I’m standing on the edge of a cricket field in Slinfold, where 1,163 residents share their village with something extraordinary. Beneath this quintessentially English scene of white-clad players and polite applause lies a 2,000-year-old Roman travel secret. The summer sun illuminates subtle contours in the grass—remnants of an ancient roadside staging post that once bustled with imperial messengers racing between London and the coast.
This isn’t just any archaeological site. I’m treading on what Time Team excavated in 2006: a rare Roman mansio (staging post) on Stane Street—the 90-kilometer Roman highway that once connected Londinium (London) to Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester). The contrast is startling: championship cricket matches played directly above where Roman officials once changed horses.
The forgotten Roman highway system that connected an empire
Slinfold guards one of only four mansiones discovered along Stane Street—government-run accommodations where imperial messengers, officials, and military personnel could rest, change transportation, and deliver vital communications. This particular site, known as Alfoldean, reveals a sophisticated network that kept Rome’s most distant province connected to the Empire.
“We’d been living here thirty years before learning our garden shed sits where Roman horses once stabled,” a villager tells me as we walk the perimeter of the cricket field. “Sometimes after heavy rain, you can still see the outline of walls they built millennia ago.”
The Roman travel infrastructure was remarkably sophisticated. Messengers could cover up to 50 miles per day by changing horses at these purpose-built complexes. Each mansio included accommodations, stables, baths, and storage facilities—the ancient equivalent of a roadside service station with hotel attached.
What makes Slinfold’s mansio exceptional is how it contrasts with the village’s modest footprint. In an area of just 0.60 square kilometers, this tiny settlement preserves a critical piece of Roman Britain that most travelers rushing to larger Surrey villages completely miss.
Time Team’s discovery that changed archaeological understanding
The 2006 excavation by Channel 4’s Time Team revealed the mansio’s bank-and-ditch enclosure, robbed-out walls, and evidence of industrial activity. This wasn’t just a rest stop—it was a major logistical hub linking the province to Rome itself.
Walking along what was once Stane Street, I’m following the same route used by governors, legionaries, and messengers carrying orders from the emperor. Sarah photographs subtle undulations in the landscape—features that would be invisible to the untrained eye but represent the buried remains of Roman foundations.
“Unlike Bath or Hadrian’s Wall with their gift shops and crowds, here you can stand in silence and actually feel connected to Roman Britain. It’s just you and two thousand years of history.”
This authenticity is precisely what distinguishes Slinfold from overcrowded Cotswolds towns or commercialized Roman sites. Here, the past isn’t packaged for mass consumption—it’s preserved within a living community that values both its cricket tradition and its Roman foundations.
The site represents what archaeologists call “everyday Rome”—the practical infrastructure that maintained an empire rather than the grand monuments that celebrated it. In that sense, it offers a more authentic window into Roman Britain than many famous alternatives.
Where cricket matches meet Roman messengers
Slinfold’s unique juxtaposition of ancient and modern creates a visitor experience unlike anywhere else in Britain. The village cricket club plays directly above where Roman travelers once slept, creating a continuity of human activity spanning two millennia.
The countryside surrounding the village remains remarkably similar to what Roman travelers would have seen. Rolling Sussex hills, the source of the River Adur, and agricultural patterns that have persisted for centuries create a landscape where past and present blur.
This connection to medieval preservation practices makes Slinfold particularly valuable for understanding how communities maintain their heritage while evolving. Unlike places that sacrifice authenticity for tourism, Slinfold preserves both its Georgian architecture and Roman foundations with equal care.
For visitors seeking the real England, Slinfold offers something increasingly rare: a chance to experience history without interpretation panels, gift shops, or crowds. The Roman highway that once carried imperial messages now carries something equally valuable—an authentic connection to the past.
As I watch a cricket ball arc across the field where Roman messengers once hurried along their route, I’m struck by how this tiny village embodies something essential about England itself: the seamless integration of past and present, where ancient foundations support modern life without fanfare or pretension. In Slinfold, the layers of history aren’t exhibited—they’re inhabited.