Details

The monument includes an 1100m section of Roman road, running approximately
east-west and forming the northern boundary of Upper and Lower Noad's Copse to
the east of Lower Buckholt Farm. The road is that which runs from Venta
Belgarum (Winchester) in the east, to Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) to the west.
For the majority of its course within this scheduling the Roman road is marked
by a raised agger (embanked road), up to 8m wide which rises to a maximum
height of 1.2m above the surrounding ground level. The surface of the agger is
very compact and, in places, gravel road surfacing is exposed. In other places
the make up of the agger has been disturbed by small scale quarrying. Within
the monument, approximately 300m from its western end, the road varies from
this profile in a 40m long section which crosses the base of a shallow coombe.
Here a hollow c.3m wide is flanked by low banks 0.8m high. Further east from
this point, where the road runs along the side of a slope, the road line is
defined by a wide hollow flanked on its northern side by a sharply profiled
bank 3m wide and 0.4m high.

The road has been utilised as a boundary in the post Roman period. Its line
forms the boundary not only of the woodland but between the parishes of West
Tytherley and Nether Wallop. The bank, which in places lies to the north of
the agger, may represent augmentation during the medieval period.

The western end of this section of road has been truncated by the construction
of a house and garden and the scheduling does not include the surviving
heavily disturbed fragments of agger which form the front boundary of this
property. At the eastern end the agger disappears shortly before its line is
truncated by a modern road running north-south.

Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts although the ground beneath
these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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 the Venta Belgarum to Sorviodunum Roman road which lies
adjacent to Upper and Lower Noad's Copse is a well preserved example of its
class. Elsewhere many of the physical remains of this important routeway have
been removed. Surviving sections form important visual elements in the
landscape. The road will, in addition, contain archaeological deposits
providing information about its construction, contemporary and subsequent use
and associated environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Margary, I D, Roman Roads in Britain, (1973), 100-101

Source: Historic England