Trackways
Trackways were small well-trodden paths between settlements. When the Romans arrived in Britain they built on many existing trackways to develop larger roads. These were more suitable for moving troops and equipment between settlements.
North Downs Way and Pilgrim's Way
Today, the North Downs Way is a national trail used by walkers to explore beautiful views across the countryside between Farnham in Surrey and Dover in Kent. In Roman times, there were roads along parts of this route as well as temples and forts.
Although the name 'Pilgrim's Way' suggests that this trail is medieval, it was actually invented by the Victorians. It's likely though that the route is much older and that it existed during medieval times and Roman times as well. The Pilgrim's Way we can see today is halfway up a steep slope in the North Downs and avoids the marshy bottom of the valley in the winter. There might have also been a wider route on the valley floor that could be used during the summer. This would have been more direct and ideal for wheeled vehicles like carts.
Building a villa on an important route like this showed that the villa's owner was very important. It allowed them to control trade by controlling routes heading for the river. They may have been involved in shipping goods and cattle downriver to the Thames.
Trackway at Darenth Villa
Archaeologists found a bronze axle cap at Darenth Villa. This was probably from a cart and suggests that people living in the villa used a nearby track or road. They’ve found further evidence of a trackway here by using aerial photography and LiDAR technology.
LiDAR uses laser light to measure distances. A sensor sends out light waves across an area. These waves bounce off objects in the landscape and return to the sensor. The sensor uses the time it takes for the waves to bounce back to calculate distances.
It’s difficult to know for sure that the trackways around Darenth Villa are Roman but it’s possible that the villas in the area were connected to each other by land routes as well as the river.
Watling Street
Watling Street was a major routeway in Roman Britain, linking London and the south-east to Wroxeter in the West Midlands. In Kent, it largely follows the course of the modern A2 road from London to Canterbury. It branches out to coastal routes at Canterbury, including routes to Dover and Lympne on the south coast and Reculver on the north Kent coast. Although Watling Street fell into varying states of disrepair over time, the route was used in the Saxon and later Middle Ages. It might have been the route followed by the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
In the Darent Valley, Watling Street was the major east to west road. It ran by the roadside settlement at Dartford. This was an ideal location for a settlement in Roman times because it lay at a shallow part of the river which could be crossed. Also, the River Darent was wider during the Roman period and it might have been possible to navigate ships from Dartford to the Thames in the north.
Although archaeologists think that Watling Sreet led through Dartford, it's been difficult to find evidence of its alignment through the centre of the town.