The River Thames And Its Tributaries

When the Romans arrived in the region we now call Wiltshire the rivers Thames and Churn met at a spot where embanked gravels reduced the depth of water and provided an easy fording place.

Site Hunting Along the Upper Thames

For strategic reasons, given the potentially hostile tribes on both banks, a crossing would have offered the army commanders opportunities to defend either side of the river in the event of an attack. Thus Cricklade (a Celtic name meaning ‘place of the ford’) became a Roman strong point while the main army pushed further upstream to besiege a major settlement of the Dobunni tribe and to build Corinium Dubonorum (Cirencester).

Those who remained at the ford would have soon appreciated the potential benefits of the land around Cricklade: abundant water for irrigation, rich alluvial soils in the river’s flood plain rendered lighter and easier to plough thanks to the gravel beds; easily winnable local stone for house-building and animal enclosures; and succulent winter-flooded grassland to feed livestock in springtime.

Villas and Roman field systems appeared in the landscape in a very short time, providing surplus crops and meat to supply the market in Corinium.

Given that only eight miles separated the ford from the major Roman settlement, it seems unthinkable that Roman engineers did not clear obstacles from the riverbed and provide a dam or two to raise water levels so that Corinium, which later became the second largest town in Britannia province, had a navigable link; not only with Cricklade, but also with Londinium straddling the Thames 80 miles downstream.

Unfortunately, from a detectorist’s point of view, huge swathes of land around Cricklade have, in the 20th and 21st century, become national nature reserves for the protection of rare plants (especially the snake’s head fritillary). Disturbance of the grass sward at those locations is absolutely forbidden.