Milestones from North Wales

	*The Roman Milestones from the Northern Coast of Wales*

The Roman road between Kanovium and Segontium is exceptionally well recorded by milestones, this is indicative of the importance of the North Wales coastal route, renovation in the early 2nd and 3rd centuries and milestones being erected as late as Constantine the Great proving that while the Roman army was occupied with business outside North Wales it was still important to keep this main arterial route in good order. The Kanovium milestone, is a rarity, it actually lists the name of Caerhun fort, there is only one other milestone in Britain that shares this distinction, one found at Newstead, Scottish borders, usually they are simply inscribed with the current emperors’ titles, the milestone not only illustrates the importance of the road but also the importance of Kanovium. The road was a mountain route, climbing west from Caerhun up the lower Carneddau mountains at Roewen, reaching relatively level ground at Bwlch y Ddeufaen, climbing slightly on the lower slope of Drum mountain to descend the relatively difficult ground to the North Wales coast at Abergwyngregyn, then taking a lower route to head for Segontium, a distance of roughly 10 Roman miles from the west gate of Kanovium to the area of road at Aber which now roughly follows the modern A55 route. Not an easy route for sure, the area of the Bwlch in bad weather, such as low cloud rain and snow would be a good spot as any to get into trouble, and the Roman soldier will not have relished this road in winter. The five milestones are all found between these two points, perhaps the soldiers needed a little bit of help in direction finding as getting benighted on this road in mid winter without adequate gear would certainly result in problems for some. The Bwlch y Ddeufaen area is 1403 feet above sea level. The five milestones which once stood here are as follows- 1. Classic cylindrical milestone of Cheshire sandstone, 2 metres high, 48 cms in diameter. Found in 1883, buried in a field called Caegwag on Rhiwiau - Uchaf farm, 1.6 kms south of Llanfairfechan, and 11 kms west of Kanovium fort. I have been unable to discover particulars of the discovery, other than it was found a short distance south from the Roman road, so if simply fell down or was buried on purpose is unknown, it was donated to the British Museum by a Colonel Platt. The milestone is RIB 2265, the inscription records the following- IMP(erator) CAES(ar) TRIANVS HADRIANUS AVG(ustus) P(ontifex) M(aximus) TR(ibuniciae) P(otestatis) V P(ater) P(atriae) CO(n)S(ul) III A KANOVIO M(ilia) P(assuum) VIII The Emperor Caesar Trajan Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, in his fifth year of tribunician power, Father of his country, thrice Consul, from Kanovium 8 miles. The milestone dates from the period 120-9 but due to Hadrian not receiving the title ‘pater patriae’ until 128, points to it dating from then. 2. Columnar milestone of sandstone, oval in section, 61 cms high, 38 cm in diameter, broken at top and bottom. Found in 1883 within nine metres of RIB 2265 in Caegwag field, as with RIB 2265 the stone is now in the Bangor Museum, on loan from the British Museum. Dating to the early 3rd century (198-209), it reflects renovation during the Severan period, which must be current with the aqueduct inscription at Segontium, the inscription reads- IMP(eratores) CAES(ares) L(ucius) SEP(timius) SEVERVS P(ater) P(atriae) ET M(arcus) AVR(elius) ANTONINVS AVG(usti) ET P(ublius) SEP(timius) GETA NOB(ilissimus) CAES(ar)....... The Emperor-Caesars Lucius Septimius Severus, Father of His Country, Augustus and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Augustus, and Publius Septimius Geta, most Noble Caesar..... RIB 2266



© Kanovium Project

3. Milestone of laminated igneous rock, 1.17 m high, tapering in width from 25 to 18 cm on one face and 20 to 18 on the other, these two flat faces conjoin while the rest of the stone is rounded. The stone is not complete, the top bearing the emperor’s names has broken off. It was found in a secondary context, inverted and used as a memorial stone of the early Christian period (as with a station cross near the Maen y Bardd cromlech this shows continuing use of the road following Roman withdrawal). The milestone was found in 1959 in Aber Parish at a point 450 metres east of Madryn Farm (grid ref’ SH 668873338) and it can be seen in the Museum of Welsh Antiquities, Bangor. It was found 1.78 km NW of Llanfairfechan Church and is 1.17km from milestones one and two. On one face the inscription reads

DI NO CON SVO DIC O ON, (which is tripartite Celtic name, the Roman inscription reads) ........POSTV MO PIO FEL(ico) AVG(usto) P(ontifici) M(aximo) C(onsuli) TR(ibunicia) P(o) OTestae) IV For Postumus, Pius, Fortunate, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Consul in His Fourth year of tribunician power.



© Kanovium Project

The stone dates to 10th December 261 to December 262, as Postumus was into his fourth year of tribuneship. Roman Frontier in Wales does not list a RIB number for it. 4. Lower part of a milestone of fine grained igneous rock (the end of sandstone imports from Deva) 56cm tall, 25cms wide and 9cm thick. Found about 6.5 kms W of Kanovium Fort on the north side of the Roman road heading for Segontium, at the ‘pass of the two stones’ Bwlch y Ddeufaen. The pass does not take its name from Roman milestones but from two megalithic standing stones erected at the pass. Discovered by Mr Frank Jowett of Rhos on Sea in 1954. The stone is RIB 2267 and now is housed in the National Museum of Wales, the inscription is as follows

......INV(icto) AVG(usto) DIVI CONSTANTI PI(i) A(u)G(usti) FILIO For The ...Constantinus Unconquered Augustus, son of the deified Constantius, Pius, Augustus.

The stone was erected under Constantine the Great, we cannot be any more precise than to say the stone was put up between 307-37, as the traditional list of titles that were added to earlier stones ceased to be used at the time of Constantine, his reign was a lengthy one and it could be anywhere between these dates. 5. Found close to number four, another similar dating milestone to the above.

Milestones Found in Flintshire, and Caernarvonshire

1. Rectangular milestone of dolerite, 1.19 m long, 30 cm. wide, 29 cm. thick, chamfered along the right margin for a width of 7.5 cm. Found about 1931 close to the churchyard wall of Gwaenysgor, 1.6 km. SE. of Prestatyn, and then reburied. Presumably it had been brought at some time earlier from the Roman road, which was 6.4 km. further S, which was running west from the legionary base at Chester on route to the auxiliary fort on the west bank of the Conwy river at Caerhun/Kanovium. The side chamfer would have been done at a later point subsequent to any Roman use, when it was adapted for use as a building stone for a house in the village of Gwaenysgor. In 1956 it was rediscovered, and at the publishing of The Roman Frontier in Wales, 2nd edition 1969 was on loan to Mr T Pennant Williams, Garth, Ffordlas, Prestatyn.

NVM(ini) AVG(usti) IM]P(eratori) CAE]S(ari) M(arco) A]VR(elio) S]EVER]O ALEX]AND[R]/O <A> PI/O FEL(ici) / AVG(usto) T/ RIB(unicia) POT(estate) /[P]ROCO(n)[S(uli)]/i[. To the Deity of the Emperor: for the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, Pius, Fortunate, Augustus, with tribunician power, Proconsul...

This milestone dates to A.D. 231-5, as Severus Alexander is proconsul during these years. It is unusual for the emperor’s title Numini Augusti is not seen on milestones recovered in other parts of the Roman Empire, it has one parallel, and this is also on a Welsh milestone, no 2. below. No R.I.B number for this milestone, but references to it can be found in J.R.S 47 (1957) 230, pl XIII, 2 Flintshire Historical Society, Proc. 17 (1957) 90 (T. Pennant Williams). 2. Column, probably a milestone, with dimensions not recorded. Found about 1806 near Ty Coch, Pentir, about 3 km. S of Bangor, and about 11 km. NE of Caernarvon auxiliary fort (Segontium). Once in the possession of Mr. Davies of Bangor but lost before 1846.

NVM(ini) AVG(usti) / IMP(erator) CAESAR M(arcus) / AVREL(ius) ANTONINUS / PIVS FE[L]IX AVG(ustus) ARAB(icus) / [...] IX To The Deity of the Emperor : the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius, Fortunate, Augustus, Conqueror of Arabia, .....

This milestone dates to A.D. 212-17, and records the Severan emperor Caracalla. Caracalla in a false and vain attempt at fame, used the titles of his predecessor of A.D. 138-60 Antoninus Pius, which seemed to carry more kudos than his own name. This milestone was discovered on the line of the Kanovium to Segontium road, as with R.I.B 2266, no 2. above, it continues to show renovation of the road in the early years of the 3rd century, closely similar in date to the Segontium aqueduct inscription R.I.B 430. A.D 198-209, it would seem to show the roads received maintenance after the forts had been refurbished, and shows us that at this time North Wales was still of great importance to Roman Britain. R.I.B 2264. 3. Roughly quadrangular milestone of gritstone, 1.39 m. high, 33 cm. wide, 20 cm. thick. Found in, or before 1795, reused as a door jamb in a house which was part of the Romano-British hut group of Cae’r- Bythod, 8 km. E. of Segontium, and about 400 m. NE. of the medieval site of Llys Dinorwic. About 1820 it was removed to Pantafon House, Llanrug, today it can viewed at the Segontium Site Museum.

IMP(eratori) / Q(uinto) TRO(iano) / DECIO / [C(a)E]SA[RI / P(io) F]EL(ici) For the Emperor Quintus Trojanus Decius Caesar, Pious, Fortunate



© Kanovium Project

A.D 249-51, Trajanus Decius, Troiano is a mistake for Traiano. This stone appears to have moved 2 km. from the original set up point, again on the link road between Kanovium and Segontium, this is strange as building stone is abundant in the area of Cae’r-Bythod settlement, so why a 2 km. shift? The Roman Frontier in Wales suggests that as there are slate quarries nearby the settlement, it may have stood next to another nearer Roman road linking the quarries to the main highway. I would disagree with this possibly on the grounds that usually at this date in the mid 3rd century quarries were in private hands, milestones only got erected by Roman Authority, so a private utility road would be unlikely to receive an Imperial milestone. So it may have simply arrived at Cae’r-Bythod because someone, somehow, recognized that this stone meant something, possibly stolen with rebellious intent, at a later point when no Roman troops were stationed in the area. R.I.B 2263 The instance of a minor road linking a main Roman highway to a quarry can be compared to a similar road linking the main St Asaph to Caerhun Roman road. As this road crosses the basin of the River Dulas, just east of Dolwen, grid reference 894-743, a branch road (still possibly encountered today as a rise in the modern B5381, as vehicles cross Garnedd crossroads) was discovered by Abergele Field Club during the 1960’s. Uncovered by excavation at Ty’n-ddol farm the road appeared to be heading for quarries above the modern village of Dawn, it was narrower than the usual Roman military road at just over 2 metres wide, it was slabbed with slate, possibly obtained from the quarry above, which was not common military practice (though this is similar to what the Electricity Engineers discoveries while constructing pylons east of Bwylch y Deufaen in the 1960’s) eitherway local conjecture was that this was only a link road, and not the main Kanovium highway as was also a myth current in the area at this time. This myth was possibly only dispelled by Edmund Waddelove’s successful plotting of the main route during the late 1970’s. No Roman finds were present during the Abergele Field Club section, but a nearby find of a quinarius of Titus found close by in the grounds of Coed Coch Hall points to early Roman activity in the area, found ‘buried quite deep’ during the late 19th century the coin was not residual and must be linked with nearby road construction.