Summary

Section of Roman road, civilian settlement and enclosures, 280m south of Gerrard House.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 29 March 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the remains of a section of road associated with a series of buildings and enclosures, situated on gently sloping ground 520 m south west of the Roman fort of Old Carlisle (Olenacvm). The remains, which are all preserved as cropmarks, include two parallel ditches running north-south with traces of buildings to the west and the outlines of enclosures located to the south. The road, buildings and enclosure are understood to represent remains of the outer part of the civilian settlement or vicus associated with the Roman fort to the north east.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Roman roads were artificially made-up routes introduced to Britain by the Roman army from c.AD 43. They facilitated both the conquest of the province and its subsequent administration. Their main purpose was to serve the Cursus Publicus, or Imperial mail service. Express messengers could travel up to 150 miles per day on the network of Roman roads throughout Britain and Europe, changing horses at wayside 'mutationes' (posting stations set every 8 miles on major roads) and stopping overnight at 'mansiones' (rest houses located every 20-25 miles). In addition, throughout the Roman period and later, Roman roads acted as commercial routes and became foci for settlement and industry. Mausolea were sometimes built flanking roads during the Roman period while, in the Anglian and medieval periods, Roman roads often served as property boundaries. Although a number of roads fell out of use soon after the withdrawal of Rome from the province in the fifth century AD, many have continued in use down to the present day and are consequently sealed beneath modern roads. On the basis of construction technique, two main types of Roman road are distinguishable. The first has widely spaced boundary ditches and a broad elaborate agger comprising several layers of graded materials. The second usually has drainage ditches and a narrow simple agger of two or three successive layers. In addition to ditches and construction pits flanking the sides of the road, features of Roman roads can include central stone ribs, kerbs and culverts, not all of which will necessarily be contemporary with the original construction of the road. With the exception of the extreme south- west of the country, Roman roads are widely distributed throughout England and extend into Wales and lowland Scotland. They are highly representative of the period of Roman administration and provide important evidence of Roman civil engineering skills as well as the pattern of Roman conquest and settlement. A high proportion of examples exhibiting good survival are considered to be worthy of protection.

The section of roman road, civilian settlement and enclosures south of Gerrard House are preserved as cropmarks. There significance is increased by the association with the nearby Roman fort and its civilian settlement. Taken together the remains provide insight into the domestic and economic life that surrounded Roman forts with such settlements acting as key focal points in the Romanisation of Britain.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 9951

Source: Historic England