Site Code.

BODIAM10
Site identification
Bodiam to Sandhurst Cross
and address
County, district
East Sussex and Kent
and / or borough
O.S. grid ref. TQ787273 to TQ784257
Geology. Tunbridge Wells Sands, Wadhurst Clay, Alluvium, Ashdown Sands
Project number. SNUFFLER1001
Fieldwork type. Geophysics
Site type.
Date of fieldwork. 01/10 - 04/10
Sponsor/client. -
Project manager. David Staveley
Project

supervisor.
Period summary Roman

Project summary.
An attempt to find the iron-metalled Roman road between Bodiam and
Sandhurst Cross, where Ivan Margary was unsure of the course.
(100 word max)
 A Geophysical Survey of the Roman Road between Bodiam and
Sandhurst Cross, 2010

by David Staveley
Introduction

The Roman road running from Rochester, south through Bodiam, was originally described by Ivan
Margary as his Route I (1948 p.208-257). The section of road between Sandhurst Cross and Bodiam
was unclear to Margary (1948 p.225), though he did give a possible route that passes far to the east
of the modern road that runs between the two locations. There have been several attempts since to
find the course of the road along this section, and these will be discussed in the relevant sections of
this report. In 2010, two opportunities arose to re-evaluate this section of road. Firstly, Brian Powell
obtained permission from the owners of Old Place Farm to survey their land. Secondly, the National
Trust opened up the land they own adjacent to Bodiam Castle for survey.

The land available was surveyed with a Bartington GRAD601-2 fluxgate gradiometer. In most
cases, a full survey was not required, as the Roman road was constructed from iron-ore and iron-
slag, and thus was easily discernible by simply scanning with the magnetometer. The course of the
road was then recorded with a total station.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Brian Powell for gaining permission to survey from Old Place Farm
and helping with all of the surveys, Merryn Staveley for helping with the surveys, Richard Mitchell
at Old Place Farm for allowing the surveys on their land, John Dines at Bodiam Mill for details of
his finds, Casper Johnson at Sussex County Hall for setting up the surveys on National Trust land
near the Castle and George Bailey of the National Trust for permission to work on the land near the
Castle.
Section 1 – Area of TQ272787

This section of the road, just south of Sandhurst Cross, is where Margary's route (stippled line)
diverges from the surveyed route (long-dashed line). The line given on Ordnance Survey maps is
shown as a short-dashed line.
Field A lies on Tunbridge Wells Sand and slopes steeply down to the west and south. Margary's
route followed a terrace-way near the east edge of the field. The course of this terrace-way can be
seen as a sunken track in the wood past the north-east corner of the field. The actual course of the
Roman road follows a similar curve to the more modern terrace-way, but about 15 metres to the
west of it. The eastern edge of the road was quite clear in this field, though a little curved in a
certain spot towards the northern end where an old spring had caused the land to slip. The western
edge was not clear, as much of it had slipped down the hill. The road follows the curve of the hill
here, avoiding the steep slope. This newly surveyed line actually shows up in this field on the
Google Earth imagery for June 2009.

Field B is slightly higher than the adjacent part of field A, and lies on Wadhurst Clay. Soon after
passing into Field B, the road takes a sharp turn of 90 degrees and now heads south-west, with a
definite curve at the turning point, as opposed to an angled turn. Whilst there is a slope here, it is
not as severe as in field A, and this turn is obvious on the ground as a means to avoid the worst of
the slope in field A. Both sides of the road were clear in field B and it appears that the road is in
much better condition here than in field A.

Field C continues as Wadhurst Clay down the hill towards the valley floor. The road in field C has
been damaged by ploughing. Parts of the broken up road surface are visible on the surface of the
field, and in some places, the road has been completely ploughed away. The eastern (upslope) edge
is in better condition than the western (downslope) edge. The road curves slowly, ending up broadly
parallel to the modern road.

At Point D, the road has reached the edge of the valley floor and is visible in the northern bank of
the stream roughly 2 metres down and starting 3 metres east of the bridge. It is a cambered road, 8
metres wide and 8 inches thick, constructed of iron-ore and bloomery slag which has rusted together
to form a solid mass. The stream is post-Roman, and associated with the adjacent mill. This section
of road was first excavated in the 1960s (Miles 1964 p.207).
Section 2 – TQ265784

Section 2 is the continuation of the road south from Section 1. Where the course of the road is
certain, it is shown as a long-dashed line. Where it is uncertain, it is shown as a short-dashed line.
Streams are shown as dashed-and-dotted lines. The full survey area in Field C is shown by a
stippled line.
Point A in this section is the same as Point D in section 1.

Point B is roughly the centre of the valley, and the road here is buried deep under Alluvium. The
stream passing through here in Roman times would have been roughly where it is today, where it
marks the border between Kent and Sussex. The owner of Bodiam Mill, which is just to the north of
point B, reported finding iron slag when digging a hole near Point B for a fence post just to the east
of the modern road. He has also found some Roman pottery in his garden, immediately at the back
of the mill. The road seems to make a turn here, which is not uncommon for Roman roads after they
have crossed a stream or river. While it is clear that the Roman road is roughly adjacent to the
modern road, the exact position and the exact nature of the turn are not clear.

Field C is still in the valley Alluvium, and a full magnetometer survey covering 3 40x40m squares
was undertaken to try and find the road at this point. Walking was east-west and lines were 1 metre
apart, with 4 readings taken per metre. Scanning with the magnetometer had turned up nothing due
to the depth of the alluvium covering the road in the valley, and the full survey also turned up
nothing, either because of the depth, or because the Roman road is close to or underneath the
modern road, where the metal fence would cover any traces to be seen in the results. Some features
are visible on this survey, including a large sub-circular feature on the southern edge and two linear
features leading from the western edge, but they are most likely not from the Roman period.

Point D is the point where the road was found while excavating a drainage ditch (Lemmon 1960
p.26). It was described as 9 feet down from the bridge, and 4 feet below ground level, with a width
of 26 feet.

Point E is the location of a moated site, with a slightly earlier date than Bodiam castle.
Field F climbs the hill away from the valley and is on Ashdown Sands. Scanning with the
magnetometer revealed the road once more close to the surface. The edges of the road showed up,
though are missing in some places. The centre of the road, being the top of the camber, has been
mostly ploughed away.

Point G is the approximate location of where an iron-metalled road was excavated (Hill 1959 p.33),
but this is most likely not Roman. It may have been a comparitively modern road constructed
between the moated site at point E and Bodiam Castle.
Point H is the approximate location of a section of road excavated near the church (Hill 1959
p.33). It is described as 108 feet from the east angle of the churchyard fence on a true bearing of
108 degrees. The road here, a foot below the surface, was 30 feet wide and composed of cinder and
ore.
Section 3 – TQ783258

Section 3 is the continuation of the road south from Section 2. Where the route of the road is
certain, it is shown as a long-dashed line. Where it is uncertain, it is shown as a short-dashed line.
Margary's route is shown as a stippled line.

Point A in this section is the same excavation as described as Point H in Section 2.

Point B is the approximate location of an excavation that revealed a slag metalled road (Lemmon
1960 p.26). It is possibly a continuation of the track found to the north (Section 2, Point G) and is
not Roman.

Field C, owned by the National Trust, is on Ashdown Sand and slopes down towards the east into a
valley before rising again slightly at the eastern end of the field. The road was again found here by
scanning with the magnetometer. As with Section 2, Field F, the road here is missing the top of the
camber. The curve in the road here is where it is following the curve of the hill.

Point D is where the Roman road most likely joins the modern road.
The River Crossing and the Port

Permission was granted to survey in the scheduled field (ES411) south of the river and east of the
road (EH Case No. SL00000659). This field and the one to the west are the location of the probable
Classis Britannica port excavated in the 1960s (Hill 1960 p.190, Lemmon & Hill 1966 p.88). The
archaeology here is buried under a considerable depth of alluvium, so a quick scan with the
magnetometer was done to see if the field was magnetically clean enough to pick up ephemeral
features at depth. Unfortunately, there is a large amount of modern magnetic junk covering the field.
Particularly badly affected areas were along the river wall and a made up track (not now visible)
leading north from a gate on the south side of the field. Because of the modern disturbance, it was
decided that a magnetometer survey would not be worthwhile.

The depth of the archaeology causes a problem for geophysics. One geophysical method that could
reach the depths required would be ground penetrating radar, but because the field is so wet
throughout the year, it is unlikely that it would be much use in this case, as most of the signal would
attenuate at the surface.

The point that the Roman road crosses the river is still unknown, but is most likely at the ford 40
yards east of the modern bridge. The road found south of the river (Puckle 1960 p.207) along the
modern road is at the right depth for the Roman road, therefore the course of the road suggested by
Lemmon & Hill (1966 p.90) seems sound. The road however, may not have crossed at all. The
Classis may have operated ferries here. The method used would have been down to the water level
during Roman times.

Road Construction

The Rochester to Hastings Roman road was most likely constructed by the Classis Britannica for
the transport of iron ore and products. There are several reasons to suggest why this is so :

• The road passes through the supposed Classis controlled iron producing area of East Sussex.
• The road is constructed of iron ore and iron slag, mined and produced by the Classis.
• The road curves in several places where a legionary built road would have continued in a
straight line, for the simple reason that carts would have more problem with steep sections
than marching soldiers.
• The road passes through several Classis sites. Cranbrook iron-working site to the north, the
port at Bodiam, and further iron-working sites to the south, such as Footlands, Oaklands
Park and most likely Beauport Park.

References

Hill, Darrell: The Roman Road at Bodiam, Battle & Dist. Hist. Soc Trans No. 9 1959-60
Hill, Darrell: The Romano-British Site at Bodiam Station, Sussex N&Q Vol. 15 No. 6 1960
Lemmon, C.H: The Rochester-Hastings Roman Road, Battle & Dist. Hist. Soc Trans No. 10
1960-61
Lemmon, C.H. & Hill, Darrell: The Romano-British Site at Bodiam, SAC 104 1966
Margary, Ivan: Roman Ways in the Weald, Phoenix House 1948
Miles, A: The Rochester-Hastings Roman Road near Sandhurst, Arch. Cantiana 79 1964
Puckle, G.M.: The Roman Road near Bodiam Station, Sussex N&Q Vol. 15 No. 6 1960