Editing Ermine Street

{{Short description|Roman road from London to York, England}}
{{Distinguish|Ermin Street}}
{{Redirect|Old North Road|the railway station|Old North Road railway station}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}

{{Infobox road
|route=Ermine Street
|alternate_name=Old North Road • Roman Road
|country=GBR
|type=Roman
|marker_image=
|map=Ermine Street.JPG|map_alt=Map showing Ermine Street|map_notes=Route of Ermine Street
|length_mi= 193
|margary= 2
|time_period= [[Roman Britain]]
|terminus_a=[[Londinium]] (London)
|junction= [[Durovigutum]], [[Durobrivae (Water Newton)|Durobrivae]], Causennae, [[Lindum Colonia|Lindum]], [[Petuaria]]
|terminus_b=[[Eboracum]] (York)
}}
[[File:Newport Arch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The Roman [[Newport Arch]] in Lincoln]]
'''Ermine Street''' is a major [[Roman road]] in England that ran from [[London]] (''[[Londinium]]'') to [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] (''[[Lindum Colonia]]'') and [[York]] (''[[Eboracum]]'').  The [[Old English language|Old English]] name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', who inhabited a district later known as ''Armingford Hundred'', around [[Arrington, Cambridgeshire]], and [[Royston, Hertfordshire]].<ref>{{cite book |first=P. H. |last=Blair |title=An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2003 |page=256}}</ref> "Armingford", and "Arrington" share the same Old English origin. The original [[Common Brittonic|Celtic]] and [[Latin language|Roman]] names for the route remain unknown. It is also known as the '''Old North Road''' from London to where it joins the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] [[Great North Road (United Kingdom)|Great North Road]] near [[Godmanchester]].

==Course==
Ermine Street begins at [[Bishopsgate]], where one of the seven gates in the wall surrounding [[Roman London]] was located. From here it runs north up [[Norton Folgate]], [[Shoreditch High Street]] and [[Kingsland Road]] through [[Stoke Newington]] (forming Stoke Newington Road and Stoke Newington High Street), [[Tottenham]], [[Edmonton, London|Edmonton]] and eastern [[Enfield, London|Enfield]] (Ponders End, Enfield Highway, Enfield Wash and Freezywater) to [[Royston, Hertfordshire|Royston]]. This section of Ermine Street from [[London]] to Royston is now largely part of the [[A10 road (Great Britain)|A10]]. At this point it crosses the [[Icknield Way]].  From Royston, it was formerly the [[A14 road (Great Britain)|A14]] to the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] but now it is the [[A1198 road|A1198]] to [[Godmanchester]] (''Durovigutum''). Ignoring bypasses and modern diversions, the road through [[Huntingdon]] to the Alconbury junction on the A1 gives the line. The section from [[Alconbury]] to [[Water Newton]], ignoring modern bypasses such as that at [[Stilton]], follows the A1. Ermine street used to pass through ''[[Durobrivae (Water Newton)|Durobrivae]]'', the slight remains of which can be seen to the east, alongside the A1 at Peterborough. The modern road returns to Ermine Street north-west of [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], near [[Great Casterton]], through which Ermine Street ran.

The post-Roman road wandered off for {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} through [[Colsterworth]], but Ermine Street continues as the B6403, through [[Ancaster, Lincolnshire|Ancaster]] to the [[A17 road (Great Britain)|A17]]. It then continues as a public [[Rights of way in England and Wales|right of way]], easily walked, until [[RAF Waddington|Waddington airfield]] blocks it at {{Gbmaprim|SK981626|SK981626}}. The route from Colsterworth, through Ancaster, to Bracebridge Heath is known as [[High Dyke, Lincolnshire|High Dike]]. It runs roughly parallel with and to the east of the A607 between [[Carlton Scroop]] and [[Harmston]]. High Dike takes to the level, open, dry country of the [[Lincolnshire]] Heath while the A607 wanders through the villages on the [[spring line]] below.  From the [[Antonine Itinerary]] there is known to have been a Roman Settlement on the road in South Lincolnshire, called  ''[[Causennae]]'' which has been variously identified with [[Ancaster Roman Town]] or [[Little Ponton and Stroxton|Saltersford, south of Grantham]].<ref name=PS1>{{cite PastScape|mnumber=325760|access-date=15 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Whitewell|first=J.B.|title=Roman Lincolnshire|publisher=Lincolnshire local history society|pages=64, 65|year=1970|series=History of Lincolnshire|volume=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Ivan D. |last=Margary |title=Roman Roads in Britain |publisher=John Baker |location=London |year=1967}}</ref>

Another long section remains, now the [[A15 road (Great Britain)|A15]], running north out of Lincoln, past [[RAF Scampton]] and [[Caenby]] Corner, past [[Kirton in Lindsey]] at grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|SE9698}}, and continuing almost to the [[Humber]] at [[Winteringham]]. Before the diversion was made round the extended runway at Scampton, with a very slight diversion at [[Broughton, Lincolnshire|Broughton]], it was possible to travel about {{convert|33|mi|km|abbr=off}}, from the [[Newport Arch]], the Roman north gate at Lincoln, to the [[Parish]] of Winteringham along a road so slightly curved as to be regarded as straight.

Roman Winteringham was the terminal for the ferry to ''[[Petuaria]]'' ([[Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire|Brough]]) on the north shore of the Humber. From there, the road curved westwards to York.

This landing place on the south shore of the Humber is significant because Winteringham translates as "the homestead of Winta's people". Apart from [[Woden]], the god, the first leader on [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey's list of kings]] is Winta. Clearly, the end of the [[Jurassic]] [[limestone]] ridge at the Humber was significant in the English settlement of Lincolnshire. [[Winterton, Lincolnshire|Winterton]] is a little further inland. Ermine Street and the [[River Trent]] together were evidently an important early route of entry into early post-Roman Britain.

==Alternative courses==

The author Thomas Codrington proposed a more westerly route for "Erming" Street north of London, going via what is now [[Theobalds Park]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Codrington |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/Topics/Engineering/roads/Britain/_Texts/CODROM/4*.html |title=Roman Roads in Britain |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |location=London |date=1903}}</ref> This route is marked on many maps.

The [[Roman roads in Britain|Roman Map of Britain]] above shows a sector of Ermine Street for which there was an alternative route. As Ermine Street extended north out of Lincoln and past [[Scampton]] an alternative course of Ermine Street curved left and formed a semicircle on a wide heading west of the [[Humber Estuary]]. The straight northerly route, traced in red on the map, between [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] and [[York]] was the shorter, but was not passable over the Humber Estuary during adverse weather conditions. Thus an alternative route was established (see also [[Roman roads in Britain]]). This 'alternative' route is detailed in the [[Antonine Itinerary]] and linked York (Eboracum), [[Castleford]] (Lagecium), [[Doncaster]] (Danum), [[Littleborough, Nottinghamshire|Littleborough]] (Agelocum) and Lincoln (Lindum). Beginning at the modern Lincolnshire Showground the portion of this route in Lincolnshire is known as [[A1500 road|Till Bridge Lane]], the modern A1500.<ref name=OS121>{{cite map |publisher=Ordnance survey of Great Britain |title=Lincoln & Newark-on-Trent |date=2 June 2011  |scale=1:50 000  |series=OS Landranger  |section=121 |edition=C3 |isbn=9780319229422}}</ref> The route in the Doncaster area, and again north of Castleford, is known as the [[Roman Ridge, South Yorkshire|Roman Ridge]] or [[Roman Ridge, South Yorkshire|Roman Rigg]].

A large section of this road formed for many later centuries the [[Great North Road (United Kingdom)|Great North Road]] between [[Nottinghamshire]] and [[West Yorkshire]].

==See also==
* [[Roman Britain]]
* [[Roman roads in Britain]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*I. D. Margary, ''Roman Roads in Britain'' (3rd ed. 1973)
*Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 maps. (1972 to 2001)
*Ordnance Survey, ''Map of Roman Britain'' (3rd edn. 1956)
*Soil Survey of England And Wales, ''Soils of England and Wales , Sheet 4'' (1983)
*XTC song ''Chalkhills and Children, from Oranges and Lemons'' (1989)

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Ermine Street}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111103147/http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/map_romans_roads_in_britain.htm |date=11 January 2008 |title=Map of Roman roads in Britain }} - very large map
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A26655573 'Ermine Street - A Journey through Roman Britain'] web page by the [[BBC]]

{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|53.15151|-0.53454|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SK981626)|display=title}}

[[Category:Roman roads in England]]
[[Category:Transport in the London Borough of Hackney]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:Transport in the City of London]]
[[Category:History of Lincoln, England]]
[[Category:History of York]]