Bettany Hughes on the Roman Crossing, Brentford by VocalEyesAD

Bettany Hughes on the Roman Crossing, Brentford

Listen to Bettany Hughes on the Roman Crossing, Brentford 0:00/0:00

The River Thames at Brenford
The Roman Crossing, Brentford

The Roman Crossing is at Brentford in West London, on the North side of the Thames. It is possibly the site where Julius Caesar and his army forded the river during his second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He writes about the banks of the Thames being fortified with rows of sharpened stakes - and rows of sharpened stakes were discovered when the river was being dredged to make Brentford Dock in the 19th Century.

From the balcony of the Watermans Arts Centre, built on the river’s bank, you can see two little tree-covered islands, Lot’s Ait and Brentford Ait, the latter home now to a bird sanctuary.

“So here I am, on the balcony at Watermans Arts, looking out over Lot’s and Brentford Aits, watching the cormorants doing their impossibly long dives and maybe, just maybe, looking at the very spot where Rome’s greatest military commander came ashore."

Bettany Hughes worked with VocalEyes Describer Roz Chalmers on the description of the riverside area of the Thames in Brentford which forms the possible site of the Roman Crossing.