Littleborough’s origins are traced back to the Roman occupation c100-400AD when the town was known as Segelocum. The Town owes it existence to the military road that was built from Doncaster (Danvm) to Ermine Street at Scampton and on to Lincoln (Lindvm). Here the Romans built a significant fortified town estimated to cover at least 40 acres (16 Hectares) at the crossing point of the river Trent. Segelocum was about 2/3 of the size of Roman Lincoln but only small scale excavation work has been done at the site so very little is known about the area. The means of crossing was a substantial causeway that was 5.5 metres wide supported by 3.7 metre long oak piles driven into the river bed. The causeway was covered in square rough stone slabs and crossed the river where in joined the road on the east bank at Marton. During those times the river was much wider and not as deep as it is now, it was described as being numerous streams or rivulets’ rather than a single channel as it is today. This explains why the Romans were able to cross it by means of a causeway rather than a large bridge. The river was deepened by the Trent Navigation Board in 1820 to allow navigation by large coal and grain barges, this is when the causeway was dismantled. From 1820 the only way to cross the river at this point was by a chain ferry, some of the mechanisms of this ferry can still be seen near the remains of the slip. The Ferry was abandoned about 1910 after it was sunk in an unfortunate collision with a Barge. We have been unable to locate an image of the Chain Ferry that ran between Littleborough and Marton on the Lincolnshire bank. However it would have been similar to this one on the River Witham at Bardney.
There is some debate over the meaning of the name Segelocvm. Some historians say the name means “Strong place” whilst others believe the name to mean “Grain place”. Judging by the number of querns found at Littleborough the latter seems the more obvious name. Whatever the correct meaning it was such an important place to the Romans that they placed a milestone found April 2nd, 1879, in the Bailgate, Lincoln, and reads as follows:
“Under the empire of Caesar Marcus Piavonius, Victorinus the fortunate, pious, unconquerable, Augustus, chief Pontiff, invested with tribunicial power, father of his country from Lindum to Segelocvm forteen miles” Indeed Segelvum is exactly 14 miles from that point, this milestone can be seen at the museum in Lincoln.
The second century Antonine Itinerary twice lists the Roman name for Littleborough, in the fifth itinerary as Segeloci and in the eighth as Ageloco, this could be a simple translation error or a reference to the River Trent Aegir, a tidal bore that sweeps up the river and named after the Norse god Aegir.
Finds of Roman materials are recorded from the 16th century onwards and a number of archaeological excavations have discovered much evidence of the Town that straddled the ancient street. The map shows where some of the buildings were located and the original position of the main street would have lined up with the site of the Causeway. It is not certain what these buildings were used for, they could have been military stores or just as likely civilian strip buildings. Judging by the amount and type of items found it is obvious that the site was occupied for many years. Several hearths or ovens have been discovered that are of the domestic or agricultural type rather than of industrial use. Many Roman coins and pottery sherds have been found dating from the 1st to the 4th Century AD giving an accurate date of the occupation. Numerous querns have been found giving evidence of the growing and processing of grain in the area. Excavations in the vicarage garden in 1970 uncovered a series of buildings with clay floors, plastered walls and tiled roofs, The earliest building phases were dated to the Flavian (69-96 AD) period, and these buildings were overlaid by structures of the late-Antonine (c160 AD)
In the late 17th century the land between the causway and what was then the Town was ploughed over. As a result the locals found numerous coins of Nerva (96-98AD), Trajan (c100AD), Hadrian (c130AD), and Constantine (c300AD), also a number of urns. In 1718 two Roman altars were found; in 1759 a curious watch-tally, or pass was discovered. In 1860 a new grave that was being dug in the Churchyard uncovered a Roman stone coffin that contained the remains of a wealthy female. This coffin is now in the cloisters of Lincoln cathedral. The Bassetlaw Museum in Retford have a substantial collection of items discovered at Littleborough.
The church dedicated to St. Nicholas is one of the smallest Churches in Britain. It is built on the site of a former Roman Alter. There is a perfect Norman chancel arch which has remained untouched, in the outer walls of the chancel and nave are fine specimens of Saxon herring-bone style masonry but this also includes a number of Roman terracotta tiles that were recycled during its construction. It is possible that William the Conqueror was involved in the re-construction of the current church as Littleborough was part of his great manor of Mansfield.
Inside the church there are two Saxon pillars giving evidence of an earlier building than the Norman. Further up stream at the Hamlet of Coates two Saxon stone coffin covers have been discovered giving further evidence of Saxon occupation of this area. The bells were later additions, one was hung in 1200 and the “new” bell hung in 1350 and are believed to be the oldest in Nottinghamshire.
The great legacy of the Roman occupation made Littleborough the most important crossing point of the River Trent north of Newark. The fine road and the massive causeway that linked the Road with Ermine Street to Lincoln and York has been used for over 1800 years. Indeed King Harold and his army passed this way after their victory against the Vikings at the battle of Stamford Bridge. Within days of this victory King Harold and his army passed over the great Causeway at Littleborough on their way to death and defeat at the hands of the Normans in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Two years later William the Conqueror used this same crossing to put down the Saxon insurrection of Earls Morcar and Edwin, and again in 1069 when the Normans ravaged the country from the Humber to the Tyne, and secured the City of York for the invaders.
Although the Romans were pagan, it is now accepted that Segelocum became “Tiovulfincacester” (Tiovulf’s encampment), the scene of the conversion of our forefathers to Christianity. Bede, in the 8th century, records the details of St. Paulinus’s mission in the 7th century (less than 200 years after the Roman occupation), he says the saint baptized “the multitude in the river Trent hard by the city, which in English is called Tiovulfincacester.” If St. Paulinus and his deacon James traveled southwards from York as far as Lincoln. He must have traveled the great Roman highway, so this must be the place of his passage across the Trent, and it is here that Bede’s records show that these baptisms took place in the shallow waters of this already historic ford? The first known use of the name “Littleborough” appears in the Great Domesday Book dated 1086 as Litelburg. People mentioned in this record as landowners are: Alvred; Alwine; Church of Flintham; Earl Aelfgar; Earl Morcar; Guy; King Edward as landholder; King William as landholder; Priest of Church of Flintham; Tosti; William.
Littleborough is the only Roman Town known in Nottinghamshire that has been in continuous occupation since the Romans built the road and causeway in the 1st century AD. It was once the major crossing point of the river Trent that lasted for 1800 years. The 19th century bridges at Gainsborough and Dunham and the coming of motorised vehicles and river traffic had a direct influence on both the Roman Causeway and the Ferry. Whatever the future holds for Littleborough one cannot deny its place in our history.