a charity registered in England & Wales, no  1163854.

In 2016, to celebrate the work and legacy of Ivan Donald Margary, the 20th century’s most influential Roman roads researcher & historian, we held the Ivan D Margary Memorial Conferences in Portsmouth and York, the first time conferences devoted solely to the study of Roman roads had been held in Britain.

Both conferences were a huge success and clearly established need to bring people with common interests together. We are looking to establish  a regular annual Roman Roads Conference, held at a different venue every year, details to be announced shortly .

In the mean time, the programmes for the 2016 conferences are still available below , along with a selection of papers from them.

An Ivan D Margary Memorial Dinner was held on the Saturday evening at both events, and we included in the programmes a series of discussion groups, all of which helped create a strong feeling of inclusivity, involvement, and community, amongst speakers and delegates alike. Most importantly, the conferences were not merely a talking shop, but geared to promote further research and development. They have sparked a number of projects, including the establishment of a Roman Roads Forum, hosted by RRRA, which went live at Christmas 2016.

Ivan D Margary (1896 - 1976)

It is no exaggeration to say that Ivan Donald Margary had more influence over our understanding of the Roman road network in Britain than any other individual in modern times, and arguably still does today. To celebrate the work and legacy of the 20th century’s most influential Roman roads researcher & historian, in 2016 we brought together a diverse mix of speakers including internationally renowned academics, Romanists and Roman roads researchers for the country’s first ever conferences devoted to the study of Roman roads.

Held on the 3rd - 4th  September at the University of Portsmouth, and on the 12th & 13th November at the Burn Hall Hotel, Huby, York, the conferences marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Ivan Margary, and 120 years since his birth. Their aim was to explore how we can better understand the Roman road network in Britain and the strategic planning that underpinned it. They looked at just how much our knowledge of the Roman road network in Britain has developed since his death in 1976, and looked at how new technologies and approaches may move our understanding still further forward in the years to come.