   #copyright

Watling Street

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the
   Roman and Celt crossings
   Enlarge
   The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the
   Roman and Celt crossings

   Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and
   Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities
   of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of
   which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Inter III: "Item a
   Londinio ad portum Dubris" - from London to the port of Dover. The name
   derives from the Anglo-Saxon Wæcelinga Stræt, which has come to be
   understood as the A2 road from Dover to London, and then the A5 road
   from London to Wroxeter.

History

Roman

   A Roman road known as Inter III went from London to Dover. The last
   section of the long Inter II route from Hadrian's Wall travelled
   through Viroconium (now Wroxeter in Shropshire), past Letocetum (modern
   day Wall), Manduessedum (modern day Mancetter - possible site of
   Boudica's last battle), Venonis (modern day High Cross), Lactotorum
   (modern day Towcester - near another possible site of Boudica's last
   battle)), then through Stony Stratford and Magiovinium ( Fenny
   Stratford) in modern day Milton Keynes, Durocobrivis (modern day
   Dunstable), Verulamium (near modern-day St Albans in Hertfordshire) and
   London (including the modern Old Kent Road) to Rutupiae (now
   Richborough in Kent) on the southeast coast of England. While another
   section of Inter II linked Wroxeter to Chester, and other roads went
   into north Wales and central Wales, these are not generally considered
   to be part of Watling Street. Thus the Roman routes which comprise
   Watling Street are all of Inter III and the middle southern section of
   Inter II.

Main section

   Roman Britain, with the route of Watling Street in red
   Enlarge
   Roman Britain, with the route of Watling Street in red

   The main section of the road is that from Dover to Wroxeter. It was
   named Wæcelinga Stræt by the Anglo-Saxons, literally "the street of the
   people of Wæcel". Wæcel could possibly be a variation of the
   Anglo-Saxon word for 'foreigner' which was applied to the Celtic people
   inhabiting what is now Wales. This source also gave us the name for
   Wæclingacaester (the Anglo-Saxon name for Verulamium) and it seems
   likely that the road-name was originally applied first to the section
   between that town and London before being applied to the entire road.

Subsidiary routes

   Stone Street ran south for some 12 miles from Watling Street at
   Canterbury (the Roman Durovernum) to Lympne (Lemanis) at the western
   edge of the Romney Marsh. Most of it is now the current B2068 road that
   runs from the M20 motorway to Canterbury.

   Another Stone Street from Magnae ( Kenchester) to Caerleon.

Battle of Watling Street

   Part of the route was the site of the Roman victory at the Battle of
   Watling Street in 61 AD between the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius
   Paulinus and the Briton leader Boudica.

Danelaw

   In the 9th century, Watling Street was used as the demarcation line
   between the Anglo-Saxon and Danish-ruled parts of England. The Treaty
   of Wedmore required the defeated Danes to withdraw to an area north and
   east of Watling Street, thus establishing the Danelaw.

Pilgrims Way

   Like most of the Roman road network, the Roman paving fell into
   disrepair when the Romans left Britain, although the route continued to
   be used for centuries afterwards. It is likely that Chaucer's pilgrims
   used Watling Street to travel from Southwark to Canterbury in his
   Canterbury Tales.

Turnpike

   The road north of London became a Turnpike when in 1706 the section
   from Hockliffe to Dunchurch was paved. The road was re-paved in the
   early 19th century by Thomas Telford who brought it back into use as a
   turnpike road for use by mail coaches bringing mail to and from
   Ireland, his road being extended to the port of Holyhead on the Isle of
   Anglesey in Wales. At this time the section south of London became
   known as the Great Dover Road. The toll system ended in 1875.

Modern Road

   Most of the road is still in use today apart from a few sections where
   it has been diverted. The stretch of the road between London and Dover
   is today known as the A2, and the stretch between London and Shrewsbury
   is today known as the A5 (which now continues to Holyhead). Through
   Milton Keynes, the A5 is diverted onto a new dual-carriageway and
   Watling Street forms part of the new town's grid system and carries the
   additional designation V4. The name of the town of Wellington,
   Shropshire, which lies just east of Shrewsbury, is believed to be a
   corruption of the word 'Watling town' as Watling Street supposedly ran
   straight through the centre of Wellington.

Continued use of the name along the ancient road

   The use of the street name is retained along the ancient road in many
   places: for instance, to the south east of London in Kent (including
   the towns of Canterbury, Gillingham, Rochester, Gravesend, Dartford,
   and Bexleyheath). Similarly, north of London the name Watling Street
   still occurs in many places, for example in Hertfordshire (including St
   Albans), Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire (including Milton Keynes),
   Northamptonshire (including Towcester), Leicestershire, Warwickshire
   (including Nuneaton), Staffordshire (including Cannock, Wall and
   Lichfield), Shropshire and Gwynedd.

Other Watling Streets

   A Watling Street still exists in the City of London, close to Mansion
   House underground station, though this is unlikely to be on the route
   of the original Roman road which traversed the River Thames via the
   first London Bridge. In Lancashire, Watling Street is the Roman Road
   through Affetside which leads from Manchester to Ribchester.

   The Roman Road from Catterick (Cataractonium) to Corbridge
   (Corstopitum) and onto the Antonine Wall also came to be known as
   Watling Street, with perhaps a similar Anglo-Saxon etymology owing to
   its path into the foreign land of Scotland. This route is also known as
   Dere Street.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watling_Street"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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