Beyond the Town - Petuaria.

10 JUNE 2020

ITINERA - THE NEW RRRA JOURNAL

We are proud to announce that The RRRA will be publishing our own Journal, Itinera, the first volume to be published in Spring 2021. Click here to find out more.

13 AUGUST 2019

RRRA EXCAVATION ON DERE STREET

From September 21st to October 6th, we will be excavating on Dere Street near Aldborough, N. Yorkshire

2 NOVEMBER 2018

ROMAN ROADS IN CHESHIRE

Roman Roads in Cheshire, by David Ratledge and Neil Buckley have now been added to this website. They will be incorporated into our standard gazetteer format during late 2018 / early 2019

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. .

Lidar image of a recently discovered Roman road in Cornwall, showing the characteristic raised mound known as an agger, the quarry pits which provided road material, and braiding - eroded hollows worn by traffic running alongside the Roman road after lack of repair made part of it unusable.