Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad portum Dubris" - from London to the port of Dover. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Wæcelinga Stræt, which has come to be understood as the A2 road from Dover to London, and then the A5 road from London to Wroxeter. Originally the word "street" simply meant a paved road (Latin: "via strata"), and did not have the modern association with populated areas.