4 THE ANCIENT ROADS AND THE SITE 



bottoms of the valleys.* Like railways they were from 

 point to point. They did not avoid the lower grounds. 

 In some cases the Eoman engineers improved the older 

 roads, and made short cuts, as in instances which I have 

 met with in the road between Canterbury and London, 

 and in some of the roads in the moors of north-eastern 

 Yorkshire. In this respect, therefore, we have a means of 

 distinguishing between the Prehistoric roads which have 

 been used during the Roman occupation and afterwards, 

 and those first constructed by the Eoman engineers. 



"With these facts before us we are in a position to con- 

 sider the relations of Melandra to the roads in the district. 

 It not only commands the continuation of the " Doctor's 

 Gate" through Glossop, but it is also within striking dis- 

 tance of the western road to Stockport, and of the northern 

 road to Castleshaw, at their junction at Mottram a little 

 over a mile off. The "Doctor's Gate" (one inch contour 

 map sheet 86) starts from the Batham Gate near Hope, a 

 Eoman road, mostly straight, running from Buxton to 

 Brough over the plateau of carboniferous limestone, and 

 sweeps northwards along the ridge dividing the valley of 

 the Noe from the Ashop. It follows the westward trend 

 of the latter valley, crossing the stream at a place marked 

 Ford on the map, and winding along the irregular slopes 

 of the ground above Woodlands until it joins the main 

 Sheffield road, which it leaves within a short distance of 

 the water parting. Thence it passes to the north of Cold 

 Harbour Moor, and follows the north side of the valley of 



4. The Roman roads were the principal means of communication in 

 Britain down to the beginning of the 19th century, and during all those 

 centuries they apparently grew worse and worse, as is amply proved by 

 the incidental notices of the difficulty of travelling. The duty of re- 

 pairing them fell mainly on the parish, or on the manor, and it was 

 counted for merit in the church to repair a length of road or to rebuild 

 a bridge. Road-making as a system, could scarcely be said to have 

 existed in Britain from the days of the Romans down to the time of 

 Telford and Macadam. 



