Roman Ruts - The Roman History of Craven Arms - Shropshire History

Oh! Ruts! Roman Ruts! Craven Arms, Shropshire History

Who would have thought that Craven Arms was once an important place, which suffered from a lack of council road repairs just like today!

In Roman times it was.

It was on a Roman cross-roads.

It was a junction and stopover for marching legionaries, with at least one temporary fort or encampment, a temple, farms, houses, and at least one Roman villa.

It was a part of the nation-wide road system from the Midlands in the East to Wales in the West, where it was crossed by a Roman road known as an extension of Watling Street.

Watling Street which starts on the Kent Coast, was a major thoroughfare on the Roman road running all the way from Rome.

The Craven Arms section would take you from Wroxeter (9 miles east of Shrewsbury) in the north to South Wales in the south.

But, sometimes it is the discovery of little everyday details which make events of over 1,500 years ago seem so real.

And, for me it's the Craven Arms ruts!

With government cuts our big worry is potholes, but cartwheel ruts worn by metal wheel rimes, were the problem in those days.

Here on this slide are the ruts which were found near Ludlow in another excavation to the one for excavations for a Highways Department extension, just south of Craven Arms Business Park carried out in 2013. See end of video for attribution.

Excavation at Overton Road, Ludlow

Copyright Transactions of the Shropshire
Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol 91, 2016

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