The Roman Roads of Ribchester
Introduction
by Colin Hinkley, 2007
This project began in the summer of 2006 when I volunteered to present a talk on local Roman roads to the History Society. I knew there must have been roads running to and from the fort and I wondered where the roads were and if there was anything left of them. I wanted to find out what evidence remained and, if possible, to walk the routes.
Over the next 9 months I tramped around the fields and byways surrounding Ribchester, peering into streams and over hedges, as I embarked on a fascinating, puzzling, sometimes frustrating, often confusing search for the Roman roads of Ribchester. What follows is my account of what I discovered.
If you know of anything that I have missed, or if you think I have got something wrong, please let me know. You can contact me at colin@ribchesterhistory.org
Who Built the Roads and When?
The Roman invasion of Britain was in 43 CE. For the first few decades the Romans were occupied in the south and east of the country but by 70 CE they were campaigning in the north-west. There had been some exploratory campaigns previously, but Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was later to become governor of Britain, led the first major attempt to consolidate and pacify the region. It was during this time that a fort was built at Ribchester and the roads would also have been built around this time. The Roman method of conquest was to divide up the native tribes by building a series of forts, linked by roads. Thus, the roads and the forts were mutually interdependent: the roads supplied the forts and allowed for the swift deployment of troops, and the forts protected the roads.