Durolevum
Attested: Durolevo on iter 2 of the Antonine Itinerary; Durolevo on the Peutinger map
Where: Somewhere on the London side of Ospringe, Kent, perhaps near TQ979615. A roadside settlement, not a fort. A vestige of the ancient name may survive in modern Lewson Street.
Name origin: Duro ‘transport hub’ plus as second element a lavant intermittent river of the type discussed here. This analysis outranks alternatives based on Latin levo ‘to elevate’ or levo ‘to smoothe’ or laevus ‘left’. The Faversham Society's mention of “creek ... an ancient landscape protected by embankments” suggests that the parallel to levee should be taken very seriously.
Notes: The Itinerary's distance figure is 5 Roman miles less than one might naively expect for a single point on a straight Watling Street, but the correct location must be somewhere near the valley whose former extent can be guessed from flood-risk maps. The Roman road crossed the Westbrook (leading to Faversham Creek) at about TQ99516113, where Roman archaeology has been found, but that location is too far east to fit the Itinerary mileages. Even shifting focus to the archaeology found at Syndale, here and here does not really fit. In Roman times two main valleys descended there from the North Downs towards the Thames. In the eastern one, the Westbrook ran until the 1960s as a small but powerful spring-fed stream .
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Last edited 3 March 2026 To main Menu