Ermine Street Pub Crawl
- Daniel Bates
- Mar 6
- 9 min read
This is a side project (which is basically a pub crawl) I have done involving Roman Roads and my CaskFinder app on my cell phone. Whilst doing the Great North Road pub crawl from London to Edinburgh, learning the history of the former coaching road and ticking off fantastic pubs along the way, the Great North Road does have another Roman Road which runs nearby (and in one part, the two roads shared the same piece of road which I will write about later on). The road is called Ermine Street which used to run through North London, Buntingford, Royston, across to Alconbury near Huntingdon (where it joins up with the Great North Road and bears off at Colsterworth, south of Grantham), Ancaster, Lincoln, and then the route splits into two, one goes over the Humber to York whilst the second route headed west to Bawtry (where it joins up the Great North Road again, goes through Doncaster before leaving at East Hardwick, south of Pontefract), Castleford, Tadcaster (where it crosses the Great North Road again) and into York (Eboracum). Both routes connected to Dere Street which is also another Roman Road which went to Falkirk, west of Edinburgh via Catterick and Galashiels. Does that make sense? Well here is a map to get a clearer picture.
History of Ermine Street
Ermine Street was built during the first thirty years following the Roman invasion of 43 AD. As mentioned, the route started in London and built northwards to York as the conquest of Britain progressed. Most of the original route has gone now but a lot of footpaths and roads have been built on top of the road, so there are still signs along the route that the road is still visible. Ermine Street and Dere Street were the primary route for the Romans to travel from London to the Hadrian’s Wall and into Scotland.
According to historians, no one knows what the Romans called this road. However, what they do know is that the name is of Saxon origin, Earingstraet. The Earningas tribe lived in present-day West Cambridgeshire between Royston and Huntingdon. So it looks like the tribe gave the road its name.
I will hope to write and bring you more history as I do the route (and bring you the best of the pubs along the way).
Stage one: London to Royston - Sunday 16th February 2025
Winter is nearly finished here in England and the weather is getting better for cycling. It was cold and a strong north facing wind was the pleasantries for the ride. I usually don’t ride long distances in February but I took a chance. An early train ride into London and a cycle round to the City of London to Bishopsgate which is where Ermine Street started (and finished depending which direction the coaches were going). Bishopsgate was one of the gates in London’s former defensive wall. It was first built in Roman times and then rebuilt twice in the 15th and 18th centuries but was permanently demolished in 1760. The Bishopsgate name is attributed to Earconwald who was the Bishop of London during the 7th century. These days, there is nothing to see here on the crossroads of Wormwood Street, Camomile Street and Bishopsgate apart from a Bishops Mitre (hat) marker on a side of the building which is above the Boots chemist. In the past, all the coaches would start their journeys north from here. The place would be bustling with people, carts, horses in the 16th, 17th, 18th centuries etc and the Roman Armies and people would start their journeys north to build and conquer from here.
Back to today, there is bugger all to see apart from skyscrapers, Liverpool Street railway station and of course a lot of pubs. As I said, I will also tick off the pubs along the route which are featured on the way. However there isn’t any at the start of the route, the nearest on the app being the Kings Arms on Wormwood Street, just a few steps to the west of the starting point. As it was the first thing on a Sunday morning and no sod in sight, the pub was of course, shut. However I was here during the Christmas period, so I was able to tick off this Greene-King owned pub. Also I ticked off The Woodins Shades which is about a two minute walk north on the road from Bishopsgate, again, same as the Kings Arms, it was shut first thing on a Sunday Morning but was able to tick this off a few weeks previous.
Cycling north along the present day A10 which was built on top of Ermine Street for most of the way through North London, it was a boring affair. Luckily there was no traffic and a few red double-decker buses overtaking me as I went through beautiful places like Shoreditch, Hoxton, Dalston, Stoke Newington, Tottenham (where I got a close up view of the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium), to where I bear off the A10 and went through Edmonton before returning to the A10 and past through Enfield.
The pubs passing this section I did were the Rochester Castle, a Wetherspoons pub in Stoke Newington for a cup of tea. Then the Elbow Room at Bruce Grove in the Tottenham area, The Lamb on Church Street in Edmonton and then the Rising Sun on Winchester Road in North Edmonton.
Just before the M25 (the main motorway which surrounds London), I beared left along Bullsmoor Lane and turned right onto Bulls Cross Ride (where Tottenham Hotspur's training ground is), over the M25 until I reached Cheshunt. Ermine Street runs midway between two royal estates: the Georgian-era Theobalds, now a four-star hotel, and an earlier ruin, where a young Elizabeth I summered and James VI of Scotland came to live after his coronation in London as James I of England and Ireland.
It was time to go a bit off roading. This is where I saw the first signs saying Ermine Street. Not official ones, but it told visitors to the area that this is where the route went. So through woodland I went, getting bogged down in places, mud all over me, however this didn’t put me off as I expected whilst doing research. Hey, even the sun came out for this part, it was nice to see blue skies after weeks and weeks of dull grey clouds. Passing Hertfordshire Zoo (formerly Paradise Wildlife Park), I eventually land up at Hertford Heath village, and the COLLEGE ARMS pub.
The route heads north via another footpath and across fields to Rush Green and that was the end of the off-road adventure. Ermine Street goes via the western suburbs of Ware but there is a railway line and the River Lea to navigate so I headed into the centre of Ware by going in from the south. A quick food stop here before heading north and I rejoined the Ermine Street route halfway up the hill on Wadesmill Road. Across the present-day A10 and I was following the old A10 before the bypass of the next few villages I would cycle through was built. Thunbridge and then Wadesmill where the FEATHERS INN was a nice pub to stop in before going through High Cross and Collier’s End. This would have actually been called Ermine Street on street signs, the first time this has happened on this route for present day roads. Across the A10 and I took the safe way through Puckeridge before rejoining north of the village. From here, I cycled on a footpath alongside the A10 as it is a bloody dangerous road. Also the pub around here, THE GOLDEN FLEECE has to be checkec, a few steps away from Ermine Street in the village of Braughing
In this area joining the A10 is an important late Iron Age and Roman settlement located at Wickham Hill near Braughing which covered about thirty-sex hectares of land on a low chalk ridge between the River Rib and Ermine Street. This area was an important junction for the settlement as Ermine Street was located to the west and to the south was Stane Street, another Roman Road which started from here and headed east to Colchester, of which much of it these days is the A120 road which was built on top of it.
Following the present day A10, I went through the small town of Buntingford which had lovely timber buildings in the centre, but a massive new-build housing estate in the north. Buckland and Reed were next and passed the famous cafe which hikers, cyclists and motorcyclists love to stop off for a fry-up on a Sunday morning. I remember going there when I was with Hitchin Nomads Cycling Club back in the early 2000s, I haven’t been back since. I wondered if the breakfasts were still fantastic. I must return one day. I did think about stopping, but with this wind battering my pacing, I just wanted to get to Royston. I eventually made it into Royston and made it to the train station. I didn’t hang around Royston long, but I will do all the Ermine Street sightseeing on the next stage later in the week.
Cask Marque Pubs completed on this stage (ones without a number are pubs I did but are not on Cask Marque or the Cask Finder app or they are not on Ermine Street but located just off it and I was thirsty on the ride!):
Kings Arms - Wormwood Street (nearest to the start at Bishopsgate)
1 - The Woodins Shades - Bishopsgate, City of London
2 - The Rochester Castle - Stoke Newington
3 - The Elbow Room - High Road, Tottenham
- The Lamb, Church Street, Edmonton
4 - The Rising Sun, Winchester Road, Edmonton
College Arms, Hertford Heath
5 - The Feathers Inn, Wadesmill
The Golden Fleece, Braughing
Stage 2: Royston to Huntingdon - Thursday 20th February 2025
Returning to Royston, this is an important town on Ermine Street. I am not sure what life would be like in this area back in Roman Times, However going through the town west to east is the Icknield Way, which is Britain’s oldest road which goes from near Dunstable in the west and finishes up in Thetford area of Norfolk where it connects to a road which heads to the North Sea. The road was here way before the Romans came. Also just east of the town centre on the Icknield Way is the Greenwich Mean Time line and this would be the closest point of Ermine Street which is near that line.
Here, Ermine Street follows the route of Royston High Street, before travelling north along what is now known as Kneesworth Street and towards Huntingdon on Old North Road or, as it is less romantically named beyond the A505, the A1198 which I would be cycling today.
For fans of travel trivia, before the reconfiguration around Caxton and Papworth, the A1198 between Royston and the A14 was, at 19 miles, the longest straightest stretch of road in the country but title now goes to the A15 in Lincolnshire (and believe it or not, it is Ermine Street yet again with that title!). As befits the confluence of two major trading routes (Icknield Way and Ermine Street), Royston has enjoyed an abundance of inns and beer houses through the centuries (there are more than sixty identified sites and there were forty-eight pubs in Royston in 1900) refreshing weary travellers and their animals. I checked out the members bar at ROYSTON GOLF CLUB, The ROYSTON CONSERVATIVE CLUB, KING JAMES, THE MANOR HOUSE, and THE JOLLY POSTIE.
This was a very quick ride with a strong southernly wind behind me and with only one stop in Caxton to pay a visit to THE CHUBBY FROG (the new owner wanted to call it that for no reason whatsoever), I was passing through Godmanchester and hitting up Huntingdon trains station for my train home to Stevenage. A fantastic few hours and can't wait to do stage three.
Cask Marque Pubs completed on this stage (ones without a number are pubs I did but are not on Cask Marque or the Cask Finder app or they are not on Ermine Street but located just off it and I was thirsty on the ride!):
Royston Golf Club, Baldock Road (Icknield Way), Royston
Jolly Postie, Baldock Road (Icknield Way), Royston
The Manor House, Melbourn Street (Icknield Way), Royston
1 - King James - Kneesworth Street (Ermine Street), Royston
2 - Royston Conservative Club - Kneesworth Street (Ermine Street), Royston
3 - The Chubby Frog - Caxton
4 - Black Bull, Godmanchester
5 - George Hotel, Huntingdon
For the next part of Ermine Street from Huntingdon to Stamford to Colsterworth in Lincolnshire (a village on the current A1 south of Grantham) was built over the Old Great North Road (London to Edinburgh) and used as a coaching route. So for that section with the history and pubs, please read this on my Great North Road blog here (there is quite a bit). Then I will be back on Ermine Street cycling, pubbing, learning the history with stage three from Colsterworth very soon.
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