Cylchgronau Cymru

^rt'faeriirgta €mtirtn%i%. FIFTH SERIES.—VOL. IX, NO. XXXVI. OCTOBER 1892. THE COURSE OF THE ROMAN ROAD FROM DEVA TO VARIS. BY GEORGE \V. SHRUBSOLE, ESQ., P.G.S. (Read at Holyioell, August 20, 1890.) § I.—The Roman Road from Deva to Varis not yet Discovered. Cause of Failure. For fifty years or more the course of the Roman road between Deva and Varis has been diligently sought for by antiquaries, as the volumes of the Arehceologia Cambrensis bear ample witness. So little success has rewarded the search that a writer, in 1854, expressed the opinion that in Flintshire all trace of the road in question was unknown.1 Judge Wynne-Ffoulkes thus summarises the position : " The course of the Roman road from Chester to Bodfari has often occupied my thoughts, and in the localities intervening I have in vain sought for its trace : I say in vain, for I have found nothing positive among them. The first diffi¬ culty is the loss of its egress from Chester. I can find nothing which gives any clue to this ; and next, we are not yet quite sure as to the site of Varis."2 Since this was written discoveries have been made in various parts of the county, which tend to throw 1 Arch. Cambrensis, 1854, p. 189. 2 Ibid., p. 272. 5th bbb., vol. ix. 17