ROMANO-BRITISH DERBYSHIRE 



But Roman Derbyshire included other features which were not 

 military. One is the mineral springs at Buxton. These were known 

 and used during the Romano-British period, though they enjoyed far less 

 popularity than the hotter and more accessible springs which rise in 

 the agreeable climate of Bath. Another is the lead-mining industry. 

 The limestone hills of Derbyshire, like those of Somerset, were rich in 

 lead, and the Romans worked it freely in the neighbourhood of Matlock, 

 and probably also on many sites north of it, as near Monyash, Stony 

 Middleton, and Brough. With this mining we may connect various 

 traces of casual inhabitation at or near these places, and others round 

 them ; but of the period and the organization of the industry we know 

 very little. 



A third, less important but very curious feature is presented by the 

 traces of cave life, which occur especially near Buxton. This cave life 

 is not, as has often been supposed, the result of the Saxon conquest of 

 England. It does not belong to the fifth century, nor is it the remains 

 of fugitive Britons sheltering in holes of the earth from barbaric 

 pursuers. It may be dated rather to the period between the late first 

 century and the middle of the third century, and it appears, in some 

 caves at least, to have persisted for many years. Parallels to it, of similar 

 date in the main, may be quoted from the caves near Settle and ArnclifFe 

 in Yorkshire and from a few other sites, and it must be accepted as a 

 feature, though not a common or predominant feature, in the civilization 

 of Roman Britain. 



It is possible that further investigations may some day add one more 

 element to the Roman remains of the county. The extreme south and 

 east of Derbyshire, as has been said above (p. 200), are low-lying and 

 suitable to agriculture, and we might expect to find a few villas here. 

 That none have yet been discovered may well be due to accident. Villas 

 occur only a little way outside the boundary of the county, as at Barton 

 in Fabis and Mansfield Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire. It is, however, 

 certain that many parts of the Midlands were but thinly inhabited in the 

 Roman period, and it is likely enough that the absence of villas in any 

 part of it may be due to this and not to the chances of discovery. 



3. BROUGH 



From this general sketch we pass on to describe in detail the Roman 

 remains found in the county and, first, the three forts of Brough, 

 Melandra, and Little Chester. 



Brough is a tiny village hidden among the High Peak hills some 

 ten miles west of Sheffield. Its position is significant. Here the deep 

 valley of the little river Noe broadens out round Hope, Castleton, 

 Bradwell and the mouth of Derwentdale, and forms the one real gap in 

 the continuous uplands of north Derbyshire. Here is a little space of 

 low, well-watered ground, fit for habitation, and here, if anywhere, a 

 garrison might well be stationed to control the encircling hills. 



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