This is the site of a Roman timber bridge crossing the River Rother immediately south of the modern Bodiam Bridge, East Sussex, dated broadly to the 1st–3rd centuries AD. It carried a road associated with the Wealden iron industry, linking inland production sites to a riverside loading point on what was then a tidal navigable estuary reaching far further inland than today.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The bridge formed part of the transport infrastructure serving the eastern Weald iron-producing zone, allowing extracted iron (and likely other goods) to be moved to the Rother for shipment downriver, probably towards a Channel coastal outlet near Rye. Its proximity to the substantial Romano-British landing place and iron-working complex at Bodiam makes it a key element in the regional industrial economy, likely under at least partial state or Classis Britannica oversight given Wealden iron's strategic importance.
Investigations along the Rother in this area, including work by the Romney Marsh Research Trust and earlier observations, have recovered Roman timber piling, quay structures, tile (including Classis Britannica-stamped examples from the wider Bodiam complex), and pottery, with the bridge inferred from alignments of timbers and the projected line of the road. Detailed published excavation specifically of the bridge structure itself is limited, and much of what is reconstructed depends on associated river
This is the site of a Roman timber bridge crossing the River Rother immediately south of the modern Bodiam Bridge, East Sussex, dated broadly to the 1st–3rd centuries AD. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a bridge site from the Roman period in Britain.
Romano-British site S of Bodiam Bridge is classified as a Roman bridge — a infrastructure site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Paved ford crossing the line of the Roman road at Iden Green (7.3 km), Little Farningham Roman iron production site (10.2 km), Beauport Park Archaeological Site (10.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Romano-British site S of Bodiam Bridge