Romano-British Port

Skegness, Lincolnshire

NGRef: TF5663 OSMap: LR122 Type: Probable Port and Settlement
Roads
W (20) to BANNOVALVM Probable Ferry: SE (12) to Holme next the Sea

That there was some kind of port or civil settlement near Skegness is borne out by the course of the Roman road from Lincoln (Margary#27 Lincoln-Burgh-le-Marsh [36 miles]), all trace of which is unfortunately lost some 5 miles to the north-west, but its intended terminus is unmistakably the headland at Gibraltar, just south of the modern seaside town. The topography in this area is dominated by the marshes and shifting sands at the mouth of the Steeping River, the meandering course of which has erased all traces of any Roman occupation.

The suspected port here very likely communicated with the known ports across the Metaris Aestuarium (The Wash) near Hunstanton and at Branodunum (Brancaster).

See: Roman Roads in Britain : Volume I South of the Foss Way - Bristol Channel by Ivan D. Margary (London 1955);
Historical Map and Guide - Roman Britain by the Ordnance Survey (3rd, 4th & 5th eds., 1956, 1994 & 2001).

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