Mitcheldean / Stenders Roads of Roman origin ?? (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, June 09, 2018, 16:02 (2359 days ago) @ Jefff

Re my earlier mention of the Stenders road supposedly being of Roman origin, there are a few references within the text of the excellent British History pages, altho' as is often the case on that website, they are a little disjointed and need careful piecing together to make complete sense. Here are the sections I've found which reference Mitcheldean, copied in vaguely chronological order.

"A road from Littledean by way of Abenhall, said to have been part of a Roman route linking Lydney and the Severn crossing at Newnham with Ariconium, near Weston under Penyard (Herefs.), was formerly the principal thoroughfare through Mitcheldean. North of the town it forked for Newent and Ross-on-Wye (Herefs.), the Ross road by way of Lea (Herefs., formerly Glos. and Herefs.) forming the way towards Hereford mentioned in 1320. The Newnham-Hereford route, on which traffic was subject to toll in Mitcheldean before the 17th century, remained of some importance in the early 19th century. In the south of the town, on the boundary between Mitcheldean and Abenhall, it was crossed by the Gloucester-Monmouth road, the area around the crossroads being known as the Merrin (formerly Mere End). On the Gloucester side the road, which turns southeastwards at Barton Corner east of the town, had been used by the Romans. On the Monmouth side it originally left the town by Silver Street, which ran southwards from the Merrin and in the 16th century was used by traffic for Littledean, but its steep ascent to the Forest over Plump hill was difficult to negotiate and in the mid 18th century traffic usually followed an alternative route turning northwards at the Merrin and westwards in the town centre to climb Stenders hill to the Forest. The Stenders road, which also carried much of Mitcheldean's market trade, had been the way to Ruardean in 1411."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp173-195

"The evolution of settlement in the 18th and 19th centuries gave rise to an intricate network of lanes and paths between encroachments on the edge of the Forest, and in only a few places did those lanes follow the major roads that crossed the royal demesne. In the later 17th century three important roads ran westwards to converge on Coleford. The road from Mitcheldean, used by traffic between Gloucester and South Wales in the 1670s, climbed Plump hill but by the mid 18th century it took a different route, entering the Forest at Stenders and running over Harrow hill.
The route from Mitcheldean, by way of Stenders to the east, had been improved in 1766 and incorporated in the later 1790s in a new road to Coleford, which branched south to follow a track past Drybrook Farm to Nailbridge. The section of the road over Harrow hill from Stenders, to the north-east, was diverted through Drybrook village to cross the brook at Teague's (or Pluckpenny) bridge, upstream of Nail bridge, and run south-eastwards to a junction with the Coleford road, from where new roads were built to Littledean to the south-east in the late 1820s and to Mitcheldean, over Plump hill, in 1841."

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp300-325

As to whether the Stenders road is indeed of Roman origin may be still in doubt. When we were kids in the 70s we often picnicked at Blackpool Brook, Soudley, where there's a short exposed length of stone pavement next to the modern road. At the time this was always known as the Forest's Roman Road, postcards and signposts said as much, but modern archeology has suggested it's not as ancient as the Victorian historians and map-makers believed.

The above British History reference also states
"Also still in use in the later 17th century and kept in repair until 1768 or later was the ancient pitched road called the Dean road, supposedly Roman, which linked Mitcheldean and Littledean with Lydney by way of bridges at Soudley and over Blackpool brook near Blakeney hill."

And again from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp285-294
"One of the more important ancient routes, known as the Dean road, had a pitched stone surface and borders of kerbstones. It ran between Lydney and Mitcheldean across the eastern part of the demesne by way of Oldcroft, a crossing of Blackpool brook, recorded as Blackpool ford in 1282, and a crossing of Soudley brook at Upper Soudley. The survival of much pitching and kerbing after the road went out of use in the turnpike era, and the possibility that it had linked two important Roman sites at Lydney and Ariconium, in Weston under Penyard (Herefs.), has led to the suggestion that it was a Roman road, though much of the stonework probably dates from the medieval and early modern periods; an estimate was made for renewing long stretches of the road, including the provision of new border stones, as late as the 1760s. Much remained visible in the 1930s, but recent damage by timber wagons and other vehicles was recorded then and continued later. A short stretch near Blackpool brook, including part of a side branch across a bridge beside the ford, was preserved and open to view in 1994."

Also see http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=4532&resourceID=108

Some good period photos of the Dean road at Blackpool Brook here,
http://www.deanweb.info/history4.html

So, even if some of these "paved" sections of the Stenders and other FoD roads were not built by the Romans, it seems likely they follow the same route the Romans trod, and are certainly VERY old indeed. The area around Mitcheldean and Drybook has many old quarries, including scowles which date from ancient times.