Dornford
Dornford, later known as Dornford Ferry was a village in Huntingdonshire, at the very northernmost part of the county in the meadows on the south bank of the River Nene, which marks the county's border with Northamptonshire to the north.
Dornford's is a story of decline and disappearance, as this was once a great town, but has now entirely vanished.
Dornford was the site of a substantial Roman garrison town, Durobivae Catevvelorum, which was built where a major Roman road, now called Ermine Street, crossed the River Nene. Major Roman finds have been made here, including the Water Newton Treasure found outside the town embankment; a hoard of 4th century Roman silver included six silver vessels, two of them inscribed with Christian dedications, seventeen silver votive plaques and a gold disc bearing Christian symbols, all from a time when Christians were being persecuted.
During the Anglo-Saxon period, Dornford was known as Dormceaster.
By the modern period, the road had moved away from the village and the Nene was bridged only at Stibbington to the west and Peterborough to the west and Dornford declined to become a hamlet. It was latterly known as 'Dornford Ferry' as a ferry crossing was provided in place of the bridge the river could still be crossed, but by the nineteenth century it had disappeared.
Outside links
- Roman Britain: Durobrivae Catvvelorvm
- The Water Newton Treasure: