British in
Northamptonshire The broad, grassy
trackway found by the Romans had already been used by the
Britons for centuries. The main path led from
Richborough on the
English Channel to a natural
ford in the
Thames at
Thorney Island,
Westminster, to a site near
Wroxeter, where it split. The western continuation went on to
Holyhead while the northern ran to
Chester and on to the
Picts in Scotland.
Westminster ford There is a longstanding tradition that a natural ford once crossed the Thames between Thorney Island (present-day
Westminster) and the
Lambeth/
Wandsworth boundary. Its location means that it is possible that Watling Street crossed it. Several factors may have slowed the river here, leading to the depositing of enough sediments to create a usable ford: • The bend in the Thames near
Vauxhall Bridge. • The two arms of the
River Effra joining in that vicinity, depositing their own load, with the cross-flow causing the Thames to eddy and slow. • Similarly the southern arm of the
Tyburn, once joined the Thames at this point, on the northern bank. • These factors mean the area is likely to have been the
tidal head for some of the historic period.
Roman , one of the Romans' Kentish ports and a
Saxon Shore fort (visible at left) The
Romans began constructing
paved roads shortly after
their invasion in AD 43. The London portion of Watling Street was rediscovered during
Christopher Wren's rebuilding of
St Mary-le-Bow in 1671–73, following the
Great Fire. Modern excavations date its construction to the winter from AD 47 to 48. Around London, it was wide and paved with gravel. It was repeatedly redone, including at least twice before the sack of London by
Boudica's
troops in 60 or 61. The road ran straight from the bridgehead on the
Thames to what would become
Newgate on the
London Wall before passing over
Ludgate Hill and the
Fleet and dividing into Watling Street and the
Devil's Highway west to
Calleva (
Silchester). Some of this route is preserved beneath
Old Kent Road. The 2nd-century
Antonine Itinerary gives the course of Watling Street from "
Urioconium" (Wroxeter) to "
Portus Ritupis" (Richborough) as a part of its Second Route (''''), which runs for 501
MP from
Hadrian's Wall to Richborough:
Battle of Watling Street '' by
Thomas Thornycroft, near
Westminster Pier, London Some site in the middle section of this route is supposed by most historians to have been the location of
G. Suetonius Paulinus's
decisive victory over
Boudica's
Iceni in AD 61.
Subsidiary routes The two routes of the
Antonine Itinerary immediately following ('
& ') list the stations from Londinium to "
Portus Dubris" (
Dover) and to "
Portus Lemanis" (
Lympne) at the north eastern edge of the
Romney Marsh, suggesting that they may have been considered interchangeable terminuses. They only differ in the distance to
Durovernum: 14 and 17
Roman miles, respectively. A number of Old English names testify to route of Watling Street at this time:
Boughton Street in
Kent;
Colney Street in
Hertfordshire;
Fenny Stratford and
Stony Stratford in
Buckinghamshire;
Old Stratford in Northamptonshire;
Stretton-under-Fosse and
Stretton Baskerville in
Warwickshire. (The three adjacent settlements of
All Stretton,
Church Stretton, and
Little Stretton in
Shropshire; and
Stretton Sugwas in
Herefordshire have a Watling Street but they are not on the route). Watling Street served as a significant traditional boundary for the ancient
Forest of Arden, delineating its northern and western edges. The forest's other historical boundaries included
Icknield Street to the east, the
Salt Road (now the modern
Alcester to Stratford Road) to the south, and the
Fosse Way to the southeast.
Viking Following the
Viking invasions, the 9th-century
Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum mentions Watling Street as a boundary.
Norman past
Newgate It is assumed that the pilgrims in
Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales used the southeastern stretch of Watling Street when journeying from
Southwark to
Canterbury.
Modernity The first
turnpike trust in England was established over Watling Street northwest of London by an act of Parliament, the
Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire Roads Act 1706 (
6 Ann. c. 4), on 4 March 1707 in order to provide a return on the investment required to once more pave the road. The section from
Fourne Hill north of
Hockliffe to
Stony Stratford was paved at a cost of
£7000 over the next two years. Revenue was below expectations; in 1709, the trust succeeded in getting a new act extending the term of their monopoly but not permitting their tolls to be increased. In 1711, the trust's debts had not been discharged and the creditors took over receivership of the tolls. In 1716, a new act restored the authority of the trust under the supervision of another group appointed by the
Buckinghamshire justices of the peace. The trust failed to receive a further extension of their rights in 1736 and their authority ended at the close of 1738. In 1740, a new act named new trustees to oversee the road, which the residents of Buckinghamshire described as being "ruined". The road was again paved in the early 19th century at the expense of
Thomas Telford. He operated it as a turnpike road for
mail coaches from
Ireland. To this purpose, he extended it to the port of
Holyhead on
Anglesey in Wales. During this time, the section southeast of London became known as the
Great Dover Road. The tolls ended in 1875. High Road in London commemorates the route of Watling Street. (The date is incorrect.) Much of the road is still in use today, apart from a few sections where it has been diverted. The
A2 road between Dover and London runs over or parallel to the old path. A section of Watling Street still exists in the
City of London close to
Mansion House underground station on the route of the original Roman road which traversed the
River Thames via the first
London Bridge and ran through the City in a straight line from London Bridge to
Newgate. The sections of the road in Central London possess a variety of names, including
Edgware Road and
Maida Vale. At
Blackheath, the Roman road ran along
Old Dover Road, turning and running through the area of present-day
Greenwich Park to a location perhaps a little north of the current Deptford Bridge. North of London, the road is designated mainly as the
A5 between London and
Shrewsbury. At various points along the route, the A5 leaves the Roman road to bypass settlements, but its historic route invariably remains evident even where motor traffic is restricted or banned. The name Watling Street is still used along the ancient road in many places, for instance in
Bexleyheath in southeast London and in
Canterbury,
Gillingham,
Strood,
Gravesend, and
Dartford in
Kent. North of London, the name Watling Street still occurs in
Hertfordshire (including
St Albans),
Bedfordshire (
Dunstable), Buckinghamshire (
Milton Keynes),
Northamptonshire (
Towcester),
Leicestershire (
Hinckley), Warwickshire (
Nuneaton and
Atherstone) and in
Staffordshire (
Cannock,
Wall,
Tamworth and
Lichfield). (There are Watling Streets in
Shropshire (
Church Stretton) and in
Gwynedd (
Llanrwst), but neither is on the original route.) ==Other Watling Streets==