Roman roads in Powys
Roman Powys was crossed rather than settled. Sarn Helen, the chain of roads running the length of Wales, passes through the county, and the forts along it — Caersws, Castell Collen, Y Gaer near Brecon — were garrison posts holding a route rather than towns. The Roman interest in mid Wales was mineral and military: get through it, hold the passes, and reach the coast.
- Mapped segments
- 32
- Surveyed length
- 390 km
- Named roads
- 1
Measured from the Itiner-e survey within the modern county boundary, which for Yorkshire, Cheshire and the other counties broken up in 1974 means the traditional area reassembled from its present-day parts. The survey maps far more road than it attributes to a named route, so the segment count counts everything, and the named roads below are only those with a history recorded here.
Where to see it
Y Gaer, the fort west of Brecon, has visible walls and gateways in a farmed landscape. Caersws in the upper Severn valley was a garrison town on the road through mid Wales, and the Roman marching camps on the moors above are visible from the air and traceable on the ground.
Named roads through Powys
Sarn Helen
Segontium to Maridunum