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| Arrington Bridge |
| Aringetone Brycg (13th cent, Anglo-Saxon) |
| For at least two thousand years, there has been a crossing
on the River Rhee (Cam) at the southernmost tip of Arrington parish. Until
the thirteenth century the crossing was a ford and the only suitable crossing
point on the river for some miles in each direction, | |
This made the ford important, a source of prosperity, but presumably also some
tension, not only in terms of a practical and dependable river crossing but as
a strategic asset worth defending. This was well understood by the Roman engineers
when they planned the route of their new road between London and York. Ermine
Street points straight at the crossing point from both directions. |
| The crossing is still there. The road carriageway narrows
within nondescript brick parapets over a small river that sometimes flows little
more than a stream. Drive along Ermine Street [the modern A1198] and you'll
probably not even notice it. |
|
Circled:
a-a:
b:
c-c:
d:
| Key:
Arrington
Bridge (modern position).
Roman Road Ermine Street (A1198).
Roman Road to Cambridge meets Ermine Street
River Rhee
(Cam) flows left to right.
Wimpole Lodge and Swimming Pool. |
| For
the most part the modern river appears benign, constrained within tidy banks and
surrounded by neat arable farmland. But despite appearances, the Rhee still occasionally
shows its power and bursts out across the flood plains along the valley. |
| Two thousand years ago, the river probably ran deeper
and stronger. It was a home to brown trout and crayfish. We know the Rhee was
difficult to cross for much of its length so the ford must have been shallower
here to allow crossing, perhaps balanced against a greater width to maintain the
river's flow. Much of the river's width would have been reedbeds, mudflats, stagnant
marsh and water meadow, perhaps extending for hundreds of metres either side of
the main channel. | | It is thought that the Roman
engineers improved on nature by laying gravel through the ford on the line of
the road. During construction of the modern road bridge, layers of gravel was
found from which were recovered Roman pottery, a spear, knife, oxgoad and two
hippo-sandels (Roman horseshoes). | | The northern
bank of the ford was also the junction [marked b on aerial photograph]
between two major Roman Roads - Ermine Street and Akeman Street [modern A603]
, the Roman road running eastwards to the settlement at Cambridge [Duroliponte]
and the Isle of Ely. A minor Roman road, thought to be Vistores 176, ran westwards
from Arrington Bridge to Little Brickhill. | | An
extensive Roman settlement grew up around this cross-roads and the ford. Recent
studies have described the settlement as being a post station, known as a mansio,
a kind of Roman 'motorway service area'. | | "These
were almost like hotels where Roman officials could stay overnight, although use
had to be controlled by the issuing of travel warrants, as the service was very
expensive to run. They had stables, kitchens, and bedrooms. The weary officials
could rest and use a new horse in the morning. They were often used by messengers
carrying the post, and sometimes taxes were stored there." |
| The complex may also have included defensive works to protect
what was a strategic and important crossroad and river crossing. |
| In her excellent book "Archaeology of Cambridgeshire",
Alison Taylor describes the settlement thus: | | "The
junction of two major roads at Arrington Bridge was the site of a [Roman] posting
station, providing rest, refreshment, change of horses and communication for official
travellers, and, no doubt, a welcome stopping place and overnight accommodation
for others." | | "Construction
of a swimming pool at Wimpole Lodge [marked d on aerial photograph] revealed
foundations of stone and clunch, with much Roman pottery, coins and the skeleton
of a horse. This is clearly part of an extensive site, for similar remains are
known from Wendy, Arrington and Whaddon at the same cross-roads." |
| "Excavations to the north
of this site have revealed cobbled yards and ditched enclosures that had been
paddocks, garden plots and residential sites, starting use in the late 2nd century
and being reorganised about three times before the early 5th century. There was
evidence for blacksmithing, and leather and bone-working on the site, as well
as agriculture. Animal bones included an unusually large number of horse, in addition
to cattle, sheep and pig." | | "Artefacts
found included mainly hobnails and two iron heel-plates, door hinges and key,
linch pins, a reaping hook, spear, chisel, iron slag, and occasional personal
items such as a brooch, spindle-whorl, buckle and razor, in addition to building
materials, querns, glass and coins." | | "The
site was peripheral to the main complex as no actual buildings were found, despite
evidence for several nearby." | |
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| The
River Rhee
|
| The ford at Arrington was probably the meeting-place,
or moot, of Armingford
Hundred, a local parliament for the ancient district of Armingford (which
included the modern parishes of Arrington, East Hatley, Steeple Morden, Royston,
Melbourn, Whaddon, Wimpole and points between) during Saxon and Medieval times
. Looking at this geographical area on a map, it is tempting to assume that the
'ford' in Armingford was 'our' ford on Ermine Street. | | It
is believed the first bridge across the Rhee at this point was built around 1285,
and it has been rebuilt a number of times over the centuries. | | The
bridge across the River Rhee continued to be essential to the national highway
of Ermine Street for hundreds of years. John Layer, writing in the early seventeenth
century, states that "Arrington Bridge is maintained at the charge of the
County and is one of the greatest passages now in the kingdom". |
| In 1663, Ermine Street between Ware and Huntingdon was the first in Britain
to be made a turnpike, and a new bridge was built at Arrington financed by tolls. |
| Steve Odell | | - |
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Council
Meeting:
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War Memorial:
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Christian
Aid:
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Churchyard:
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