Roman roads in the Lake District

The first roads of which we have any clear knowledge were constructed by the Roman armies in the years after the invasion of northern England in AD7879. The Romans were intent on conquering the whole of Britain, but eventually had to settle for defending a north¬ern border which ran from the Solway to the mouth of the Tyne (along the Stanegate, and subsequently Hadrian's Wall). The frontier was continued down the coast to Moresby (near Whitehaven) as a line of forts linked and backed up by roads. The Romans were evidently little interested in the Lake District itself, as only three or four roads went through the fells.

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Their main road south led from Carlisle to Brougham, and then on through the Lune Gorge.

This route runs along the very eastern edge of the Lakeland fells and its principal fascination is that so many later routes have followed in its footsteps though none has followed it precisely. From Brougham its course cannot now be seen for the first three miles (5 km), but it can then be followed as 'The Street' for over five miles (8 km) towards Crosby Ravensworth. It turns to pass through the British settlement at Ewe Close, and climbs over Coalpit Hill before making a steady descent towards Tebay and the fort at Low Borrow Bridge in the Lune Gorge. From here there was a branch to Watercrook (Kendal), whilst the main road continued southwards on the east bank of the River Lune.

Of the Roman roads through the Lake District the most important was probably the route from Watercrook to Ravenglass, for it appears in the Antonine Itinerary, a list of the main post roads of the Empire compiled in Rome in the second or third century. The central section of this route over Wrynose and Hardknott Passes is well known, and easy to follow, but the precise course of most of the rest of the route has yet to be fixed. Starting from Watercrook it is not even certain where the road crossed the River Kent; it probably went via Staveley, and beyond here the best line yet found is parallel to the minor road running from Hill Farm, through Broadgate to Allen Knott.

The central section over the passes was described by Ian Richmond in 1949 and anyone wish¬ing to follow it should consult his classic paper. But at the western end of Hardknott Pass the road once again disappears into farmland, still over 8 miles (12.9km) from the port of Ravenglass. There are no Roman roads in Cumbria south of this route, which indicates how un¬important, strategically or economically, southern Lakeland was to the Romans.

The most famous Roman road in the Lakes is undoubtedly High Street, but its course is little known in precise detail, even in the central section where it is supposed to run at over 2000ft (610m) for 8 miles (12.9km). In truth there are only two or three obvious sections (for example between High Street summit and the Straits of Riggindale) and the whole route requires a new survey. In particular, its routes both south of the summit and north of Elder Beck are not known. It would certainly not have been an easy route, much of it above the tree line, and the Romans probably used it, but whether they actually built a road along the whole of this line is, at best, unproven. The recent detailed description of a parallel Roman road over Kirkstone Pass, only a short distance to the west, is a much more likely route for them to have chosen, involving only half the ascent, and having frequent water supplies for their animals (something which High Street lacks).

Lake District roads and railways

Surprisingly, little has been written about the effects of roads, canals and railways on landscapes despite the fact that communica¬tions are a vital component of landscape development. The prolific railway literature tends to concentrate on minute detail of the lines, engines, stations and rolling stock, but it usually says little about precisely why the lines were needed, and next to nothing about the effects which the lines had on the areas which they served; the canal literature is not dissimilar. But roads, and their effects on the land¬scape, have been almost totally ignored, despite (and probably because of) their commonplace nature.

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The various means of transport employed in and around the Lake District over the last 2,000 years have been a fundamental part of the overall economic, social and political development of the area, and therefore of its landscape as well.

For example the Roman roads were part of a military defensive system serving numerous forts; the con¬tinuing importance of these roads is reflected in how many of them are still in use today. More recently the turnpikes, canals and railways were built to allow easier movement of agricultural and industrial products to and between the rapidly growing towns, and the improved accessibility drastically altered both town and country. Transport routes themselves barely altered the landscape but because they were an integral part of the economic changes, many other features of the landscape were often significantly changed as a result of improvements in communications.

Thus, without building their roads the Romans would not have been able to defend this northwestern corner of their empire, the medieval towns would not have been able to trade and grow, from Elizabethan times wool would not have been able to reach and to be traded from the market at Kendal, and the first tourists would never have got anywhere near the Lakes. Without the canals the movement of heavy goods to and from Kendal in particular would not have been possible, and the consequent early development of towns, industry and mining would have been much delayed. And finally the railways, also built to carry coal and iron, were eventually important in opening up the Lakes to many more tourists, bringing them quickly and cheaply to Windermere, Coniston and Keswick.

But the Lake District does not easily lend itself to the building of lines of communication. The level of economic (and sometimes political) demand for transport determines whether or not lines of communica¬tion are built, but the landscape then imposes constraints on their routes. And in mountainous terrain the choice of routes is especially difficult for canals and railways. In the Lake District the net result is that roads have always provided the backbone of communications; the canals are peripheral (none lying within the National Park), and the railways, although of great importance for a hundred years or so, barely penetrated into the area, and are now reduced to little more than a ring of lines around the Lakes.

Drove roads in the Lake District

An important component of the local economy was the rearing of cattle, which were then driven to the ever growing towns further south. There were two quite distinct aspects of this trade; Scots cattle being driven through or around the Lake District, with local cattle joining them en route. From Scotland cattle came across the Solway or through Carlisle, and converged on Penrith before moving on into Lancashire or Yorkshire. Just north of the Lake District there was an important cattle fair at Rosley, where local cattle from the Solway coast joined those from Scotland. There were also spring fairs at various places along the coast (such as Arlecdon, Boonwood and Bootle) for cattle which had been kept over winter.

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Some cattle were driven across Hardknott and Wrynose passes to Ambleside and Trout¬beck, then over the Garburn Pass into Kentmere and finally across to Longsleddale before turning to join the main droving routes.

The main drove road to the south led from Penrith to Shap and then into the Lune Gorge. Once past Low Borrow Bridge it climbed up the west side of the valley along a section described as early as the late twelfth cen¬tury as Galwaithegate (ie the Galloway Road) and known later as Scotch Lane. The trade clearly has a long history which continued until it was abruptly curtailed by the construction of the railways.

Originally the drove roads were wide open tracks running from one overnight pasture to the next. As much of the area was not enclosed until the years around 1800 (see below), these roads simply traversed open land, and where they did pass through farm land, became wide winding lanes between walls, following the lie of the land. Today such roads can still be seen, though most are now enclosed; they usually still have wide grass verges with a recent narrow strip of metalling down the middle.

The two southern peninsulas of Cartmel and Furness had always been difficult of access; the usual way to reach them was to travel across the sands at low tide. The route is known to have been in use in the Middle Ages, and continued to flourish until the coastal railway was completed in 1857; indeed, for eighty years before that date, a daily public coach ran across the sands. The reason for the use of this route was simple from Ulverston to Lancaster on the hilly packhorse route via Kendal (later turnpiked in 1763) was 41 miles (66 km); across the sands it was a mere 19 (30 km) (Fig 23). The sands were so commonly used that West's Guide (1778) began its tour of the Lakes by that route, noting that it was 'a journey of little more danger than any other', and adding that 'On a fine day there is not a more pleasant sea¬side journey in the Kingdom.'

The route left the 'mainland' at Hest Bank, and after some eight miles (13km) came ashore between Kent's Bank and Grange, the precise route changing with the shifting channels of the Rivers Keer and Kent. The route next traversed the Cartmel peninsula via Flookburgh (then a place of some importance due to the sands traffic) and crossed the Levens sands (passing Chapel Island) for Ulverston. Travellers wishing to continue around the Cum brian coast would then cross Low Furness, and take to the sands again at Ireleth, this time crossing the Duddon estuary. Before the mideighteenthcentury road improve¬ments, anyone travelling from Lancaster to Whitehaven would probably go via this route instead of going through the hills. But not everyone enjoyed it; John Wesley writing in 1759 said that he would 'advise no stranger to go this way. He may go round by Kendal and Keswick, often in less time, always with less expense, and far less trial of his patience.'