Magiovinium was a Roman fort that stood just off the throughway known then and now as Watling Street .
The website of the Milton Keynes Museum describes how the military needs of the Romans led to the paving of Watling Street and the creation of the small fort called Magiovinium:
"From the earliest times it is thought that it was a track for the passage of man and beasts, providing an easier route from the gap in the Greensand escarpment at Brickhill to the fordable crossing of the Ouse at Stratford. With the coming of the Romans, the invasion force had a need for improved communications, and so a hardened road surface was required together with camps at about 12 mile intervals (representing a days march for an army with all its ancillary equipment). Magiovinium was established near to the site of the present Dropshort Farm, and probably originated as a tented encampment and later replaced by more substantial buildings. To the north and south were other stopping off places at Lactodorum (Towcester) and Durocobrovae (Dunstable). The road itself was typically about 24 feet wide to allow chariots to pass safely, and consisted of rammed gravel in the countryside, or stone paved surfaces in the larger towns, which were subject to greater wear and tear. The surface was cambered to allow water to drain, and was often raised on low embankments where it crossed marshy or low lying ground.
When the Romans departed these shores, roads generally fell into disrepair, and Watling Street was no different."
"From the earliest times it is thought that it was a track for the passage of man and beasts, providing an easier route from the gap in the Greensand escarpment at Brickhill to the fordable crossing of the Ouse at Stratford. With the coming of the Romans, the invasion force had a need for improved communications, and so a hardened road surface was required together with camps at about 12 mile intervals (representing a days march for an army with all its ancillary equipment). Magiovinium was established near to the site of the present Dropshort Farm, and probably originated as a tented encampment and later replaced by more substantial buildings. To the north and south were other stopping off places at Lactodorum (Towcester) and Durocobrovae (Dunstable). The road itself was typically about 24 feet wide to allow chariots to pass safely, and consisted of rammed gravel in the countryside, or stone paved surfaces in the larger towns, which were subject to greater wear and tear. The surface was cambered to allow water to drain, and was often raised on low embankments where it crossed marshy or low lying ground.
When the Romans departed these shores, roads generally fell into disrepair, and Watling Street was no different."
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