ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



For once antiquaries are in agreement as to its course, which Lysons* de- 

 scribes in the following passage : 



The Waiting Street enters the county with the modern Irish Road, at the 42nd mile- 

 stone, and proceeds perfectly straight through Little Brickhill, Fenny Stratford and Stony 

 Stratford, at which last town it crosses the Ouse into Northamptonshire ; all traces of the 

 Roman causeway are of course obliterated by the present turnpike road, but no doubt seems 

 to be entertained of its line, whatever difference of opinion there may be in determining 

 the sites of the Itinerary stations upon it. 



Though all actual traces of the Roman causeway may have been obliter- 

 ated, there exists almost certain evidence of its course, in the straight boundary 

 line between the parishes which lie along the route between Little Brickhill 

 and Stony Stratford. Moreover, the names Stony Stratford, Fenny Stratford, 

 and Old Stratford speak of a Roman origin. The archaeological evidence is 

 further strengthened by the discovery of what are certainly Roman remains at 

 these places ; of foundations in the Auld Fields near Fenny Stratford, of an 

 : urn and bust of Roman workmanship at Little Brickhill, and the remains of a 

 villa, and an urn containing silver plates, etc., near Stony Stratford. 



But though there can be no question as to the course of Watling Street 

 through the county, yet there has been much dispute with regard to the 

 position of the Itinerary stations upon it. First as to Lactodurum. There 

 can be little real doubt that the modern Towcester is built upon the site of 

 this Roman station. But again and again we hear that Stony Stratford marks 

 the site, and Stukeley, with his usual ingenuity, has derived the name Stony 

 Stratford from ' Lactorodum,' which he takes as the name of the Roman 

 station. 



From Lactodurum we pass on to Magiovintum and Durocobrivae. 

 With regard to these there can be little doubt that the Roman stations were 

 at or near the modern Fenny Stratford and Dunstable, respectively, a con- 

 clusion which has been well worked out by Akerman. 8 Indeed, it is only 

 by placing the sites thus that the distances can be made to coincide with the 

 distances given in the Itinerary. As to the precise situation of Magiovintum, 

 however, many surmises have been raised, and Fenny Stratford and Little 

 Brickhill have run the gauntlet of antiquarian opinion. Fenny Stratford 

 has usually had the pre-eminence, for Leland, alone, of the antiquaries before 

 the present century, places Magiovintum at Little Brickhill. It seems now 

 better established, however, that Magiovintum should be placed at or near 

 Little Brickhill, and that the site near Fenny Stratford has less probability. 



The other Roman, or possibly Roman, roads are four in number, and are 

 for the most part merely branch roads. 



Road from Bicester to Towcester, or to a point "within some little distance of it.* 

 This road, starting from Alcester, runs north-east and south-west between 

 Fringford and Stratton Audley, through Newton Purcell, and enters Buck- 

 inghamshire a little to the north of Barton Hartshorn. 



Here it becomes coincident with the north-west boundary of the county, 

 proceeds to Little Tingewick, where its course is marked by a villa and a 



' M agna Britannia, i, 483. ' Jrtb. xxvii, 96. 



4 Dr. Plot, Nat. Hist. ofOxon. x, I 3 ; Stukeley, I tin. Curioium, 18, 21, &c. ; Rec. of Bucks. (Arch. Soc. of 



Bucks.), iv, 154; Burgess, Raman Roads in Bucks.; Lytons, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 483 ; O.S. xxvii, NE. SE., 

 etc. ; f.C.H. ttorthants. i. 



