In January I got a call from Mrs Pendlebury who lives on Toddington Lane in Haigh. She wanted to know if we knew about the Roman milestone near her house which had recently been broken. How did she know it was Roman I wondered. 'Because it's on the Roman road', was her confident reply.
Her assertion comes from the fact that Toddington Lane lines up with Haigh Road which, in turn, is more or less in alignment with the foot path locally called Wash Pit Lane, which points directly into Wigan. To be honest I hadn't considered this alignment, although it does lie in the bounds of possibility for the elusive Roman road from Wigan to Ribchester. At our meeting in February I explained the reasoning for the existence of this route, i.e. the distance (20 Roman miles) corresponds exactly with the mileage given in the Antonine Itinerary. Our searches for this road in recent years, have tended to be further to the west. A couple of years ago, our attention was drawn to a culvert under Wingates Road which leads from the bottom of Leyland Mill Lane. It had a striking resemblance to culverts seen on a section of Roman road between Ribchester and Burrow-in Lonsdale (see Newsletter No.180). Wingates Road follows the Douglas valley on the east side before tuning north towards Arley, presumably to line up with Common End at Adlington. An alternative route preferred by many however, is Chorley Road which follows the Douglas on the west side. There's no reason to assume that the Haigh route hasn't got a good claim though, as all these routes have the same issue, i.e. they have to cross the A6 at some point. The Toddington Lane alignment certainly has antiquity, attested by the fact that it corresponds with the ancient boundary between the Salford and West Derby Hundreds. It does however have a bend in it - at the point where it changes into a farm track at its north end.
This does not necessarily rule it out though, as Roman roads are very often realigned at high points. The farm track was in fact the original main road out towards Blackrod, Riley Lane only being built in the early 19th century. Mrs Pendlebury's milestone lies on the east side of this section about halfway down. Last month Patrick and I visited the site to inspect the damage to the stone and ascertain its origin. Our first impression from its shape was that it was unlikely to be Roman as their milestones tend to be circular in section. It may not even be Medieval as these tend to be square in section and mounded in a base. However, as Mrs Pendlebury was quite keen for us to investigate it further (and as it is on her land), we will be hoping to arrange a small excavation on the site in the near future.
Orkney Trip
As mentioned at last month's meeting, a trip is being organised to coincide with the excavations being carried out on Orkney this summer. Due to differing requirements, people have been arranging their own transport and accommodation but we are all planning to be together on 27th and 28th July for the visits. Please contact Darren if you need any more information.
Kingmaker 1485 Project
As mentioned in our November Newsletter (No. 198) Steve Baldwin as got permission to carry out extensive excavations on the site of the famous Medieval Lathom Hall. To fund the work, Steve is setting up a series of field schools and inviting interested parties to come and help him dig there. The first of these schools is to be held over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, i.e. Saturday 15th April to Sunday 17th April. Darren has set up a website for Steve where you can book a place http://www.kingmaker1485.org.uk/. The cost, I'm led to believe is £135 for the three days, but for that you will receive basic training and support over the three days.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 5th April - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). This month we have invited Steve Baldwin (see above) to speak about his Lathom project. This is so that he can explain it in more detail and also answer any questions you have regarding the dig. Hope to see you then - BA
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