Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Heyridge Farm Section, Hope Woodlands

Summary

From Ford at Upper Ashop (SK1410 8940) to NT boundary at SK 1132 9070.

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Description

Part of the course of an old route thought to have originated in the roman period to link the forts at Brough on Noe (Hope) and Glossop and which continued in use into the post-medieval period, crosses Trust property at Heyridge Farm. The course of the road is still followed by a footpath. The course across the farm from the crossing of the River Ashop was shown as a road on the first edition O.S 1" map of 1843.
The passage of regular traffic over the years is reflected in the hollow ways which have been worn where the road fords the stream at Oyster Clough. The N.T survey team noted the road was in generally fair condition in August 1987.
The line suggested for the road by Peter Wroe (1982 Roman Road in the Peak District and Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 102 p.56) is only on the footpath west of Oyster Clough. He records some possible agger higher up Cowms Moor, SK 125901 Approx.
For further information refer to - O.S records for Roman Road RR711, in property file and other section of the road on NT property.

Also refer to site No. 3 in Barnatt 1994 (Upper House Farm) - SZE3155.
[1] Within Upper House Farm a terraced track marks a lane that followed the top of the long-standing in-bye in this part of the valley. Earlier branches of the same route run parallel in parts (see NTSMR 63157). The lane is part of a through route that ran westward following the Ashop valley to its head and then over to Glossop. To the east it crossed the river near Alport Bridge and followed the Crookstone ridge then dropped to Hope. It was first recorded in 1627 as 'Docto Talbotes Gate' and is still known as 'Doctor's Gate'.

It was the only route down this part of the valley in 1808 (date of Potter's map), but it lost much of its importance when the present main road, the Glossop to Sheffield Turnpike, was built in 1818-21. However it did continue in use, as it is marked on subsquent maps (OS 1840 and 1880).

It has been suggested that the route is a Roman one, linking forts at Melandra near Glossop with Brough in the Hope Valley (Dodd and Dodd 1980; Wroe 1982). Wroe suggests a straight line route across Cowm's Moor 200-300m further north than this route at Upper House Farm. No trace was identified on the ground (Barnatt, 1994) and topographically this is a very uneven landslip zone and it is highly unlikely a road ever ran there. No evidence of a Roman date has been found within Upper House Farm either. Sections cut across the road elsewhere along the Doctor's Gate route have revealed a metalled surface but this does not necessarily indicate a Roman date as medieval roads were also sometimes metalled (Barnatt, 1994).

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