Monument record MDO20574 - Black Wood Bottom: trackways

Portion of alleged Roman road shown on OS 6" 1902 between SY 74519262 and SY 74759270 is quite out of alignment from the rest of the certain Roman road (RR4e), for no obvious reason, and must therefore be suspect. <2>

Visible as two cuttings crossing the hill which are probably tracks, later than RR4e. <3>

The direct route of the Roman road over Castle Hill would have entailed a gradient of about 1 in 3 on the east side and there is no reason why the road should not have deviated round the hill. The southernmost bank of this trackway complex resembles an agger in places, particularly at SY 74729271 and SY 74589267, where it is 9.5m. wide. At SY 74479259 a distinct 'step' in the modern road is on the alignment of this possible deviation.

No traces of a direct route over Castle Hill could be found. Re-surveyed from SY 74549264 to SY 74749271 at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <4>

Two linear ditches are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. One follows the line of a trackway marked on the OS 1st edition map. Both features are considered likely to be trackways of medieval or later origin. <5>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 74519262 - 74759270) Roman Road (R) (Track of)

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, RCHME Ms file (Unpublished document). SDO19490.

<3> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 03-DEC-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 12-NOV-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> 25-APR-1968, NMR OS/68078/011-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10758.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455065 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 9 2023 10:23AM