The Makerfield Rambler
19th century Roman road sightings near Haydock Lodge
“... And just beyond the village of Ashton, and close to the Hall of Haydock, on a slight deviation of the present road, to the right, it very plainly appears. Entering the Paddock, at a large Ash, it continues along it about six hundred yards; and then regains the rectified line of the present road. Running about three hundred, along the edge of the Paddock, it crosses the back avenue to the house, and is levelled to admit the plain of it. And, about as many yards of it are very perfect; and a hundred and fifty, in the middle, as complete almost, as they were originally. For this space, it is very fairly rounded; and has a sharp slope of nine or ten yards, on either side, from the crown to the borders.”
[From “Book The First”, “The History of Manchester: In Four Books By The Rev Mr [John] Whitaker, The Second Edition Corrected, J Murray 1773]
“The road is again found in the plantation on the west side of Haydock Lodge, in the township of Haydock. There is here a complete line of road two hundred yards in length. It is here fourteen yards wide, and a yard in thickness. It is formed of earth covered with a layer of red freestone, on which is a coat of gravel...
The Roman road then runs along the plantations on the east side of the turnpike-road; and a little on the west side of the porter's lodge, the Roman road leaves the plantations, and falls upon the line of the turnpike-road, and enters the township of Newton.”
[From “Some Account of Three Roman Roads which meet at Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, by Edmund Sibson, Minister of Ashton in Makerfield in the Said County”, reproduced in Vol 3 of Edward Baines' “History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster”, 1836]
“A considerable fragment of the road is still very visible in the plantations on the west side of Haydock Lodge. In Whitaker's time much more of it must have remained... The portion on the west side of the lodge is now, as it was in Mr Sibson's time, about 200 yards in length, and Mr Sibson says ot was 14 yards wide and a yard in thickness. It was formed of earth, with a layer of rude blocks of red sandstone, and upon this a layer of gravel. The latter has been in many places taken away to a considerable extent, which has caused the exposed sandstone to decay, and the width of the road has by these means narrowed, it being in such places only 6 or 7 yards wide, which seems to be the width of the layer of stones in the centre. It does not appear to have been paved.”
[From “Roman Lancashire: A Description of Roman Remains in the County Palatine of Lancaster”, W Thompson Watkin (Liverpool: Printed for the Author, 1883; Republished by Azorabooks 2007)]
Haydock Lodge was used as a family home by the Leghs of Newton, Haydock and Lyme up to the 19th century. Thereafter it served first as a military barracks and then as a “lunatic asylum”. The modern hotel that now occupies the site was built in 1974.
The black square on the map indicates the position of the Lodge site in relation to the Roman road. The main photograph, taken on 2 May 2018, looks north from the hotel driveway along the supposed line of the road. OS VectorMap Local, 2018 version, shows the Roman route crossing this driveway at SJ 578 398. A view in the opposite direction is shown third from top on the left. The bottom photograph on the left, taken on 22 May 2018, looks north towards the hotel from the intersection with the A580 East Lancashire Road and the M6 at Junction 23. As at the parsonage and other town-centre locations in Ashton, all above-ground traces of the Roman road seem now to have disappeared.
19th century Roman road sightings near Haydock Lodge
“... And just beyond the village of Ashton, and close to the Hall of Haydock, on a slight deviation of the present road, to the right, it very plainly appears. Entering the Paddock, at a large Ash, it continues along it about six hundred yards; and then regains the rectified line of the present road. Running about three hundred, along the edge of the Paddock, it crosses the back avenue to the house, and is levelled to admit the plain of it. And, about as many yards of it are very perfect; and a hundred and fifty, in the middle, as complete almost, as they were originally. For this space, it is very fairly rounded; and has a sharp slope of nine or ten yards, on either side, from the crown to the borders.”
[From “Book The First”, “The History of Manchester: In Four Books By The Rev Mr [John] Whitaker, The Second Edition Corrected, J Murray 1773]
“The road is again found in the plantation on the west side of Haydock Lodge, in the township of Haydock. There is here a complete line of road two hundred yards in length. It is here fourteen yards wide, and a yard in thickness. It is formed of earth covered with a layer of red freestone, on which is a coat of gravel...
The Roman road then runs along the plantations on the east side of the turnpike-road; and a little on the west side of the porter's lodge, the Roman road leaves the plantations, and falls upon the line of the turnpike-road, and enters the township of Newton.”
[From “Some Account of Three Roman Roads which meet at Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, by Edmund Sibson, Minister of Ashton in Makerfield in the Said County”, reproduced in Vol 3 of Edward Baines' “History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster”, 1836]
“A considerable fragment of the road is still very visible in the plantations on the west side of Haydock Lodge. In Whitaker's time much more of it must have remained... The portion on the west side of the lodge is now, as it was in Mr Sibson's time, about 200 yards in length, and Mr Sibson says ot was 14 yards wide and a yard in thickness. It was formed of earth, with a layer of rude blocks of red sandstone, and upon this a layer of gravel. The latter has been in many places taken away to a considerable extent, which has caused the exposed sandstone to decay, and the width of the road has by these means narrowed, it being in such places only 6 or 7 yards wide, which seems to be the width of the layer of stones in the centre. It does not appear to have been paved.”
[From “Roman Lancashire: A Description of Roman Remains in the County Palatine of Lancaster”, W Thompson Watkin (Liverpool: Printed for the Author, 1883; Republished by Azorabooks 2007)]
Haydock Lodge was used as a family home by the Leghs of Newton, Haydock and Lyme up to the 19th century. Thereafter it served first as a military barracks and then as a “lunatic asylum”. The modern hotel that now occupies the site was built in 1974.
The black square on the map indicates the position of the Lodge site in relation to the Roman road. The main photograph, taken on 2 May 2018, looks north from the hotel driveway along the supposed line of the road. OS VectorMap Local, 2018 version, shows the Roman route crossing this driveway at SJ 578 398. A view in the opposite direction is shown third from top on the left. The bottom photograph on the left, taken on 22 May 2018, looks north towards the hotel from the intersection with the A580 East Lancashire Road and the M6 at Junction 23. As at the parsonage and other town-centre locations in Ashton, all above-ground traces of the Roman road seem now to have disappeared.