Dere Street

Roman Britain, with the route of Dere Street in red

Dere Street or Deere Street, (latterly Via Regia in Scotland) was a Roman road between Eboracum (York) and what we now call Scotland. It still exists in the form of the route of many major roads, including the A1 and A68 just north of Corbridge.

Its name corresponds with the post Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira, through which the first part of its route lies. It was sometimes referred to as "Watling Street" and marked on some maps as such. This can sometimes cause it to be confused with the Watling Street that linked Dover with Wroxeter.

In England

The route began at York^[1] and crossed the River Ure near Isurium Brigantum (present-day Aldborough close to Boroughbridge). From there, it crossed the River Swale near Catterick, North Yorkshire, where the Roman fort was called Cataractonium. (Just north of Catterick (at the modern Scotch Corner) the road over Stainmore to Penrith, Carlisle and the Western end of Hadrian's Wall branched off). Dere Street went on to cross the River Tees near the Roman fort of Piercebridge by a stone arch bridge: These are relatively rare in Roman Britain^[2], except for Hadrian's Wall and Dere Street. The original bridge at Piercebridge was replaced by another on a different alignment, and there is some evidence for other minor realignments of Dere Street over the Roman period^[3]. The next river crossing was of the River Wear at the Roman fort of Vinovia, near present-day Bishop Auckland. At this point another road branched away to the right, heading for Durham, Chester-le-Street and eventually crossing the Tyne at Pons Aelius the modern Newcastle.

From Vinovia, Dere Street travelled onwards past the Roman forts of Longovicium (present-day Lanchester) and Vindomora (present-day Ebchester), before crossing the River Tyne near the fort of Coria (Corbridge), where it crossed Stanegate.^[4] Just North of Corbridge, the route passed through the fortifications of Hadrian's Wall, at a point now known as Portgate, and passed into lands that were only tenuously under Roman domination.

From the Wall, the route continued north into Redesdale and thence to the Cheviot Hills, where there are the remains of marching forts at Fourlaws, Habitancum (West Woodburn), Bremenium (High Rochester), and at Chew Green.

In Scotland

Crossing the present day Scottish border near the present A68 at Carter Fell, there are the remains of a camp at Pennymuir^[5] and well preserved sections of the road as it also forms part of St. Cuthbert's Way to Trimontium near Melrose. Crossing the River Tweed at Trimontium the route follows the Leader Water to the foot of the Lammermuirs, where there is evidence of forts near Oxton and another well preserved section of road^[6] rises through the Lammermuirs over Soutra hill, and then on to British Din Eidyn, a stronghold of the Votadini tribe, and where the Romans held strategic garrisons at Cramond and at Inveresk to access the eastern end of the Antonine Wall.

After the Romans

In the High Middle Ages, the section of the route between Jedburgh and Edinburgh was known as the Via Regia or royal way, it connected the larger part of Scotland with the important ecclesiastic sites of the Scottish Borders. King Malcolm IV established his Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity half way along this section to provide succour for the many pilgrims using it.

After the destruction of the Border Abbeys during "The Rough Wooing" by the Earl of Hertford's forces of Mary Queen of Scots, and the Reformation of the Scottish Church, the route fell into disuse and disrepair; and it was used mainly for driving livestock, and the occasional travellers daring enough to venture into the lawless border region.

See also

• Roman roads in Britain

Notes

Further reading

• The Roads of Mediaeval Lauderdale, by R. P. Hardie, Edinburgh & London, 1942.

External links

• Dere street trail (Durham county council)
• A look at some of the ancient roads passing through East Lothian, including a section of Dere Street