Novia
Attested: Novia at position 267 in the Ravenna Cosmography's tour of important harbour estuaries. Ptolemy's Καινος Λιμην ‘new harbour’ might be the same estuary.
Where: The modern river Rother plus its tributaries Brede, Tillingham etc, which have had a complex history of course changes over the centuries. In Roman times a big estuary was probably navigable past Newenden to Bodiam. This area is the target of a Roman road running south from Rochester and Maidstone, described by Margary (1946), which runs past Roman iron-working sites in the Weald to reach the coast at Hastings, next to Bulverhythe.
Name Origin: From Latin novus ‘new’, here probably referring to economic development, rather than to the naval/nautical nature of a river discussed here.
Notes: The Cosmography's sequence Lemana - Novia - Raxtomessasenua suggests that this site was between Dungeness and the Solent, where many harbours need to be considered along a coast of Sussex that has changed substantially since Roman times, due to sea-level rise, siltation, and longshore drift. Possibilities previously considered here and now rejected include:
- the Ouse, past Lewes and Bridge Farm, Wellingham, to reach the sea at Newhaven or Seaford;
- Cuckmere Haven with Seaford Camp on a high cliff at the coast apparently the target of Roman road Margary 144;
- Anderidos of the Notitia Dignitatum at Pevensey;
- Shoreham-by-Sea at the mouth of the river Adur, suggested by Rivet&Smith;
- Littlehampton at the mouth of the river Arun, with Pulborough upstream;
- Pagham Harbour, which still has a saltmarsh lagoon, rather like some Roman harbours;
- Chichester with the Roman “palace” nearby at Fishbourne.
Note also:
- Newenden (Domesday Newedene might preserve a trace of this name.
- Bodiam Castle has a moat in the playing-card shape characteristic of Roman forts.
- A similar strategic situation applied at Novitia near the apex of the Solway Firth.
- The Isle of Oxney nearby is a strong candidate to claim the island of Insenos named by the Cosmography.
You may copy this text freely, provided you acknowledge its source as www.romaneranames.uk, recognise that it is liable to human error, and try to offer suggestions for improvement.
Last edited 7 September 2025 To main menu