The Watling Street reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Watling Street

Watling Street was a Roman road which went from Dover on the southeast coast of England to the port town of Holyhead on the Irish Sea coast of Wales via London, Verulamium and the English Midlands. The road was an important part of the road network that the Romans constructed during their occupation of Britain. It was named Wæcelinga Stræt by the Anglo-Saxons during the Dark Ages, literally "the street of the people of Wæcel". It is not known who Wæcel was, but he also gave his name to Wæclingacaester (Verulamium) and it seems likely that the road-name was originally applied first to the section between that town and London before being applied to the entire road.

Like most of the Roman road network, Watling Street north of London fell into disrepair when the Romans left Britain. It was brought back into use in the early 19th century by Thomas Telford as a tollpike road for use by mail coaches bringing mail to and from Ireland. It is likely that Chaucer's pilgrims used Watling Street to travel from Southwark to Canterbury in his Canterbury Tales.

Most of the road is still in use today apart from a few sections where it has been diverted. The stretch of the road between London and Dover is today known as the A2, and the stretch between London and Holyhead is today known as the A5, although some of the original route near London has become part of the M1 motorway.

A Watling Street still exists in the City of London, close to Mansion House tube station, though this is unlikely to be on the route of the original Roman road which traversed the River Thames via the first London Bridge. Nuneaton, Dartford, Gravesend, Rochester, Gillingham, Canterbury and St Albans have Watling Street still under its own name.

See also

• Roman Britain
• Roman roads in Britain

External links

• Roman Roads in Britain by Thomas Codrington, published in 1903.
• Roman Roads in Britain: section on Watling Street by Thomas Codrington, published in 1903.
• Roman Roads in Britain: section on Watling Street, continued by Thomas Codrington, published in 1903.

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