Details

The monument includes an 800m section of the Roman road from Winchester to Old
Sarum, between Buckholt Farm and eastwards to the Turnpike. The road is
included in the Antonine Itinerary, and this section may lie close to `Brige',
an intermediate station recorded as lying 11 miles from Winchester. Roman
surface finds suggest that the site of this station lies about 700m to the
east of the monument.

At the eastern end of this section of road the agger can be seen as a bank
4m wide and a maximum of 0.7m high, with an additional gravelly spread on its
southern side, extending west for 100m. To the west the road is visible for a
distance of approximately 700m as a gravelly soil mark, most marked after
cultivation. There are no signs of ditches flanking the agger. The line of the
road is continued to the east by a hedge line which incorporates a parish
boundary. The bank and ditch which mark this cannot be conclusively proved to
incorporate elements of the Roman road and are therefore not included in the
scheduling.

A field system, visible on aerial photographs, lying adjacent to the northern
side of the road near the eastern end of the monument cannot be verified on
the ground and is also not included in the scheduling. A section of the same
road 1.2km to the west forms the subject of a separate scheduling. All fence
posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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 Roman road immediately south east of Buckholt Farm, despite
being reduced in height by ploughing, will contain archaeological deposits
providing information relating to the Roman environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Margary, I D, Roman Roads in Britain, (1955), 92-93

Source: Historic England