A Roman Road from Ely to Newmarket via Stuntney, Soham & Fordham

Margary Number: None

Distance: 13 miles

A route suggested by Marilyn Neil to the Roman Roads Research Association's Eastern Region. Initially I was doubtful as the description stated "The route leaves Stuntney on its South side as Soham Causeway, slightly west of the modern A412 and runs for 3 miles, generally straight, on low but dry ground rising to Town End". However leaving Stuntney the Lidar route is on the east side of the A142 (not A412). I think this must be just an error in the description.

At the Newmarket/Icknield Way end there is what looks like an old agger and parish boundary which matches the alignment perfectly so could well be the Roman line.

The agger in the fields from Stuntney to Soham is very convincing. At first I thought this road would be in the "probable" category but the more I looked the more I became convinced it is genuine.

Historic Counties: Cambridgeshire & Suffolk

Current Counties:Cambridgeshire & Suffolk

HER: Cambridgeshire & Suffolk

Lidar Image - Full Route

A very direct route mostly on what would be dry ground apart from the Ely to Stuntney section, which would have required a built-up causeway and bridge.

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Ely Cathedral towards Stuntney

The finger of dry land at Stuntney-Soham-Fordham could only be reached by constructing a causeway from below Ely. Compared to the Fen Causeway this would have been a much less onerous task for the Romans.

In the Roman era the River Cam flowed passed Stuntney and there is a suggested harbour. To reach Ely and the Akeman Way a bridge would have been required but not a problem for the Romans. Cambridgeshire HER reports a possible bridge at this spot too. The old Stuntney Causeway represents the route from Ely.

Stuntney Causeway

Hard to believe but 2000 years ago this is where the River Cam (Old Croft River) flowed! The causeway is built up about one metre above field level and there would have been a Roman bridge here. Cambridgeshire HER records evidence of a possible bridge here too (CHER07371).

The higher (dry) ground of Stuntney is also obvious.

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Looking over Stuntney towards Soham

This is by far the best evidence for this road. Between Stuntney to Soham then the agger is very clear in the fields east of the A142. This is not to be confused with the pipeline running on the west side of the A142. This is supported by the GoogeEarth aerial photo. Absolutely no doubt we have a Roman road here that obviously was a continuation of the Stuntney Causeway from Ely..

Townsend, Soham

Somebody must have known this was a Roman road! Roman(ish) portico at the Birches.

Image: Google

Route across Soham - OS First Edition Map & Google Image

The route heads into Soham down what is today called Townsend. The latter eventually has a right-angled bend but indicating the Roman line continued straight-on are a set of hedgelines/field boundaries visible on this First Edition OS map. Note also the kink in Qua Fen Lane (today Bushel Lane) where it crosses the Roman road agger.

Today this section is marked by a footpath (right).

Mapping from the National Library of Scotland under Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence.
Image: Google

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Soham to Fordham

The alignment continued very directly from Soham with a faint agger visible across open ground.

At Down Field the road bends left to get to Fordham for that prominent ridge of high ground. A very sensible route.

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Soham Roman Settlement and Road Ditches (inset aerial photo)

We are looking back here. On the near (east) side of Soham Lode there looks like a hump of a bridge approach. However, I would guess the lode has been "improved" over the years as an aid to drainage so little chance of the bridge itself leaving any trace.

Further on towards Downfield are the tell-tale sign of tramlines - the road ditches (inset GoogleEarth). We can be pretty sure of the route here as a result

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Fordham to Newmarket

From Down Field onwards there is only one dry route - along the ridge of high ground by Fordham. The Roman road had to go that way but unfortunately this today is overlais by Newmarket.

A straight line was not possibel (or sensible) instead we have a series of straights that run down the centre of the ridge. That has to be Roman.

Newmarket Road

We are looking back along Newmarket Road towards Fordham. We can see on the left edge that the road is on a built-up agger.This one of those straight sections running down the ridge of high ground.

Image: Google

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Newmarket to Fordham

Reverse view to above.

Working back from the Icknield Way there is an agger visible between the railways. There are also probable road ditches visible on several GoogleEarth historical aerial photos - one shown is 2015 (inset right). A modern footpath (horse path?) runs along it (inset left).

This straight line is an old parish boundary that runs from the Icknield Way and is actually aligned on Ely, which is what first drew my attention to it. There appears to be remains visible of the road ditches between the railway embankments (inset right). A footpath runs down the Roman line (inset left)..

It looks like the railway line was built on the Roman agger and the way both railways curve to get on this alignment is surely confirmation that there must have been a firm desirable foundation for them to target.

Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Newmarket to Littleport

There can be little doubt this road was a link to Littleport.

The Roman settlement at Littleport was located alongside the old course of the River Cam (Old Croft River) and included high status Roman buildings (Roberts, 1997). Further excavations there found a channel 25-30 metres wide and 2.4 metres deep, “possibly artificial or enhanced”, again with Roman material found throughout the fills (Kenney, 2001). More of a "big" port than a little one!

Lidar Image and Route Map 1

Ely to Soham

Lidar Image and Route Map 2

Fordham

Lidar Image and Route Map 3

Fordham to the Icknield Way

Back to Cambridge homepage

Last update: August 2026

© David Ratledge