Viroconium Cornoviorum believed to have been a masculine given name meaning "werewolf". The term "Cornoviorum" distinguishes the site as the Viroconium "of the Cornovii", the Celtic tribe whose "civitas" the settlement became. The original site of the Cornovian capital (also thought to have been named *Uiroconion) was a hillfort on the Wrekin. The site at Wroxeter was strategically located near the end of the primary Watling Street Roman trunk road that ran across England from Dubris (Roman Dover). During the early years the site was a key frontier position lying on the bank of the Severn river whose valley penetrated deep into
Devil's Highway (Roman Britain) Devil's Highway (Roman Britain) The Devil's Highway was a Roman road in Britain connecting Londinium (London) to Pontes (Staines) and then Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). The bridges at Pontes probably crossed Church Island. At Calleva, the road split into three routes continuing west: the Port Way to Sorviodunum (Old Sarum), Ermin Way to Glevum (Gloucester), and the road to Aquae Sulis (Bath). Its name probably derives from later ignorance of its origin and history, having been replaced for travellers by other roads nearby such as Nine Mile Ride, which runs parallel to the Roman road about a mile away but at