Romano-British road names

There are no records of names used by the Romano-British for their roads, if they used names at all. The few surviving Roman maps and documents, such as the Antonine Itinerary only distinguish roads by the towns which they served. Many Roman roads in England were re-named by the Anglo-Saxons, although many more fell out of use and largely disappeared, now seen only in lines of trees, crop marks or parish boundaries. These lost roads are now identified by numbers, some with added letters, given to them by I D Margary.Margary Ivan D. (1973) Roman Roads in Britain 3rd Edition John Baker, London ISBN 0-212-97001-1

Roads ending in 'gate'

Roman roads used by the Saxons and hence re-named, in Old English, with the suffix 'geat' or 'gate' (for example, Batham Gate).

Roads ending in 'street'

In the Anglo-Saxon era, stræt (hence the modern word "street") simply meant a paved road (Latin: "via strata") as opposed to a native dirt track, and did not have the modern association with populated areas. It was therefore appended to many old Roman roads that remained in use in the Saxon and subsequent eras. The word stone or stane also occurs frequently so that there are two Stane Streets and two Stone Streets. There is also a Street Lane in Leeds.

Roads ending in 'way'

Roads starting with ‘dyke’

See also

Roman roads in Britain which lists Roman roads with Saxon names.

References

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