‘Failure of Roman engineering on industrial scale’: discovery of water wells in England proves trial and error

Astonishingly preserved' remains in Cambridgeshire give clues to substantial Romano-British industrial settlement

The Romans were remarkable engineers, thousands of years ahead of us on everything from underfloor heating to plumbing. But even they had their off-days and made mistakes, a new discovery reveals.

Two wells built in the first century AD have been found in a field in Cambridgeshire by archaeologists from Mola (Museum of London Archaeology), and they reveal the trials and errors involved in a complex design and construction.