Colliers End: Rigery Lane Roman Road

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 21 Sep 2014

The stand of trees beyond the field marks the route of the Rigery Lane Roman Road which joined with Ermine Street a mile or so north of Colliers End. This was once a secondary Roman Road, the like of which linked the settlements of the region. Unlike the major roads such as Watling Street and Ermine Street, which were built to allow the strategic movement of military forces soon after the Roman Conquest and maintained thereafter as a tool of the provincial government, these lesser routes are generally thought to have developed in the second and third centuries AD to serve the emerging pattern of urban and rural settlement. Such roads, sometimes formalising far older routes, are thought to have been the responsibility of local government, and their construction emphasises the importance that the territorial capital (in this case Verulamium) placed on providing effective links between town and country. Please see Martin's Image for a view inside the wood.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0