Maiden Way

About

The Maiden Way or Maidenway (Middle English: Maydengathe; Medieval Latin: Via Puellarum) was a roughly 20-mile (32 km) Roman road in northern Britain connecting the Roman fort of Bravoniacum (Kirkby Thore) near Penrith with that of Magnis (Carvoran) on Hadrian's Wall, via the intermediate fort of Epiacum (also known as Whitley Castle) roughly half-way between the two. William Bainbridge wrote an early paper on the road, in Archaeologia Aeliana; Account of the Roman Road, called the Maiden Way (1851). In 2016, it was reported that investigations using LIDAR technology by the Environment Agency for the purposes of flood mapping and other environmental management were providing extensive data showing the existence of underground archaeological features including Roman roads.

This included a continuation of the Maiden Way southwards from Kirkby Thore to the Roman fort at Low Borrowbridge near Tebay. Bravoniacum was a waypoint on the northern leg of the Roman road connecting Luguvalium (Carlisle) with Eboracum (York) and points south. Magnis was one of the waypoints on the Stanegate beside Hadrian's Wall.

As such, the Maiden Way served as a shortcut for supplying the central and eastern...