Monument record MDR10814 - Possible section of Ryknield Street Roman road, Old Tupton

In searching for traces of Ryknield Street Roman road in the area around Egstow Hall, Old Tupton, in the 1950s a prominent embankment about 40 yards long and 5 ft high was noted crossing a stretch of marshy ground on the south side of a small stream bordering a field to the south of Egstow Hall Farm. A low broad mound, plainly the remains of a road of some kind, faced this in the north bank of the stream. In May 1954 excavation across this mound revealed that it was indeed a surviving portion of the Roman road, although in a relatively poor state of preservation. Only a few of the surface stones survived, and a post-Roman deposit of earth about a foot thick had been placed on the top. The core of rammed gravel and clay still survived underneath, however, and it was noted that the width of the road was 17ft. On the top of the embankment on the south side of the stream, surface metalling was exposed immediately below the turf. (1) If this identification is correct, it would mean that the presently accepted course of the Roman road in this area as lying further west would be wrong.