The Romans founded the settlement and named it Calcaria from the Latin word for lime kilns, reflecting the importance of the area's Magnesian Limestonegeology as a natural resource for quarrying. The nature of the settlement is uncertain.[1] It is possible that it started as an Imperial staging post with a mansio because of its location at a river crossing on the road from Danum (Doncaster) to Eburacum (York). Just to the north-west is the Roman fort at Newton Kyme (possibly Praesidium) dating from the 4th century. Mileages on the Antonine Itinerary suggest that Calcaria may have lain well west of Tadcaster.
