Stane Street
Stane Street is the modern name of the Roman road in southern England that linked Londinium to Noviomagus Reginorum. The exact date of construction is uncertain; however, on the basis of archaeological artefacts discovered along the route, it was in use by 70 AD and may have been built in the first decade of the Roman occupation of Britain.
Stane Street shows clearly the engineering principles that the Romans used when building roads. A straight-line alignment from London Bridge to Chichester would have required steep crossings of the North Downs, Greensand Ridge and South Downs. The road was therefore designed to exploit a natural gap in the North Downs cut by the River Mole and to pass to the east of the high ground of Leith Hill, before following flatter land in the River Arun valley to Pulborough. The direct survey line was followed only for the northernmost from London to Ewell. At no point does the road lie more than from the direct line from London Bridge to Chichester.
Today the Roman road is easily traceable on modern maps. Much of the route is followed by the A3, A24, A29 and A285, although most of the course through the modern county of Surrey has either been completely abandoned or is followed only by bridlepaths. Earthworks associated with the road are visible in many places where the course is not overlain by modern roads. Several parts of Stane Street are listed as scheduled monuments, including the well-preserved section from Mickleham Downs to Thirty Acres Barn, Ashtead.
Etymology
Stane is simply an old spelling of "stone" which was commonly used to differentiate paved Roman roads from muddy native trackways. The name of the road is first recorded as Stanstret in both the 1270 Feet of Fines and the 1279 Assizes Rolls of Ockley. Some historical sources refer to the road as 'Stone Street'. There is no surviving record of the road's original Roman name.Dating evidence
A number of first-century pottery fragments have been found along the road, including samian ware of Claudian date at Pulborough. The earliest coins found along the route are from the reigns of Claudius, Nero and Vespasian, consistent with the road being in use by 60 to 70 AD. Stane Street may in fact have been constructed during the first decade of Roman occupation, as early as 43–53 AD. Archaeological evidence from later periods includes coins from the reigns of Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Hadrian, Commodus, Severus Alexander, Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus and Constantine the Great.Surveying
The direct line from London Bridge to Chichester passes over the North Downs at Ranmore and the Greensand Ridge at Holmbury St Mary. The steep gradients that would have been required if the road had followed a direct line would not have been practical for wheeled traffic. The road was therefore designed to cross the North Downs by a natural breach cut by the River Mole and to pass to the east of the high ground of Leith Hill.The geology of the region was also considered and the road leaves the direct line at Ewell to move onto the well-drained chalk of the North Downs, in preference to remaining on the London Clay. The road is able to make a more gentle ascent of the South Downs escarpment at Bignor than was possible at East Lavington and the chosen route avoids the need to cross the steep-sided River Lavant valley at East Dean.
No evidence survives as to how the course of the road was surveyed.
Design and construction
For much of its length, Stane Street consisted of a central agger, with parallel ditches either side. A variety of local materials was used to build the road, sometimes supplemented with stone brought from elsewhere. The agger was often constructed of alternating layers of sand and gravel paved with large flint nodules, or sandstone, surfaced with smaller flint or sand and gravel. The metalling was generally about thick at the centre and had a pronounced camber.Around Merton Priory, the surface consisted of sub-rounded flints and gravel embedded in sand and silt. Close to Tyrell's Wood and Mickleham Downs, Stane Street consisted of water-washed pebbles laid directly onto the chalk, which are thought to have given this section its local name, 'Pebble Lane'. Near to the Alfoldean station the metalling was constructed from iron slag in a solid mass, topped with a double layer of sandstone slats.
Although the actual width of the metalling varies from place to place, the average width of the paved road is, or 25 Roman pedes. This is wider than the average or 22 pedes for Roman roads in Britain.
The distance between the outer ditches also varies and was found to be at Merton Priory and at Westhampnett.
Posting stations
Posting stations or mansiones were provided at regular intervals along Roman roads, so that official messengers could change horses and travellers could rest. Typically, they were rectangular fortified sites of about. Mansiones have been identified on Stane Street at Alfoldean and Hardham, each of which was close to a crossing point of the River Arun.The Alfoldean mansio, which is partly covered by the A29 road, was investigated in 2006 by the Channel 4 archaeological television programme Time Team. Excavations revealed the remains of a two-storey mansio built around a courtyard and also many other buildings. The site was enclosed by massive ramparts and ditches wide and as deep, which were dated by pottery finds to around 90 AD. The ditches were filled in by the mid-third century. The team's view was that the site had been an administrative and taxation centre for the Wealden iron industry.
A geophysical survey of the Hardham mansio was carried out in 1997, which revealed that the station was roughly square with a total area of. Much of the western side was destroyed by the construction of the Pulborough to Midhurst railway, but evidence of the north and south gateways, as well as traces of the outer ditches, remain. Cremation burials dating from the late Iron Age and early Romano-British periods have been found both inside and just outside of the enclosure, however, their relationship to the rest of the mansio is unclear. The Hardham station is thought to have become disused by the end of the second century AD.
Given its length, Stane Street would be expected to have had two further mansiones. Stations at Merton Priory and Dorking are considered most likely, based on the distances between them, though the remains would now be hidden under modern development. Alternative sites for the posting stations have also been suggested at Ewell, the Burford Bridge and Pixham.
Route
London Bridge to Ewell
The northernmost section of Stane Street, from London Bridge to Ewell, is the only part of the road which lies on the direct alignment to the east gate of Chichester,. From the start of the route on the south bank of the River Thames, the course is followed by the A3 as far as the northeast corner of Clapham Common and from there by the A24 as far as Ewell.The site of the Roman London Bridge, at the northern end of Stane Street, is approximately east of the modern bridge. From there the route heads southwestwards, but between and Elephant & Castle tube stations, it deviates from the direct line to Chichester to run along Newington Causeway, most likely to avoid marshy ground to the east. It then continues southwestwards as Kennington Park Road and Clapham Road. The course of the road around Clapham Common is unclear and it may have remained on the direct alignment or followed a similar route to the A24 along the south side of the Common, which would have allowed it to remain on higher ground.
Stane Street crossed the River Wandle close to the site of Merton Priory. The course of the river has changed since Roman times and the original crossing point was close to the site of Colliers Wood tube station. Excavations carried out between 1997 and 1999 showed that the road was approximately wide and the surface consisted primarily of pebbles compacted into silt and the natural gravel below. Two metal brooches, likely to have been worn by high-status individuals, were among the archaeological artefacts uncovered.
A rare example of a Roman barrow, a circular mound roughly in diameter and high, survives in Morden Park approximately west of the road. From Morden, Stane Street passes through Sutton Common and forms the northern boundary of Sutton. The name 'Sutton' is derived from Old English sūth and tūn, meaning "the south enclosure", which may relate to its position in relation to the road. Stane Street runs along the western boundary of Nonsuch Park as it enters Surrey to the northeast of Ewell.
Ewell to the Burford Bridge
From the first to the fourth centuries AD, Ewell was a large Romano-British town. Stane Street approaches from the northeast, leaving the silty clays of the Reading Beds and moving briefly onto the better-draining Thanet Sands. Close to the present Church Street, the road makes a 23° turn to the south, to allow it to reach the Upper Chalk of the North Downs more quickly. It has been suggested that the road bends somewhat more sharply than was strictly necessary, possibly to avoid the Hogsmill Spring, which may have held religious significance for the local British tribes. A second change in alignment occurs where the Epsom to Sutton railway line cuts across the road.The section from Thirty Acres Barn, Ashtead to Mickleham Downs is well preserved and is listed as a scheduled monument. A 2020 Lidar survey revealed that Stane Street was built across an earlier field system, although it is unclear whether the area was under active cultivation at the time of construction. The considerable evidence of both Bronze Age and Iron Age activity on Mickleham Downs suggests that a pre-existing early trackway was adapted and straightened by the Romans, to create this part of Stane Street.
The confirmed route reaches the southwestern corner of Mickleham Downs close to Juniper Hall Field Centre, but from there south, the course is more uncertain. Stane Street is thought to have taken the same route as the modern B2209, the surface of which has been worn down over centuries of use to produce the sunken lane visible today. The footpath on the western side of the modern road may indicate the extent to which the original Roman road surface has been eroded.
Stane Street crossed the River Mole via a ford close to the site of the modern Burford Bridge. Excavations carried out in 1937 revealed a "flint-surfaced approach to ford at low level having all the signs of Roman workmanship".