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Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is now Scotland, later at least as far as the Antonine Wall. It was the Romans' major route for communications and supplies to the north and to Scotland. Portions of its route are still followed by modern roads, including the A1(M) (south of the River Tees), the B6275 road through Piercebridge, where Dere Street crosses the River Tees, and the A68 north of Corbridge in Northumberland.
The Roman name for the route is lost. Its English name corresponds with the post-Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira, through which the first part of its route lies. That kingdom possibly took its name from the Yorkshire River Derwent. The term "street" derives from its Old English sense (from Latin: via strata), which referred to any paved road and had no particular association with urban thoroughfares.
Portions of the road in Scotland were later known as St Cuthbert's Way and as the Royal Way (Medieval Latin: Via Regia).
The Antonine Itinerary's 2nd British route (called Watling Street) shared Dere Street's trunk road between Eboracum and Cataractonium (Catterick) before branching off to the northwest to communicate with Luguvalium (Carlisle). Owing to this, some stretches or the entirety of Dere Street is sometimes referenced as "Watling Street", a name that appears on the 1885-1900 edition of the Ordnance Survey map for the village of Oxnam.
A small section of the old A68 route north in Corbridge is called Watling Street. It should not, however, be confused with the traditional route between Canterbury and Wroxeter in the south nor with the Carlisle route to its west.
Dere Street roughly corresponds to the Antonine Itinerary's 1st British route as far as Hadrian's Wall, although it began further south than York:
The road served to allow supplies and troops such as the legion garrisoned in York quick access to the eastern borderlands and, later, the eastern posts on Hadrian's Wall. The Itinerary's 2nd and 5th British routes, which split off to reach the western territories, share the route between Eboracum and Cataractonium. Forts were built along Dere Street to protect the route. It crossed Hadrian's Wall through a large fortified gateway later called the "Portgate" which was still visible a few hundred years ago.
Margary notes that the last entry of the Itinerary, 25 (XXV) Roman miles, is probably in error and should be emended to 15 (XV) Roman miles.
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Dere Street AI simulator
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Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is now Scotland, later at least as far as the Antonine Wall. It was the Romans' major route for communications and supplies to the north and to Scotland. Portions of its route are still followed by modern roads, including the A1(M) (south of the River Tees), the B6275 road through Piercebridge, where Dere Street crosses the River Tees, and the A68 north of Corbridge in Northumberland.
The Roman name for the route is lost. Its English name corresponds with the post-Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira, through which the first part of its route lies. That kingdom possibly took its name from the Yorkshire River Derwent. The term "street" derives from its Old English sense (from Latin: via strata), which referred to any paved road and had no particular association with urban thoroughfares.
Portions of the road in Scotland were later known as St Cuthbert's Way and as the Royal Way (Medieval Latin: Via Regia).
The Antonine Itinerary's 2nd British route (called Watling Street) shared Dere Street's trunk road between Eboracum and Cataractonium (Catterick) before branching off to the northwest to communicate with Luguvalium (Carlisle). Owing to this, some stretches or the entirety of Dere Street is sometimes referenced as "Watling Street", a name that appears on the 1885-1900 edition of the Ordnance Survey map for the village of Oxnam.
A small section of the old A68 route north in Corbridge is called Watling Street. It should not, however, be confused with the traditional route between Canterbury and Wroxeter in the south nor with the Carlisle route to its west.
Dere Street roughly corresponds to the Antonine Itinerary's 1st British route as far as Hadrian's Wall, although it began further south than York:
The road served to allow supplies and troops such as the legion garrisoned in York quick access to the eastern borderlands and, later, the eastern posts on Hadrian's Wall. The Itinerary's 2nd and 5th British routes, which split off to reach the western territories, share the route between Eboracum and Cataractonium. Forts were built along Dere Street to protect the route. It crossed Hadrian's Wall through a large fortified gateway later called the "Portgate" which was still visible a few hundred years ago.
Margary notes that the last entry of the Itinerary, 25 (XXV) Roman miles, is probably in error and should be emended to 15 (XV) Roman miles.