536 AN ACCOUNT OF A ROMAN PUBLIC WAY. 
Manchester. And, had it not been from a mere 
accident, it is probable, that the true course of this 
Roman Road might have remained undiscovered 
for a much longer period. 
Meeting Mr. Henry Still, of the Ordnance 
Survey, and Mr. Peter Clare, of Manchester, 
when men were employed by Lord Francis 
Egerton in exploring the Roman Station, at 
Castle Field, Mr. Clare was asked if he knew 
of any intelligent person, who had turned his at- 
tention to the Old Roads in that neighbourhood ? 
Mr. Clare immediately named Mr. Thomas 
Groome, of Regent Road, in Salford ; and said, 
that Mr. Groome had lived in the neighbourhood 
more than fifty years, and that he was well 
acquainted with all the Old Roads. On going to 
Mr. Groome he immediately showed us the track 
of the Roman Road, running in a straight line 
for nearly two miles, and pointing directly across 
Woden’s Ford to the Castle Field. This line 
did not point exactly either at Hope Hall, or at 
the Roman Road, through Barton, to Warrington; 
but, it took an intermediate direction nearly to 
Gorton Bridge, which crosses the Liverpool and 
Manchester Railway ; and, then this main trunk 
forked off into two branches, one pointing to 
