Via Devana is the name given to aRoman Road in England that ran fromColchester in the south-east, throughCambridge in the interior, and on toChester in the north-west. These were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that the main reason the road was constructed was military rather than civilian. The Latin name for Chester isDeva and 'Via Devana' is thus 'The Chester Road'. Colchester wasColonia Victricensis, 'the City of Victory', and lays claim to be the oldest Roman city in Britain. The Via Devana had little civilian rationale and the road eventually fell into disuse as it was not possible to maintain extensive public works following withdrawal of the lastRoman legion fromBritain in 407. As a result, its route is difficult to find today, especially in its more northern reaches. It is omitted from some historians' maps for this reason but most nowadays accept its existence. The undocumented nameVia Devana was coined byCharles Mason, D.D., ofTrinity College, Cambridge, who was also rector ofOrwell, Cambridgeshire, andWoodwardian Professor of Fossils atCambridge University from 1734. During his life, Mason compiled a complete map of Cambridgeshire which was later published in 1808, long after his death.[1]
The Via Devana, from Colchester to Chester, enters this county (Leicestershire) nearCottingham, and, crossing theWelland, passes Medbourne, nearSlanston Mill(sic), whence it is continued between the two Strettons to Leicester, where it joins the Fosse, which, however, it soon leaves to proceed toGrooby, whence it is carried byAshby toBurton upon Trent.
— Topographical Dictionary of England (1831)
Its route ran north and west as follows:
52°36′01″N1°02′07″W / 52.60023°N 1.03529°W /52.60023; -1.03529