Roman road discovery is ‘missing link’ in Huddersfield history

Jul 4 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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.