Fosse Way Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter ("Isca Dumnoniorum") in South West England to Lincoln ("Lindum Colonia") in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester ("Lindinis"), Bath ("Aquae Sulis"), Cirencester ("Corinium") and Leicester ("Ratae Corieltauvorum"). It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at "Venonis" (High Cross) south of Leicester, and joined Ermine Street at Lincoln. The word "Fosse" is derived from the Latin "fossa", meaning "ditch". For the first few decades after the Roman invasion of Britain in CE 43, the Fosse Way marked the western frontier of Roman rule in Iron
Celtic language decline in England a "vicus", and others end in elements denoting Roman features, such as "-caster", denoting "castra" ('forts'). There is a substantial body of names along the lines of "Walton"/"Walcot"/"Walsall"/"Walsden", many of which must include the Old English word "wealh" in the sense 'Celtic-speaker', and "Comberton", many of which must include Old English "Cumbre" 'Britons'. These are likely to have been names for enclaves of Brittonic-speakers─but again are not that numerous. In the last decade, however, scholars have stressed that Welsh and Cornish place-names from the Roman period seem no more likely to survive than Roman names in England: 'clearly name loss