The fort by the bridges

Within a few years of the invasion the army had a fortress here. A walled town followed on Ermine Street, and its kilns sent pottery across Roman Britain.

c.AD 47Fort built at Longthorpe
20 haWalled core of Durobrivae
2nd–4th c.Nene Valley pottery industry
1975Water Newton Treasure found

Explore in 3D · Durobrivae

A walled town at the river crossing

Ermine Street runs through the walls and over the Nene, with kilns outside.

Drag to turn · a simplified model, not a survey

Longthorpe and the Ninth Legion

The Romans invaded in AD 43 and within about four years were building a large fort at Longthorpe, on what is now Thorpe Wood Golf Course. In AD 61 the Ninth Legion marched from here against Boudica’s revolt, and fell back to the fort after a heavy defeat.

Durobrivae

At Water Newton, about seven kilometres west, a town grew where Ermine Street crossed the Nene. Its name means fort by the bridges. Officially a small town, it had an unusually large walled core of around 20 hectares, with suburbs, an industrial belt of kilns and ironworks, and a large official building across the river at Castor. The Fen Causeway road ran east, over the buried Flag Fen timbers.

Pots and silver

From the 2nd to the 4th century the kilns made a fine tableware now called Nene Valley colour-coated ware. One mixing bowl carries its maker’s stamp: Sennianus fired this at Durobrivae. In February 1975 a plough near the town turned up the Water Newton Treasure, 27 silver items and a gold plaque, the earliest group of Christian church silver yet found in the Roman Empire.

Timeline

AD 43The Roman invasion of Britain begins.
c.AD 47A large fort is built at Longthorpe.
AD 61The Ninth Legion sets out against Boudica and returns defeated.
Late 2nd c.Durobrivae is named in the Antonine Itinerary.
2nd–4th c.Nene Valley pottery is traded widely.
1820sEdmund Artis excavates the town; his engravings are published in 1828.
1975The Water Newton Treasure is found; it goes to the British Museum.

See it today

Peterborough MuseumRoman collections from the Nene Valley
CastorParish church on the site of the great Roman building