The roads

These are the named Roman roads of Britain. Most are trunk routes laid out by military surveyors in the century after the invasion of AD 43; a couple, like the Icknield Way, are older tracks the Romans merely surfaced, and one is the service road that ran behind Hadrian's Wall.

The Itiner-e survey attributes mapped segments to 7 of them by name, accounting for roughly 1,700 kilometres of measured line. The rest are well attested by archaeology but carry no named line in the dataset, so no figures are shown for them.

1. Watling Street

   Rutupiae to Viroconium

   Watling Street ran from Rutupiae on the Kent coast to Viroconium in Shropshire, crossing Britain at its widest reach.

   350 km mapped · 58 segments

2. Ermine Street

   Londinium to Eboracum

   Ermine Street ran north from Londinium to Eboracum at York, the spine of Roman Britain.

   420 km mapped · 68 segments

3. Fosse Way

   Isca Dumnoniorum to Lindum

   The Fosse Way ran from Isca Dumnoniorum at Exeter to Lindum at Lincoln, near-straight for nearly four hundred kilometres.

   370 km mapped · 34 segments

4. Stane Street

   Londinium to Noviomagus Reginorum

   Stane Street ran from Londinium to Noviomagus Reginorum at Chichester, the most direct line between London and the south coast.

   93 km mapped · 8 segments

5. Akeman Street

   Verulamium to Corinium

   Akeman Street ran east-west across the southern Midlands, from Verulamium near St Albans to Corinium at Cirencester.

   120 km mapped · 15 segments

6. Dere Street

   Eboracum to Inveresk

   Dere Street ran north from Eboracum at York to the Antonine Wall, the supply line for the Roman frontier in northern Britain.

   270 km mapped · 18 segments

7. Peddars Way

   South-west Norfolk to Holme-next-the-Sea

   Peddars Way ran from a junction with the Icknield Way in south-west Norfolk to the Norfolk coast at Holme-next-the-Sea.

   Not named in the Itiner-e survey

8. Via Devana

   Camulodunum to Deva

   Via Devana is the modern name given to a road that may never have existed as a single Roman route.

   Not named in the Itiner-e survey

9. Sarn Helen

   Segontium to Maridunum

   Sarn Helen is the Welsh name for the chain of Roman roads that ran north to south through Wales, from Segontium near Caernarfon to Maridunum at Carmarthen.

   Not named in the Itiner-e survey

10. Stanegate

    Coria to Luguvalium

    Stanegate ran east-west across the narrow neck of northern Britain between Coria at Corbridge and Luguvalium at Carlisle, on the line where Hadrian would later build his wall.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

11. King Street

    Durobrivae to Ancaster

    King Street ran north from Durobrivae near Water Newton to rejoin Ermine Street a little south of Ancaster, a parallel route through the western edge of the Lincolnshire fens.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

12. Pye Road

    Camulodunum to Venta Icenorum

    Pye Road ran north from Camulodunum at Colchester to Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund, binding the veterans' colony at Colchester to the Iceni capital in Norfolk.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

13. The Devil's Highway

    Londinium to Calleva Atrebatum

    The Devil's Highway ran west from Londinium to Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester, crossing the Thames at Pontes near Staines.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

14. Ackling Dyke

    Sorviodunum to Durnovaria

    Ackling Dyke ran south-west from Sorviodunum at Old Sarum to Durnovaria at Dorchester, climbing the chalk downs of Cranborne Chase.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

15. Stone Street

    Durovernum Cantiacorum to Portus Lemanis

    Stone Street ran south from Durovernum Cantiacorum at Canterbury to Portus Lemanis at Lympne on the Kent coast, joining the chief town of the Cantii to one of the Saxon Shore forts that watched the Channel.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

16. Ryknild Street

    Bourton-on-the-Water to Templeborough

    Ryknild Street ran north from the Fosse Way at Bourton-on-the-Water through the West Midlands to Templeborough south of Sheffield.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

17. Maiden Way

    Bravoniacum to Magnis

    Maiden Way ran north from Bravoniacum at Kirkby Thore through the Pennine moorland to the fort at Magnis at Carvoran on the line of Hadrian's Wall.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

18. The Devil's Causeway

    The Portgate to Berwick

    The Devil's Causeway branched off Dere Street at the Portgate north of Corbridge and ran north-east to the mouth of the Tweed at Berwick.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

19. High Street

    Galava to Brocavum

    High Street is the name of the Roman road that crossed the high fells of the Lake District between the forts at Galava at Ambleside and Brocavum at Brougham.

    31 km mapped · 1 segment

20. Icknield Way

    The Icknield Way is older than the Romans.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

21. The Military Way

    The Military Way was the Roman supply road that ran along a frontier wall behind the line itself, linking the forts, milecastles and turrets along its length.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey

22. Stainmore Pass road

    Cataractonium to Brocavum

    The Stainmore Pass road carried Roman supplies west across the Pennines from Cataractonium at Catterick to Brocavum at Brougham in the Eden valley, and on to Carlisle.

    Not named in the Itiner-e survey