![Batham gate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Batham_gate.jpg)
Batham Gate is the medieval name for a
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, England, which ran south-west from
Templebrough
Templeborough (historically Templebrough) is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the Brinsworth and Catcliffe ward of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. The area takes its name from the remains of the R ...
on the
River Don in
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham.
In N ...
to
Brough-on-Noe (Latin ''
Navio'') and the spa town of
Buxton (Latin ''
Aquae Arnemetiae'') in Derbyshire. ''Gate'' means "road" in northern English dialects; the name therefore means "road to the bath town".
The route of the road from Templebrough to the Roman signal station Navio is disputed.
Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
suggested the
Long Causeway
Long Causeway or Long Causey was a medieval packhorse route in England, which ran between Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Hathersage in Derbyshire. In the past the route has been marked on maps as a Roman Road as it was believed it followed part ...
at
Redmires as the route and it was shown as such on
Ordnance Survey
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maps, but this is now known to be a medieval packhorse
saltway
A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it.
From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd ...
.
Roman road historian
Ivan Donald Margary said that the Long Causeway had a slightly different route in Roman times. In his book ''Roman Roads In Britain'' he said that evidence is now available that shows that after the Redmires Reservoir the Roman road did not follow the medieval route to
Stanedge Pole
Stanedge Pole also known as Stanage Pole () is a landmark on Hallam Moors close to Stanage Edge in South Yorkshire, England. Standing at a height of 438 metres (1,437 feet), it marks the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and can be se ...
but kept to the line of the present-day track to Stanedge Lodge. The Roman road then descended
Stanage Edge
Stanage Edge, or simply Stanage (from "stone edge") is a gritstone escarpment in the Peak District, England, famous as a location for climbing. It lies a couple of miles to the north of Hathersage, and the northern part of the edge forms the b ...
half a mile north-west of the present route, on a narrow and steeper terrace.
[ Gives details of Roman deviation.] Batham Gate Road was assigned the Margary number RR710a.
Another possible route, backed by excavations carried out in 2016, suggests a route that would have taken the road close to the
Roman villa at
Whirlow Hall Farm
Whirlow Hall Farm is a working farm situated on Broad Elms Lane at Whirlow in the City of Sheffield, England. Since 1979 it has been the site of the Whirlow Hall Farm Trust, a registered charity which allows children and young people to visit a w ...
. An interim report by
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
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staff on excavations of a linear feature in the Sheephill Road area of
Ringinglow has suggested this as the route of the lost Roman road. The feature, which extends through Barber Fields, is 20m wide and filled to a depth of 5m with rubble and has a metalled surface.
![Route of Batham Gate Road near Peak Forest](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Route_of_Batham_Gate_Road_near_Peak_Forest.jpg)
A section of Batham Gate Road east of
Peak Forest is a protected
Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. There are also modern roads called Batham Gate Road at
Peak Dale, near Buxton, and at
Bradwell, near Brough, which are remnants of the route of the original Roman road. The section crossing
Bradwell Moor
Bradwell Moor is a moorland hill above the village of Bradwell, Derbyshire in the Peak District. The summit is above sea level.
Batham Gate Roman road ran across the moor, from nearby ''Navio'' Roman fort (at Brough-on-Noe) to ''Aquae Arneme ...
is now called Clement Lane.
![Roman_Milestone_to_Navio_from_Buxton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Roman_Milestone_to_Navio_from_Buxton.jpg)
A Roman milestone was discovered in 1862 in the Silverlands district of Buxton. It is the oldest inscribed milestone found in Derbyshire. The inscription is ‘TRIB POT COS II P P A NAVIONE M P XI’ which means ‘With the
tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
's power, twice
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
, father of this country. From Navio 11 miles.' The milestone is on display in the
Buxton Museum
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Buxton Museum and Art Gallery focuses its collection on history, geology and archaeology primarily from the Peak District and Derbyshire.
The museum is located at Terrace Road, Buxton, England. The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday al ...
.
References
External links
About Batham GateOrdnance survey Mapshowing Batham Gate near
BroughGeograph image of Batham Gate Roman road, near Peak Forest
{{Authority control
Roman roads in England
History of Derbyshire
Roads in Derbyshire
Roman sites in Derbyshire