High Cross is the name given to the former crossroads of the Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

s of Watling Street

Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...

 and Fosse Way

Fosse Way

The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...

 in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located about a mile west of the village of Claybrooke Magna

Claybrooke Magna

Claybrooke Magna is a village in South West Leicestershire, England, close to the A5 trunk road.-External links:*...

 and was located in the hundred

Hundred (division)

A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...

 of Guthlaxton

Guthlaxton

Guthlaxton was a hundred of Leicestershire. It was in the south of the county, and covered Lutterworth and Wigston Magna. At the time of the Domesday Book, it was one of Leicestershire's four wapentakes, and covered a much larger area, including Market Bosworth and Hinckley, which would later be...

. It was the site of a Roman fort known as Venonis.

In 2008, this section of Watling Street is now a dual carriageway

Dual carriageway

A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...

 section of the A5, the southern part of the Fosse Way is a B road

B road

B roads may refer to:* B roads in Australia are secondary highways* B roads in Cyprus are main roads* B road in Germany are Bundesstrassen* B roads in Jamaica* B roads in Kenya are majors roads* B roads in Malaysia are roads in Selangor...

, and the northern route of the Fosse is now a track which forms a part of a long-distance path called the Leicestershire Round.

External links

• Venonis
• The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. X, No. 272, published September 8, 1827