Long before Wiltshire became known for its chalk downs, market towns, and ancient monuments, the county formed part of an important Roman transport and trading network. One of the lesser known settlements from this period was Verlucio, located near present day Sandy Lane, north of Devizes.
Although very little of Verlucio remains visible today, archaeological evidence suggests it was once a thriving Roman market settlement positioned strategically along a major route through southern Britain. The town sat on Ermin Street, an important Roman road that linked Silchester, near modern Reading, with Cirencester and Gloucester further west.
Ermin Street played a significant role in moving goods, people, livestock, and military traffic across Roman Britain. It is often confused with the more famous Ermine Street, which connected London with Lincoln and York, but the two were entirely separate routes serving different regions of the country.
For the Romans, roads were critical infrastructure. They enabled rapid communication, trade, taxation, and military control across vast distances. Settlements such as Verlucio emerged naturally along these routes, providing places for merchants, travellers, and officials to stop, trade, and rest.
Excavations around Verlucio have uncovered Roman coins, pottery fragments, tools, and domestic artefacts, offering small but important glimpses into everyday life in Roman Wiltshire. These discoveries reveal a settlement connected to wider trade networks and influenced by the movement of goods and cultures across Britain and beyond.
Today the landscape around Sandy Lane appears quiet and rural, but beneath the fields lies evidence of a very different Wiltshire. One shaped by Roman engineering, commerce, and movement across the countryside nearly two thousand years ago.
It serves as another reminder that Wiltshire’s history stretches far beyond its famous stone circles and medieval towns. Beneath the chalk and farmland sits layer upon layer of human history still waiting to be uncovered.
