Ermine Street

Ermine Street ran north from Londinium to Eboracum at York, the spine of Roman Britain. From Bishopsgate it cut up through Hertfordshire, crossed the great fen at Durolipons at modern Godmanchester then drove straight on into Lindum at Lincoln. North of the Humber it picked up the road to York, the legionary fortress that became the capital of Britannia Inferior after the province was divided in the third century. The Old North Road of the Saxon period followed almost the same line, as does much of today's A1. Crossing the Humber required a ferry; the bridge would not come for another nineteen centuries.