Duroliponte

1575 engraving showing the site of Duroliponte between Cambridge Castle and the bridge

Duroliponte or Durolipons was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of what is now the City of Cambridge.

The site of Roman Cambridge is Castle Hill, just north-west of the city centre. The Roman fort was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present Mount Pleasant, continuing across Huntingdon Road into Clare Street. The eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettle's Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill.

The site was originally an Iron Age hillfort in which the Romans may have constructed a small military station about AD 70. The settlement seems to have become civilian in nature around fifty years later. Most of the buildings discovered so far were of timber construction. They had both tiled and thatched roofs and some had painted plaster internal walls. Only one stone building has been located. The town went into decline during the 3rd century, but expanded after its walled defences were put in place a hundred years later. There were four gates and a cemetery to the south. Occupation seems to have continued until the Roman abandonment of Britain around 410, but it has been identified as the city named by Nennius as Cair Grauth, listed among the 28 cities of Britain in his work Historia Brittonum (albeit that the book was written long after, and when Anglo-Saxon Cambridge, Grantanceaster, was well established.

The settlement was served by the River Cam and two Roman roads: Akeman Street ran from Ermine Street north east through Cambridge to The Fens and the Via Devana ran north-west through the town on its way to Godmanchester.

Location

• Location map: 52°12’45"N, 0°6’51"E