My

upon it, and which shew it was begun before that notable people had a thorough knowledge of the geography of the island. One is, its deviation westward, as it advances towards these fens from London; another is, the new branch, drawn a little beyond Lincoln, westward into Yorkshire, out of the principal stem going to the Humber; a third is, that it is double in Lincolnshire. Now, we will only consider such part of it as has relation to the country we are upon; and that is the road going from Caster, by Peterborough, to Sleaford in this county, which is undoubtedly Roman, and which first occasioned the draining of this fenny tract, and surely more ancient than that which goes above Stamford, and along the heathy part of the county, to Lincoln. reasoning depends upon the manner of the road itself, and upon that other great work which accompanies it, called the Cardike, equally to be ascribed to the same authors. This road is nearer the first intention of a meridian line than the other; but, when they found it carried them through a low country, where it perpetually needed reparation, and that they must necessarily decline westward to reach Lincoln, they quitted it, and struck out a new one, more westerly, that should run altogether on better ground. This, if we have leave to guess, was done after the time of Lollius Urbicus, lieutenant under Antoninus Pius, who, with great industry and courage, had extended and secured the whole province as far as Edinburgh. Then it was, that they had time and opportunity to complete the work in the best manner, being perfect masters of the country, and of its geography: and this road was for the

a The road here alluded to, as passing above Stamford, entered this county a small distance to the west of that town, and ran through Great Casterton and Ancaster, thence to the west of Rauceby, Cranwell, Brauncewell, and Temple Brewer to Lincoln.

ready march of their armies and provisions, to succour those northern frontiers. But it seems as if they, long before that time, brought the Hermen Street as far as Lincolnshire, especially that eastern branch, or original stem, of which we are treating, and that as early as the reign of Nero, and at the same time made the Cardike. I shall give you my further reasons for this conjecture, and nothing more than conjecture can be expected in such matters.

"The road which we suppose the original stem of the Hermen Street, goes in a direct line, and full north and south from Durobriva, or Caster, to Sleaford; and there, for aught I know, it terminates. It is manifest, that if it had been carried further in that direction, it would have passed below Lincoln heath, and arrive at the river where it is not fordable. It parts from the present and real Hermen Street at Upton, a mile north of Caster; but this is continued in a straight line, which demonstrates that it is the original one: the other goes from it with an angular branching. This traverses the river Welland at West Deeping, and is carried in a high bank across the watery meadows of Lolham bridges. These are numerous and large arches, made upon the road, to let the waters pass through, taken notice of by the great Camden as of antiquity; and no doubt originally Roman then it crosses the Glen at Catebridge, (whereabouts it is now called

a It would appear from the above account of Dr. Stukeley, that he was of opinion this road did not extend beyond Sleaford; or, at all events, that he was not able to trace it any further than that town; but there are sufficient vestiges remaining to show, that it crossed the Sleaford navigation near Coggleford mill; went thence in a straight line over Sleaford and Leasingham moors; to the west of Ruskington. Dorrington, Digby, and Rowston; east of Bloxholm and Ashby; west of Blankney, Metheringham, Dunston, Nocton, and Branston; thence to Lincoln, where it joined the main road,

King's-Gate, via regia) to Bourn, (where Roman coins are often found, many in the possession of Jos. Banks, Jun. Esq.a) so to Folkingham and Sleaford."b

"The 18th of October, 1728, I travelled on the Roman road, the eastern branch of the Hermen Street, from Sleaford, for about three miles southward. I observed that it went not to Sleaford town directly, but to the old house of Sir Robert Carr, formerly Lord Hussey's (attainted for treason in the time of Henry VIII.) called Old Place. We saw by the way, on the east side of the road, a mile or more south of Sleaford, an old work, square, ditched about, large, with an entry from the road; the earth of the vallum thrown up on both sides.c

"But it was not enough for the Romans thus to provide for commerce and travelling, without they set proper stations or mansions, for the reception of negotiators and the like. Accordingly, we find the distance between Caster and Lincoln, about forty miles, has two towns upon it, at proper intervals, for lodging; these are SLEAFORD and STANFIELD: the original names of them are in irrecoverable silence, but the eternity of the Romans is inherent. At Sleaford they have found many Roman coins, especially of the Constantine family and their wives, about the Castle and the spring head, a little above the town. It is probable that Alexander, the Bishop of Lincoln, built his work upon the site of a Roman citadel. Beside, at Sleaford comes in the other Roman road from the fen country by Brig End Causy, and at the intersection of

a Father of the late Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. of Revesby Abbey, in this sounty.

с The old work here spoken of is about two miles from Sleaford, in the parish of Burton Pedwardine; for some account of which, see our description of that place,

these two roads the old town stood.a At Stanfield, which is a little village near Bourn, they find daily the foundations of buildings, innumerable coins, and other antiquities. These are chiefly dug up in a close called Blackfield, from the extraordinary richness of the soil."b

The other great Roman work before alluded to, passes by the town of Heckington, at the distance of about six miles east of Sleaford: it was probably designed both for a drain and a navigable canal; but here we will again have recourse to the authority of Dr. Stukeley for an account of the

CARDIKE or CAERDIKE.C

"All along, parallel to the above road, runs a famous old drain, called Cardike. This is a vast artificial canal, drawn

a There seems to be something here that is not altogether reconcileable to our ideas. The Doctor supposes, in a former part of this extract, the road from Durobrivæ or Caster (in Northamptonshire), to have come in a direct line, passing to the east of Folkingham, close by Threckingham, along Mareham Lane to a place called the half-mile-gate, thence it crosses the enclosures to the Boston road, taking its course along Old Eau Lane, a little eastward of the Old Place; but here he speaks of another Roman road coming in from the fen country, and that they intersected each other at Sleaford.—Now we are of opinion that cannot have been the case; but that the road coming by Brig-end Causeway crossed the above (or Hermen Street) at Threckingham, went thence to Cold Harbour, and so towards the Irish sea. But, as will be subsequently seen, two other roads are said to have met the original one at Sleaford, and it was doubtless at this junction that the Roman town stood.

For arguments in elucidation of the above, see also GENT'S MAG. Vol. LXI. p. 193

b Itinerarium Curiosum, p. 9.

c With regard to the etymology of this term there are various opinions. Dr. Stukeley, at one time, supposed it to he derived from the British word Caer (a city); but he afterwards changed his opinion, and ascribed it to Carausius, fancying it bore his name. Salmon, in his "Survey of England," says Cardike signifies no more than Fen-dike.

north and south upon the edge of the fens, from Peterborough river to Lincoln river, about fifty miles long; and by the Romans without all peradventure. It is taken notice of by Sergeant Callis, our countryman, in his readings on the sewers. That wise people, with a thought peculiar to themselves, observed the great use of such a channel, that by water carriage should open an inland traffic between their two great colonies of Durobrive and Lindum, or Lincoln, without going round the hazardous voyage of the Estuary. Besides, it is plain, that by intercepting all the little streams coming down from the high country, and naturally overflowing our levels, it would much facilitate the draining thereof, which at this time they must have had in view. This canal enters Lincolnshire at East Deeping, proceeding upon an exact level, which it takes industriously between the high and low grounds all the way, by Langtoft and Baston: passing the river Glen at Highbridge, it runs in an uninterrupted course as far as Kyme: beyond that I have not yet followed it, but I suppose it meets Lincoln river near Washingborough, and where, probably, they had a fort to secure the navigation, as upon other proper intermediate places, such as Walcott, Garrick, Billingborough, Waldram Hall, Narborough, Eye anciently Ege, agger; and I imagine St. Peter's de Burgo hence owes its original: and a place called Low there, a camp ditched about, just where the Cardike begins, on one side the river: another such fortification at Horsey bridge on the other side the river: all these names point out some ancient works. It is all the way threescore feet broad, having a large flat bank, on both sides, for the horses that drew their boats. Roman coins are frequently found throughout its whole length,

"The 20th of October, 1726, I traced the Cardike round the outskirts of Sir William Ellys's park, of Nocton: it runs near the site of the old priory, whose ruins are just visible: it

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