Site record MDR11318 - Roman Road ('The Street') (conjectural route of), Buxton to Derby, High Peak and Derbyshire Dales
Type and Period (1)
- ROAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
- World Heritage Site
Full Description
Roman Road, Derby (Little Chester) to Buxton (31½ miles). A very well-marked alignment of a Roman road runs north-westward over the high ground between Derby and Buxton. The alignment begins near Minninglow, north of the village of Brassington; however, there is no sign of it between there and Derby, which may well be due to the difficulties of the ground making a straight road impossible. The road is at first shown by a long line of stone walls passing a little to the east of Minninglow. Across the open country beyond Pikehall a long line of field boundaries again follows the alignment, and parish boundaries follow it continuously for 13 miles. The present straight road in to Buxton is not the Roman route, which is now known to be marked first by a minor road close alongside it on the west and then by a line of field walls. The construction of the road was examined near Minninglow and it was found to be 12 feet wide, of limestone rubble 3ins thick, resting upon a strong limestone pitching closely set and inclined inwards to the centre of the road, with a depth of 10 ins. (1)
Roman road, Buxton to Carsington ('The Street'). This is one road about which there has never been any doubt, due to the fact that the long straight alignments are clearly shown by 14 miles of field boundaries following the course as far as Gallowlow Lane, ½ mile south of Minninglow. Up to 1978 the road had not been traced past Minninglow. Fieldwork has since located another 2½ miles of road as far as SK 237547, just short of Carsington Pastures. Fieldwork has also shown that the true line over part of the route had become obscure, probably due to too much faith being placed in the attendant field walls. (2)
The Roman Road from Little Chester to Buxton forms a stretch of the east boundary of Ballidon. (3)
Two possible routes for the section between Kirk Ireton and Derby have been proposed. These are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but may have both existed, one being later than the other. 'Route 2' begins on the west bank of the River Derwent, just below Darley Slade, and near the supposed Roman bridge over the Derwent. It begins as a ramp rising from the edge of the floodplain at SK 350376. This runs up to the baulk which stretches just east of north along the length of Darley Park. At the northern end of the park, a ditch runs down the hill west-east. At this ditch the road turns to almost due north at SK 351382. The line now heads for a crossing of the stream below Allestree Lake at SK 351404, at which point it turns to the west, crossing a further stream north of Burley Meadows and south of Duffield at SK 342421. Here the line turns further west until it reaches a turn in the modern field boundaries at SK 316445. The line now heads into Windley, where it crosses the stream at SK 305451. Again the line changes at this crossing, turning slightly north, and runs up the valley below Flower Lillies House. At the stream behind Turnditch Hall the route turns slightly westward at SK 297462 and continues to SK 277485, just south of Rakestones Farm. At this point the line turns fractionally to the north and follows the modern road to Rakestones Farm at SK 275488. (4)
It has been suggested that the Hunter Archaeological Society excavated a section near Carsington and Shiningford Farm, but this has not been confirmed. (5)
Low linear earthwork bank running for about 1.2km (SMR 34016) which had long been interpreted as the agger of the Roman Road thought to run from Buxton via Carsington, to Little Chester at Derby. Excavation showed that the earthwork was not the agger of a Roman road, but the result of at least two phases of boundary ditch. Continuous colluvation against the uphill bank of these ditches had led to the build-up of material forming a lynchet-like feature. The ditches themselves were undated, but probably medieval in date, based on a preliminary study of documentary sources. They form the boundary between the parishes of Hartington Upper Quarter and Kingsterndale, and the liberty of Hartington and the Manor of Buxton. An early 17th century map in the Chatsworth Collection shows the line as forming an estate boundary. Geophysical survey and further excavation between the earthwork and the A515 failed to locate any trace of a Roman road in the areas of SMR 2855, SMR 2856 and SMR 2857. Excavation further south-east near Sunnyfield and Brierlow Bar also failed to locate any trace of the road, therefore suggesting that the Roman road may be situated beneath the present A515. (6)
Other SMR entries may deal with specific sections of the road within the county:
Section of Buxton to Littlechester Roman Road (may be sections of 'The Street') (SMR3250)
No trace of this Roman road was found during trial trenching on the southern edge of Buxton in 2017. (7)
Sources/Archives (8)
- <1> SDR19663 Bibliographic reference: Margary, I D. 1967. Roman Roads in Britain. Chapter 7: The West and North Midlands. Roman road no. 71a.
- <2> SDR19319 Article in serial: Wroe, P. 1982. 'Roman roads in the Peak District'.
- <3> SDR12891 Bibliographic reference: Pevsner, N. 1979. The Buildings of England: Derbyshire. 2nd ed., revised.
- <4> SDR20521 Unpublished document: Farnsworth, A & Whirrity, P. 2006. Possible Roman Roads Between Derby and Kirk Ireton - Southern Sections of 'The Street'?.
- <5> SDR23164 Correspondence: Wroe, P. 2005. Letter regarding excavations on Roman Road in 1982, July 13th 2005.
- <6> SDR21274 Unpublished document: Trent & Peak Archaeological Trust (TPAT). 1992. Recent Work of the Trust, 1990-1992.
- <7> SDR24521 Unpublished document: Taylor, G and R Hilton (Pre Construct Archaeology). 2017. Land at Foxlow Farm, Harpur Hill, Buxton, Derbyshire: Report on an Archaeological Evaluation.
- <8> SDR24526 Unpublished document: Failes, A (Pre-Construct Archaeology). 2019. Land at Foxlow Farm, Buxton, Derbyshire: Report on an Archaeological Strip, Map and Record Investigation.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 20582 55342 (29253m by 35031m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | BRASSINGTON, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | CHELMORTON, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | HARTINGTON MIDDLE QUARTER, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | HARTINGTON NETHER QUARTER, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | HARTINGTON TOWN QUARTER, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | MIDDLETON AND SMERRILL, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | MONYASH, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | BUXTON, HIGH PEAK, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | HARTINGTON UPPER QUARTER, HIGH PEAK, DERBYSHIRE |
| Civil Parish | BALLIDON, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
| World Heritage Site | Derwent Valley Mills |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (7)
- EDR3949
- EDR3777
- EDR4980
- EDR3966
- EDR3963
- EDR3998
- EDR4986
Please contact the HER for details.
External Links (0)
Record last edited
Sep 27 2023 1:33PM