Go to this location: What3Words ///crew.yards.shop
A Roman road (Ryknield or Icknield Street) runs through Birmingham, coming from Alcester in the south towards Wall near Lichfield in the north. Some historians believe the route of this ancient road passes through Beoley and Kings Norton, over the River Rea at Lifford and follows the modern Lifford Lane and Pershore Road in Stirchley. From there passes through Selly Park and past Edgbaston Parish Church before following what is now Great Hampton Row, Wheeler Street and Wellhead Lane. It crosses the River Tame at Holford, stretching upwards to Kingstanding and Sutton Park where it can still be seen in near-original form, made of gravel and pebble, it is 60 foot wide and is flanked by ditches.
Other historians argue that Icknield Street took a different route from the Pershore Road, going by way of part of Metchley Lane, Harborne Road, Monument Road and Icknield Street and then crossing the Tame to the west of Holford. This direction is strengthened by the presence of a Roman fort at Metchley. The two routes proposed for the Roman road of Icknield Street may well be both right and represent separate roads, and there is also evidence of farms from the Roman period in Kings Norton and Sutton Coldfield – and of pottery manufacture in Perry Barr. More tantalisingly, shards of Roman pottery found in Moor Street and Park Street give a hint of perhaps a Roman farm in the Bull Ring area. All roads may have led to Rome, but some Roman roads led to Birmingham.
The remains of Metchley Fort lie within the grounds of the QE Hospital and University of Birmingham. Archaeological digs tell us that the fort was built in the early years of the Roman Conquest of Britain, which began in the year 43 CE, to provide a base as the Roman Army moved north and west. It was defended by a turf and earth bank, a timber wall and towers, and double ditches. Inside were rows of timber buildings, including barrack blocks, a granary, a workshop and a store – all giving room for about 1,000 soldiers. The archaeological teams discovered pottery from around 60 CE including mixing bowls from Gaul (an ancient region that now includes France, Luxumbourg and Belgium) as well as storage vessels that would have contained olive oil from southern Spain. Pottery of a later date and defensive ditches suggest that the fort was occupied for about another 100 years, perhaps as a stopping point along the Roman road network for official travellers.
This bundle of papers and slides includes a memo from the Secretary of Bournville Camera Club on Cadbury Bros. Ltd. notepaper to C.B. Taylor with a reminder that he (Christopher Taylor) is to give a ‘lantern lecture’ (a slide show) about Icknield Street on 12th February 1940. The archive holds boxes of glass slides (blurred here) showing images of Icknield Street along its course including through Birmingham.