📷 Photo by David Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Once a bustling hub in Roman Britannia, this site, known as Spinis, served as a crucial posting station on the ancient Portway.
This important Roman road linked the provincial capital, Londinium, with the thermal spa town of Aquae Sulis, modern-day Bath. Located just outside present-day Speen and close to Newbury, it was a place where imperial messengers and travellers would have rested and changed horses, forming a vital part of the Roman Empire's communication network.
While you won't find dramatic standing ruins here like some other Roman sites, what makes Spinis rewarding is the rich history lying just beneath your feet. Extensive archaeological investigations have revealed evidence of buildings, roads, and daily life from nearly two millennia ago. You can walk the landscape where a vibrant Roman community once thrived, imagining the strategic importance of this place in Roman Britain. It's the sort of spot that invites you to picture legions and merchants passing through, bringing the past to life through what the ground tells us. If Roman history interests you, it's worth adding to your itinerary for a quiet moment of reflection on a distant era. Newbury, a vibrant market town, is just a short drive away and offers plenty of amenities along with further historical attractions of its own.
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