![Tilburstow Hill Road, Godstone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Tilburstow_Hill_Road%2C_Godstone.jpg)
The London to Brighton Way, also called the London to Portslade Way, is a
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
between
Stane Street at
Kennington Park
Kennington Park is a public park in Kennington, south London and lies between Kennington Park Road and St. Agnes Place. It was opened in 1854 on the site of what had been Kennington Common, where the Chartists gathered for their biggest "mons ...
and
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
(or more specifically
Portslade
Portslade is a western suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century. The arrival of the railway from Brighton in 1840 encouraged rapid de ...
) in Sussex. The road passes through
Streatham
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey ...
and
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, then through the
Caterham
Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...
Valley gap in the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
. It passes through
Godstone
Godstone is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Surrey, England, east of Reigate at the junction of the A22 road, A22 and A25 road, A25 roads, near the M25 motorway and the North Downs. Godstone railway station is separate ...
and
Felbridge __NOTOC__
Felbridge is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey with a playing field within its focal area, narrowly in West Sussex. Felbridge village forms a contiguous settlement with East Grinstead and had 829 homes and ...
, then follows an almost straight line through
Ardingly
Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chiche ...
,
Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...
,
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
and
Hassocks
Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields.
Located approximately north of Brighton, with a populatio ...
to the
South Downs
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...
at
Clayton. At Hassocks it crosses the
Sussex Greensand Way
The Sussex Greensand Way is a Roman road that runs east-west linking the London to Lewes Way at Barcombe Mills to Stane Street at Hardham. The road, which has almost entirely fallen out of use, follows the free draining ridge of greensand which ...
at a large Roman cemetery. It climbs the South Downs
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
, crossing the ridgeway and connecting with other local tracks.
South of
Pyecombe
Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The name 'Pyecombe' may derive from the Saxons, Saxon "pic" meaning point or pike, in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill".
Pyeco ...
the route is uncertain, and may have continued to Brighton or to Portslade.
The road passed through some of the strategically important iron-producing areas of the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
and was partly constructed from iron
slag
Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous (by-products of processing iron and steel), ferroalloy (by-product of ferroalloy production) or non-ferrous/base metals (by-prod ...
in those areas, although to a lesser extent than the
London to Lewes Way
The London to Lewes Way is a long Roman road between Watling Street at Peckham and Lewes in Sussex. The road passes through Beckenham and West Wickham, then crosses the North Downs above Titsey, on the county boundary between Surrey and Kent ...
.
[Cleere, Henry Roman Sussex–The Weald Figure 32 and p.61]
Retrieved 2009-05-08
Discovery of the road
A number of Anglo-Saxon
place names
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
are clues to the road's existence; Streatham in London, and near Godstone, Stanstreet (now renamed Stanstead) and Stratton are indicative of a paved road already in existence when the settlements were founded. There was some traditional memory of a Roman road at Caterham, Croydon and Ardingly. In 1779 a schoolmaster from
Lindfield, Stephen Vine, witnessed
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
being taken from an ancient road to build a
turnpike road. He published a report on the line from Clayton to north of Burgess Hill in ''
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
'' in 1781. In 1818 Reverend
James Douglas looked at these findings and surmised that this was part of a road to a port in the Portslade area. This led to the surmised route being named the London to Portslade Way.
Ivan Margary
Ivan Donald Margary, (1896–1976) was a British historian who, during his lifetime, became the leading authority on Roman roads in Great Britain. He wrote numerous works on Roman roads of which his most influential and complete was ''Roman R ...
believed Brighton
Old Steine
The Old Steine () is a thoroughfare in central Brighton, East Sussex, and is the southern terminus of the A23. The southern end leads to Marine Parade, the Brighton seafront and the Palace Pier. The Old Steine is also the site of a number of Ci ...
, allowing for coastal erosion since Roman times, to have been more suitable as the destination port and called it the London to Brighton Way.
Work in the mid 20th century established the route from London to Hassocks, but south of this there was still uncertainty. A paper published in 1999 by Glen Shields on the topography of the Hassocks and Clayton area concludes that the road took a more westerly route over Clayton Hill than proposed by Margary, and that a traceable route to Portslade would have been more practical and more in keeping with Roman practice elsewhere than going along the valley bottom to Brighton.
[Shields 1999.]
Design and construction
Margary concluded that four main alignments were used for the road as far as the South Downs, with local diversions from them to ease gradients and avoid wet ground. From London these were (1) Streatham to Croydon, (2) Godstone Hill to Blindley Heath, (3) Rowlands Farm, Lingfield, to Hophurst Farm, Felbridge, (4) Selsfield Common to Clayton Hill.
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
and
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
were used through the North Downs and from Burgess Hill to the
South Downs
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...
, with
slag
Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous (by-products of processing iron and steel), ferroalloy (by-product of ferroalloy production) or non-ferrous/base metals (by-prod ...
from the
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Iron ...
used extensively for the middle sections, sometimes mixed with
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
and sometimes as a solid mass. In other parts of the Weald local sandstone alone was used.
[
]
Margary number
Ivan Margary gave the road the Margary number
Margary numbers are the numbering scheme developed by the historian Ivan Margary to catalogue known and suspected Roman roads in Britain in his 1955 work ''The Roman Roads of Britain''. They remain the standard system used by archaeologists and h ...
150 in his identification system.
Route
Kennington to Croydon
The road branched from Stane Street at or near Kennington Park
Kennington Park is a public park in Kennington, south London and lies between Kennington Park Road and St. Agnes Place. It was opened in 1854 on the site of what had been Kennington Common, where the Chartists gathered for their biggest "mons ...
and has become the line of the modern A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex, England. It is managed by Transport for London for the section inside the Greater London boundary, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council ...
for several miles through south London, followed by Brixton Road
Brixton Road is a road in the London Borough of Lambeth (south London, England), leading from the Oval at Kennington to Brixton, where it forms the high street and then forks into Effra Road and Brixton Hill at St Matthew's church at the junction ...
, Brixton Hill
Brixton Hill is the name given to a section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England.
Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road (A23). The road follows the line of a ...
, Streatham Hill
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey b ...
, Streatham High Road
Streatham High Road, some 1.8 miles (2.9 km) in length, is part of the main A23 road from London to Brighton, and is in the London Borough of Lambeth. It begins in the north at Streatham Hill railway station, being an end-on junction with ...
and London Road, Streatham, then the A235 road
List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the ...
on London Road nearer to Croydon. Streatham takes its name from the Roman road and Brixton Hill was formerly named Brixton Causeway, causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
being a term often used for old Roman roads. At Hepworth Road at Norbury
Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross.
Etymology
The name Norbury derives from ''North Burh'', (North Borough). Some local histories note tha ...
, where the modern road wanders from the Roman line, the intact road, 32 feet wide, was excavated in 1961 and remnants of a metalled ford across the stream were found further south at Hermitage Bridge on the River Graveney
Norbury Brook is a tributary of the River Wandle, that rises near Lower Addiscombe Road and flows north-west through Selhurst, Thornton Heath and Norbury to join the Wandle at south Wimbledon.
A short stretch of this is visible in South Nor ...
.
Croydon
The line of the road through what is now the heavily built-up town of Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
is debated. There are two main possibilities: that it followed the line of the modern (late-medieval/post-medieval) high road (London Road – North End – High Street – South End – Brighton Road); or that it followed a more westerly course through Old Town.
Margary argued for the Old Town route, stating that south of Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...
, at Broad Green Avenue, a slight alignment change took the Roman road west of London Road along Handcroft Road, part of Gardeners Road and Pitlake. Before the area was built over Owen Manning
Owen Manning (1721–1801) was an English clergyman and antiquarian, known as a historian of Surrey.
Life
Son of Owen Manning of Orlingbury, Northamptonshire, he was born there on 11 August 1721, and received his education at Queens' College, Cam ...
and William Bray noted this route in their ''History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey'' (1814), saying that the line "took its course by Old Croydon and the West side of Broad Green where it is still visible". Further possible support to the theory is given by a title deed
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of the late 1280s, by which a piece of property, described as lying on the east side of the king's highway in Old Town, was sold by one "Andrew ''de Calceto in Croyndon''", also named as "Andrew ate Causie", both forms of his name meaning "of/at the causeway", a term which implies a well constructed road. The modern A236 dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
, which bypasses Croydon to the west, is named Roman Way in acknowledgement of this theory. A little further south, the road may have followed the line of Duppas Hill Terrace and Violet Lane.
Against the Old Town theory is the fact that the area (lying in the headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of the River Wandle
The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...
) would have been extremely marshy, and that it would have been more logical for the Roman engineers to have followed the higher and dryer ground, and straighter alignment, of the easterly High Street route. This route would also have avoided a steep climb up to Riddlesdown
Riddlesdown is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, one mile east from the centre of its post town of Purley. The name applies to the residential district and to the green space maintained by the City of London Corporation which is also ...
. There has been considerably more archaeological evidence for Roman activity around the line of the High Street route than around that of the Old Town route, but no clear evidence for the road.
A compromise argument would see the road following the Old Town route as far as Duppas Hill
Duppas Hill (or Duppa's Hill) is a park, road and surrounding residential area in Waddon, near Croydon in Greater London (and historically in Surrey).
Duppas Hill has a long history of sport and recreation. It is said that jousting took place ...
, but then cutting across the Wandle valley to Riddlesdown.
Croydon to Godstone
South of Croydon the road passed through the Caterham Gap in the North Downs; this natural corridor has been heavily developed with modern roads and railways, along with suburban housing, obliterating much of the ancient road. The road can, however, be found east of Caterham
Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...
where the road curves around the west side of Tillingdown on a terraceway, marking the boundary between developed and undeveloped land. A distinct metalled ''agger'' was found at the northern end, while on the terrace it was 25 ft wide and well metalled with flint to a maximum depth of 12 in. As is often the case with Roman roads a parish boundary follows the line. The Roman line joins the lower part of Tillingdown Lane, then the B2030 road and A22 Caterham Bypass before becoming a lane east of the A22 as it approaches the M25 motorway
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...
where the intersection is on the Roman line.
Godstone to Felbridge
South of junction 6 of the M25 motorway the Roman road has remained in use as the B2235 through Godstone
Godstone is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Surrey, England, east of Reigate at the junction of the A22 road, A22 and A25 road, A25 roads, near the M25 motorway and the North Downs. Godstone railway station is separate ...
and then as Tilburstow Hill road, in a series of straight alignments adapted to the terrain. Roman burial urns were found beside the road at Tilburstow Hill Common. Between Tilburstow Hill and Blindley Heath Margary noted large hedgebanks set back on either side of the modern lane, indicating the overall width of the road, adapted as a medieval droveway. North of Blindley Heath
Godstone is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Surrey, England, east of Reigate at the junction of the A22 road, A22 and A25 road, A25 roads, near the M25 motorway and the North Downs. Godstone railway station is separate ...
the A22 road rejoins the Roman line through the village before the Roman road turns south east through Shawland's Wood, then across open fields to cross the B2028 road, south of which it is seen as a hedgeline and is a parish boundary. This modified alignment then crosses the Eden Brook
Eden may refer to:
*Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
Places and jurisdictions
Canada
* Eden, Ontario
* Eden High School
Middle East
* Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric
* Camp Eden, Iraq
Oce ...
and turns south-west onto the modified north section of a long and largely straight alignment to Clayton. This eastward shift of the alignment avoided wet low-lying ground.
Felbridge to Clayton
This longest alignment, at , follows a mostly straight course across the Weald, with minor diversions to avoid steep or wet ground. It was sighted between Selsfield Common and Clayton Hill. The line north of this to Green Wood was adjusted 11 degrees to the east to avoid wet ground. This alignment change occurs on the ridge near Hophurst Farm, on an ancient east–west track along the sandstone ridge. south of this the road crosses the Worth Way
The Worth Way is a footpath and bridleway linking the West Sussex towns of Crawley and East Grinstead via the village of Crawley Down. Mostly following the trackbed of a disused railway the path is an important wildlife corridor. It is part of ...
, then crosses the Sussex Border Path
The Sussex Border Path is a long-distance footpath around the borders of Sussex, a historic county and former medieval kingdom in southern England. The main path is long and stays close to Sussex's borders with Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, co ...
at Burleigh House Farm. It crosses the B2110 road east of Turners Hill
Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The civil parish covers an area of , and has a population of 1,849 (2001 census) increasing to 1,919 at the 2011 Census.
The village is located three ...
and goes over the high ground at Selsfield Common before crossing the B2028 road, then running parallel and to the west of it to Ardingly
Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chiche ...
. The road passes through the grounds of Wakehurst Place
Wakehurst, previously known as Wakehurst Place, is a house and botanic gardens in West Sussex, England, owned by the National Trust but used and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is near Ardingly, West Sussex in the High Weald (g ...
and the agricultural showground before deviating to the west of the alignment to cross the valley where it is now under Ardingly Reservoir
Ardingly Reservoir is west of Ardingly in West Sussex. The southern end is a Local Nature Reserve owned and managed by South East Water.
The reservoir feeds the River Ouse located in West Sussex, England north of Haywards Heath. The villages o ...
, regaining the line where it crosses a dismantled railway at River's Wood.
It goes through the western edge of Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...
and was found by Margary near Harlands Farm. Geophysical survey and trenching in 1998–9 to the SW of the town found evidence of a sandstone metalled road on a line consistent with Margary's proposed alignment of the Roman road, about 50m west of the route marked by the Ordnance Survey.[ Haywards Heath Historic Character Assessment Report p11 para.2.4.2. Retrieved 2009-05-08] Going through central Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
it passes the west side of the parish church, where its course is marked by brass plaques set into the modern road surface. Freek's Lane north of the town follows the Roman road for a distance south of Lowlands Farm and again briefly north of it.
Between Burgess Hill and Hassocks very little has been found. This is the section that Vine observed being stripped of its stone in 1779 to build a turnpike road. At the crossroads with the Sussex Greensand Way at Hassocks there is a large Roman cemetery in the south west corner.
Clayton to the coast
Various sections of apparently Roman road found around Hassocks have caused long-standing confusion about the course of the road over the South Downs escarpment. Building and upgrading of turnpike roads over Clayton Hill in the 18th and 19th centuries have left abandoned roads which have been mistaken for Roman work, and disturbance from the building of the railway cutting and the tunnel with its many air shafts have further confused the issue. More recent research by Glen Shields suggests that the road followed a more westerly route, now known as the Nore Track, which uses another pass on the west side of a small hill called the Nore. This track, now a bridleway, reaches the summit at , then gently descends to Pyecombe
Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The name 'Pyecombe' may derive from the Saxons, Saxon "pic" meaning point or pike, in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill".
Pyeco ...
as a broad and well-constructed terraceway along the west side of Wish Bottom. North of the village it is joined by the disused turnpike road which has crossed the valley from Clayton Hill; it then continues as the village street.[
The route from Pyecombe to the coast is not known. Margary concluded, without any evidence, that Brighton Old Steine might have been a better place for a port than Portslade, and that therefore the road would have gone down the valley to Brighton. This would have followed a valley bottom prone to seasonal flooding, which the Romans normally avoided, preferring to use higher ground. Steep side valleys, locally called ''coombes'', would have prevented building along the valley sides. Alternatively the route may have turned south west on the track which is now the ]South Downs Way
The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...
, heading towards the River Adur in the Portslade area.
See also
* Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
* Roman roads in Britain
Roman roads in Britannia were initially designed for military use, created by the Roman Army during the nearly four centuries (AD 43–410) that Britannia was a province of the Roman Empire.
It is estimated that about of paved trunk ro ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
A map of the known Roman road network in south east England using the Margary numbering system by Keith Briggs. (London to Clayton number 150)
{{coord, 51.14624, N, 0.04721, W, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:45000, display=title
Roman roads in England
Roads in London
Roads in Surrey
Roads in West Sussex