IT’s a small strip of land, barely six metres long.

But for historians and archaeologists, the patch of earth near Outlane is a remarkable find.

And it is more evidence of how the Romans lived and worked in Huddersfield 2,000 years ago.

The Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society's search for ‘missing links’ in the Roman military way between the forts of Castleshaw and Slack has met with more success.

After 30 years of work, they have uncovered a well-preserved section of the Roman road that ran to the fort.

It has been found on the northern slopes of Wholestone Moor on the approach to Slack fort.

The central section of the road is well worn and has evidence of wheel ruts which could mean that the road was in use as a single track long after the Roman period.

Tomorrow, the excavations will be open to the public and are expected to attract a lot of interest.

Granville Clay, fieldwork co-ordinator for the Society, said: “It is a significant find.

“For years, people have been looking for the roads that the Romans used to get from the Wholestone Moor to the fort.

“We had been searching on this particular hillside for about a month when we made the find.

“We have excavated the width of the road, about six metres, and have so far stripped back for about a metre.

“There are clearly defined ditches on both sides and it was a very well-built, wide road.

“What is also significant is that there are clearly wheel ruts in the centre of the road that we believe date from much later than the Romans, possibly in the 1600s and 1700s.

“We believe it was a road used to link the Colne Valley with Halifax and as such it was recorded in a diary kept by the curate at Slaithwaite, Rev Weekes. He regularly travelled from Slaithwaite to Halifax to buy new robes.

“We set out to find out how the Romans circuited Wholestone Moor to get to the fort and this could well be the final piece in the jigsaw.”

The Roman fort at Slack was excavated many years ago.

It was thought to have been built about AD80 but subsequently rebuilt and enhanced over the years.

Historians believe it could have been part of a settlement called Cambodunum, which means The Fortress of the War God, but other experts have given it similar variations of the name.

The fort itself was 78m square and defended by a 20-foot wide turf rampart, topped by a wall and with two outer ditches.

The excavations began in 1969 and many significant finds have been made, including the remains of an aqueduct and evidence that the fort was at least visited by military forces, even though it may not have been a regular base.

There was evidence of cooking using small fireplaces, and in one of the trenches a quantity of bone was found near to two large urns and a roof tile with the stamp of the cohort which had occupied the fort.

Tomorrow’s open day gets under way at 10am.

Officials of the Archaeological Society will be on hand to show people around the site.

The site is easily accessed by a public footpath that runs from the nearby Quebec Road, off New Hey Road, to the summit of Wholestone Moor.

Cars should park up on Quebec Road.