Monument record 725/1 - Alchester Road (Margery Route 160a)

Roman road route, running between settlements at Towcester & Alchester (Oxfordshire). Also known as Margery route 160a.

{1} This is probably the best understood of all the routes through the town having been identified through excavation at a number of points both inside and outside the defended area. The 9-13 Park Street excavations , the Alchester road suburb excavations , and the unpublished work in Allens Yard all indicate that the road was first demarcated and metalled, if not first used, in the Flavian period (AD70s).

{2} Towcester developed on either side of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from south-eastern England to the north west of the country. In the Roman period the road from Alchester and Dorchester entered Towcester at the south-western corner and joined Watling Street just north of the present Park Street. It has been suggested that the intersection of these two early military routes may have been the main reason for the siting of the town.
It appears that the Alchester road went out of use at the end of the period of Roman occupation.
Can this ‘old street’ be linked with the former Roman road from Alchester which ran diagonally from the south-western corner of the town to join Watling Street just north of Park Street? The excavator of the Park Street site believed that the Roman road may have remained in use as a yard or alley.

{3} Article holds detailed description of the construction of the Alchester Road, the wooden stakes used as ditch revetments and the nature of the metalled surface.

{4} One excavated area was situated over the projected course of the Roman Road fron Towcester to Alchester and revealed extensive evidence of 1st - 2nd century boundary ditches, pits and a limestone wall footing, although there was no conclusive evidence of the Alchester Road.

{5} Area of the road at Wood Burcote: faint traces of the route can still be seen. Most of the coin finds from here are from the Trajano-Hadrianic and Antonine periods, indicating that this road is early. Other, 4th century issues confirm that it remained in use throughout the Roman period. A large quantity of civil war musket balls have also been found. These probably originated from the Royalists' retreat from Towcester to banbury, and suggest that the road was still in use in the 17th century, even if only as a trackway.

{6} It is possible that this road continued to the north east to join with the attested Irchester - Water Newton road.

{?} In 1954 The Alchester Road surface observed, information from J Alexander.

{7} Archaeological observation was undertaken during the construction of a new water replacement pipeline which intersected the route of the road. A geologically deposited band of gravel oriented in a broadly north-south direction could have been utilised as a surface. Otherwise no evidence for the road was noted.

<1> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, Section 3.1.2 (Roman) (checked) (Report). SNN103132.

<2> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 3.5 (Medieval) (checked) (Report). SNN103132.

<3> Brown AE, Woodfield C, 1983, Excavations at Towcester, Northamptonshire: the Alchester Road Suburb, p.46-47 (checked) (Article). SNN104558.

<4> Sims M.; Bashford R., 2004, Radstone Technology Site, Towcester, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN104970.

<5> Old Yellowbelly, 2011, The Tale Of a Shoe, (checked) (Article). SNN107347.

<6> COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST, 1992, Towcester Retail Development, Northamptonshire, Stage 1: Archaeological Assessment, p.13 (checked) (Draft). SNN70046.

<7> Weaver, R and Webster, J, 2018, Towcester Road, Whittlebury to land near Silverstone, Northamptonshire; Mains Water Replacement (WAT-06723)- Programme of archaeological investigations (Report). SNN112331.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:57PM