Crococalana – The Roman Town That Time (Almost) Forgot

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If you’ve ever driven past the village of Brough, just a few miles from Newark-on-Trent, and thought, “This field looks suspiciously historic,” you were probably right. Beneath those unassuming acres lies Crococalana—a Roman town that once stood as a key waypoint on the Fosse Way, the empire’s answer to the M1.

Crococalana (try saying that three times fast) appears in the Antonine Itinerary, the Roman Empire’s 2nd-century version of Google Maps. It was listed on Iter VI, the route from London to Lincoln, and Iter VIII, from York to London.

While scholars still debate the exact meaning of the name, it likely had more to do with roads and rest stops than reptiles.

Strategically plonked between Margidunum (near Bingham) and Lindum Colonia (modern Lincoln), Crococalana was the Roman equivalent of a motorway junction—minus the Greggs. It was just 7 miles from Ad Pontem, forming a triangle of Roman travel and trade that helped shape the early development of the Newark region.

Crococalana began as a Roman fort, but quickly evolved into a civilian settlement. The site was a rectangular defended area, roughly 700 by 500 feet, surrounded by ditches. Inside, archaeologists have found crop marks indicating pits, floors, and walls—the Roman version of a housing estate 

There’s even evidence of a separate enclosure with a rectangular building, possibly a mansio—a kind of Roman Travelodge for imperial officials. This suggests Crococalana wasn’t just a military outpost; it was a proper town with infrastructure, trade, and probably a few gossiping neighbours.

Excavations have unearthed:

• Coins

• Pottery

• Glassware

• Iron tools

• Objects made of bronze, bone, and horn

• Painted wall plaster, hinting at some rather posh Roman décor

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These finds suggest a thriving community with a touch of luxury—think underfloor heating and mosaic envy.

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🏙️ Crococalana and Newark-on-Trent

While Crococalana lies just outside Newark’s modern boundaries, its influence was felt throughout the region. The Fosse Way connected it directly to Ad Pontem and Margidunum, forming a Roman triangle of trade, travel, and tactical advantage. Newark-on-Trent, though not a Roman town itself, owes much of its early development to the infrastructure laid down by these ancient neighbours 

Today, Crococalana is mostly farmland. No grand ruins, no columns, no toga-clad tour guides. But beneath the soil lies a rich archaeological record, and the site is protected as a Scheduled Monument. Artifacts from Crococalana can be found in museums across the East Midlands, including Newark’s own National Civil War Centre—because why not mix your Romans with your Roundheads? 

Crococalana may not have the fame of Pompeii or the glamour of Rome, but it played a vital role in the Romanisation of Britain—and in the early story of Newark-on-Trent. It was a place where soldiers became settlers, roads became trade routes, and history quietly unfolded beneath the Lincolnshire soil.

So next time you’re driving past Brough, give a little wave to the fields. You’re passing through history, even if it’s wearing a very convincing disguise of wheat.