York Historic Environment Record

NMR Information:

RR 2e Roman Road. Brough-on-Humber to York (29 miles).
The course of the road was found slightly to the west of the present village of Brough. Then the modern road marks it nearly all the way to South Newbald, being laid on a single alignment although it now appears to wind considerably. At South Cave the present road bends round Ryeland Hill over which the course of the road has been traced though not now visible. The straight lengths of road north and south of the village are somewhat raised but in general the road is not now an impressively straight one. Its course was evidently planned to keep clear of the steep escarpment of the Wolds.
Half a mile to the south of South Newbald the Roman road forked, the York road - RR2e bearing more north-westerly and showing as a line across the fields to near Shipton Thorpe, which in favourable conditions appears as a distinct band of metalling. At some points a slight agger appears as a low swelling in the ground and may be accompanied by a hedgerow.
Between Shipton and Thorpe le Street some quarrying has obliterated the course, and then the modern road takes it up again and continues in straight lengths through Hayton and Barmby Moor, nearly to Wilberfoss. The road is generally raised here, by 2-3 feet, and changes direction slightly at two points near Barmby so that it is finally running nearly west. At Barmby another road - RR 80a (LINEAR 281) forks to the north-west. Near Wilberfoss the modern road bears away and becomes very winding but the Roman road must have continued to the south of the village, perhaps along some straight lengths of hedgerow with parish boundaries which run for some distance in the direction of Kexby. After Kexby the road straightens again for two miles to near Dunnington, but the remainder of the road into York is winding and can only represent the course approximately. At Grimston it joins the RR 81a (LINEAR 270) from Stamford Bridge. (1)

Road 2, approaching York from the east and eventually Brough and from the east coast via Stamford Bridge, joins the city boundary along the Hull Road, west of Gallows Hole - SE 630 513. It is visible as a soil mark from SE 631 513 to SE 633 512. Within the city boundary its course lay mainly just north of the Hull Road, converging on the modern road in Lawrence Street. In 1954 the road was seen in a sewer trench, 6ft. below the surface, 300 ft. from Walmgate Bar on the north side of the street - SE 6117 5139. Nearer the Bar it was seen in 1915 at a depth of 5ft.
The road is usually considered to have turned northwards at or near Walmgate Bar and made directly for the south-east gate of the fortress. This may have been an earlier course but the road has not been found on this line. An alternative is that the road continued on the east-west alignment to a crossing of the Foss (behind the Castle Museum) then turned north-west to pass in front of the fortress to the south-west gate. In 1959 a cambered Roman road overlaying an earlier Roman building was found in Spurriergate (SE 603 517) on this alignment. No trace of an earlier road was found in the vicinity. (2)

The course of the road from the south-west gate of the fortress at York, to its junction with the city boundary at SE 6300 5128 is entirely covered by modern development. (3)

No trace on modern road or in arable fields between SE 828 450 and SE 870 400. (4)

An `agger' seen by M Faull is probably the feature which extends from SE 8372 4419 to SE 8365 4427 parallel to the boundary hedge. A further `agger-like' feature extends from SE 8330 448 and SE 8320 4460. Both can be discounted. (5)

See Linear Archive File for further details (6)

1a VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Kitson-Clark M. 1935. Roman Malton & District Report No 5. 32.
1b The gentleman's magazine library 483 1852 pt i
1 Roman roads in Britain 418-19 1973 Thomas Codrington
2 An inventory of the historical monuments in the City of York. Volume I: Eburacum: Roman York 1 1962 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England
3 Field Investigators Comments E C Waight/05-JUN-1963/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator
4 Field Investigators Comments B H Pritchard/01-SEP-1972/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator
5 Field Investigators Comments R W Elmsley/21-MAY-1974/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator
6 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Ordnance Survey Linear Archive File RR 2e in NMRC

SYO959 Excavation at 127 and 131 Lawrence St encountered a broad band of layered gravel and cobbles interpreted as the remains of Road 2 and later successors. The stratigraphically early layers of the road consisted of ordered cobbles within clean pea grit and sand, which were interpreted as those of Road 2, being over 7.5m wide with a postulated northern flanking ditch.
YAJ 1967 (SE 61615134) A small section of the Roman road from Eboracum to Petuaria has been exposed in the garden of 127 Lawrence Street, immediately north of the modern street. The south ditch must lie under the paveme The width exposed is 7 m from the north ditch. The road has at least three phases and is founded on heavy cobbles, packed and surfaced with smaller stones and gravel. No dating evidence was found.

In city centre, Road 2 likely line of Walmgate onto Lawrence St although RCHME also suggests a possible route from Castle area, across George St, north of Hope St towards Lawrence St.

RCHME, 1962, Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, Volume 1 Eboracum (Bibliographic reference). SYO62.

On-Site Archaeology, 2000, NCP Car Park, Queen St EVA (Unpublished document). SYO2204.

FAS, 2006, Laurens Manor Lawrence Street (Unpublished document). SYO959.