Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Vindex: Bodies Thanks for the pointer to Jacqueline McKinley.

Nathan Ross: Virginia Water

Found this site about Staines and Roman roads years ago. There is an interactive map at the bottom of the page - schematic unfortunately. Useful information.

The Virginia Water site is interesting and I include it in my list of possible battle sites at a down-weighted 85/118. Down-weighted because I think there is one large problem with it, namely, the actual siting of the Staines-Silchester Roman road. As you can see on the map you included, Nick Fuentes chose the southern 'spur' out of the Runnymede area (the road with the 1850s siting marked on it). But the evidence for this routing is very sparse and non-existent within the River Bourne valley (the gulley area outbound of the defile). However, there is more evidence, admittedly not conclusive, for the more northern route for the road. Nick's placing of the Roman front depends on the southern road existing and the Brits approaching along it. If the southern road did not exist then the battle was probably not at Virgina Water because an approach via the northern road did not offer a suitable defendable position, defile or otherwise. Indeed, a northern road approach would have allowed a rebel force to quite easily flank an opposition in the broken ground of steep valleys.

Another case against the existence of the southern road relates to road engineering. The land around Staines, and south to Thorpe, is very low, virtually flat and boggy in winter - a flood-plain. And that's the present condition after a lot of drainage and flood control measures have been employed. The situation 2k years ago, with probably quite a few local streams and Thames tributaries crossing the flood-plain, might have been worse. Constructing a southern Roman road across that muddy expanse would, I suggest, require deep foundations, causeways and the on-going elevation of the road surface. All-in-all an expensive exercise requiring considerable maintenance. Conversely, the northern route crosses the flood-plain in a much shorter span and strikes the high, firm ground near Egham. There was still the need for multiple bridges, hence the name Pontes (bridges) but this route would have been much cheaper and easier to maintain. Of course, once onto the higher ground, the road could then progress south-westwards up the gentle, firm gradient. The fact that even this short northern route requires multiple bridges/causeways to cross the flood plain supports the idea that the southern route is essentially a non-starter.

However, I leave Virginia Water in my list because the Roman road network is not very well known and the southern route might exist (it would have sunk by now).

Regards, Steve Kaye
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Armchair Wall walking mcbishop 3 3,479 01-11-2012, 03:22 AM
Last Post: Vindex

Forum Jump: