The name Bravonium, as it appears in the Antonine Itinerary (Iter XII), is derived from the Romano-British word for quern. This suggests that there was either a hill or rock formation here that looked like a quern, or that there were quern quarries nearby. In the Upper Silurian series, the Leintwardine beds outcrop in the area and these consist of a calcareous sandstone which would have been suitable for making querns of a finer grade than could be obtained from Millstone grit, which was commonly used. Querns of this calcareous sandstone have been found at Viroconium.