Pennocrucium was a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

settlement and military complex located at present day Water Eaton, just south of

Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock and east of Telford. The nearby town of Brewood is also not far awa ...

, Staffordshire, with evidence of occupation from the mid-1st century until the 4th century. The settlement was mentioned in the 2nd century Antonine Itinerary, which described it as lying 12 miles from

Uxacona Uxacona was a Romano-British settlement located at Redhill near present-day Telford, Shropshire. The settlement lies at the highest point of the Roman Watling Street, approximately 11 Roman miles from Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter) to the we ...

(near present-day

Oakengates Oakengates is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census. Etymology The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the ...

) and 12 miles from

Letocetum Letocetum is the ancient remains of a Roman settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street, the Roman military road to north Wales, and Icknield (or Ryknild) Street (now the A38). ...

(

Wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the sup ...

, near

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

). The exact site of Pennocrucium was identified only after aerial photography revealed cropmarks in 1946, and excavations were conducted by Kenneth St Joseph over subsequent years. Pennocrucium was an important road junction on

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

– the main Roman road across the Midlands to

Viroconium Cornoviorum Viroconium or Uriconium, formally Viroconium Cornoviorum, was a Roman city, one corner of which is now occupied by Wroxeter, a small village in Shropshire, England, about east-south-east of Shrewsbury. At its peak, Viroconium is estimated t ...

(

Wroxeter Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England, which forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. '' Viroconium Cornoviorum'', the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, was site ...

) – and was situated 700 metres east of its crossing of the

River Penk The River Penk is a small river flowing through Staffordshire, England. Its course is mainly within South Staffordshire, and it drains most of the northern part of that district, together with some adjoining areas of Cannock Chase, Stafford, Wo ...

, with roads leading north to

Mediolanum Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and ...

( Whitchurch) and south in the direction of

Greensforge Greensforge is a scattered hamlet on the boundary of Kinver and Swindon parishes, in South Staffordshire, England. It is noted for its Roman associations and its industrial heritage. Etymology The hamlet takes its name from a finery forge estab ...

near

Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the ...

and

Metchley Fort Metchley Fort was a Roman fort in what is now Birmingham, England. It lies on the course of a Roman road, Icknield Street, which is now the site of the present Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston. The fort was ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. The main civilian defensive site or ''burgi'' was a rectangular enclosure approximately from north to south and from east to west, lying astride Watling Street and surrounded by three ditches. There may have been a civilian ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'' around the defended settlement, possibly forming a ribbon development along Watling Street. to the north east of the civilian settlement lay a large double-ditched enclosure identified as a possible

Vexillation A ''vexillatio'' (plural ''vexillationes'') was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Roman army of the Principate. It was named from the standard carried by legionary detachments, the ''vexillum'' (plural ...

fortress, with two smaller forts lying south east of the settlement and north of Watling Street on the opposite bank of the Penk. Five single-ditched enclosures in the vicinity have been identified as temporary marching camps.

References

{{reflist History of Staffordshire Roman towns and cities in England Former populated places in Staffordshire Penkridge