ROMANO-BRITISH BEDFORDSHIRE 



Brickhill, Bucks), 17 miles; Magiovinium to Durocobrivae (Dunstable), 12 

 miles; Durocobrivae to Verulamium (St. Albans), 12 miles.* This route 

 recurs in a route from London to Lincoln : Verulamium to Durocobrivae, 

 1 2 miles ; Durocobrivae to Magiovinium, 1 2 miles ; Magiovinium to Lacto- 

 dorum, 16 miles ;^ and again in a route from York to London : Bannaventa 

 to Magiovinium, 28 miles; Magiovinium to Durocobrivae, 12 miles;* 

 Durocobrivae to Verulamium, 12 miles. The three versions agree sub- 

 stantially. 



These routes form a portion of the great highway called Watling Street, 

 which crosses a small section of the county at its south-west corner. The 

 course of this road is certain. Almost the whole of it is still in use ; often it 

 forms a parish or county boundary ; its name is attested in charters older 

 than the Norman Conquest.' The Itinerary ' stations ' can generally be 

 identified with existing remains, and the distances between these remains agree 

 with the mileage of the ' Itinerary.' Placing Verulamium at St. Albans, 

 Durocobrivae at Dunstable, Magiovinium at Little Brickhill, and Lacto- 

 dorum at Towcester, we obtain an admirable and unusual harmony between 

 our written and our archaeological evidence. Mr. W. D. Saul, F.S.A., in a 

 paper communicated to the Society of Antiquaries in 1847, stated that he 

 considered Watling Street in the Romano-British period diverted from the 

 existing road at Markyate Street,^" passed through the village of Kensworth 

 west of the present road, and so on, crossing the Icknield Way at a place 

 called the Five Knolls, through the village of Tilsworth, eventually joining 

 the existing road at Hockliffe." A short time ago, however, in clearing 

 the ditch along the present road at Kensworth Lynch, the Roman road was 

 found about 2 ft. to 4 ft. beneath the present level, and 1 65 ft. of it between the 

 ' Horse and Jockey ' and the ' Black Horse ' inns was exposed for a width of 

 about 4 ft. or 5 ft. on the east side of the road. The metalling was so hard 

 that it could only be pierced with difficulty. It was found to be about 9 in 

 thick, perfectly flat, and composed of large flints, pieces of sandstone, quart- 

 zite, and other rocks common in the glacial deposits of the neighbouring 

 hill tops. The Roman road was also found in 1900, in the town of 

 Dunstable, one-sixth of a mile north of the crossing of the Icknield Way. 

 It was similar in composition to that described above.^*" It is possible that 

 it passed round the west side of Puddle Hill to the north of Dunstable, 

 where the remains of an old coach road still exist. The deep cutting 

 through the hill here is, of course, comparatively modern. 



The next road of importance is the Icknield Street or Way, the great 

 highway from the east to the south-west of Britain, It is not mentioned, or 



' Vetera Romanorum Itineraria, ed. P. Wesseling (Amsterdam, 1735), 470, 471. Magiovinium has been 

 placed at Fenny Stratford, but Prof. Haverfield considers Littie Brickhill a more probable site. 



' Ibid. 476, 477. ' Ibid. 479. 



° The first historical mention of a Roman road after Roman times is in the treaty of Wedmore, a.d. 878 ; 

 Codrington, Roman Roads in Britain, 27. Watling Street is mentioned in a.d. 957 ; Birch, Cart. Sax. iii, 188 ; 

 in A.D. 963, ibid, iii, 334 ; and in a.d. 1013, Flor. Wigorn. Ciron. (Engl. Hist. Soc), i, 166. 



" Proc. Soc. Jntiq. (Old Ser.), i, 177. Mr. W. G. Smith considers this to be the pre-Roman road, and 

 states that it can still be traced. 



" At Markyate Street the modern road rejoins Watling Street and proceeds to Dunstable, where it is 

 crossed by the Icknield Way, and runs straight for 5^ miles to a knoll beyond HocklifFe. It then goes on in 

 nearly the same line for 4 miles to high ground half a mile south of Little Brickhill, where it leaves the 

 county ; Codrington, Roman Roads in Britain, 71. 



" Information from Mr. Worthington G. Smith, and Standard, 8 Dec. 1 900. 



