The Makerfield Rambler
19th century Roman road sightings near Lawson's Farm, Newton-le-Willows
“The Roman road crosses an old lane, called Townfield-lane. This old lane runs in a westerly direction from Newton, and, about a mile from Newton, it divides into two branches, one of which leads to Bradley Hall, and the other leads to Hall Meadow, in Haydock, and, passing through the Town of Haydock, is called Haydock-lane. This lane is in most places enclosed by stunted oaks; and it is probable, from this hedge of oaks, the township of Haydock derives its name. This old lane is 6 feet below the level of the adjoining field, where it is crossed by the Roman road, and the Roman road appears to have descended to the level of the old lane, at the crossing; for the materials of the Roman road are visible, at the bottom of the hedge, on the north side of the old lane. This seems to prove that the old lane was made before the Roman road.”
[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]
“Again crossing the turnpike-road [the Roman road] is found in …. a field called Mather's Croft, beyond which it crosses an old lane called Townfield Lane which, being 6 feet below the level of the adjoining ground, and the Roman road sloping down to it, is considered by Mr Sibson as proof that it existed before the Roman road... This “Townfield Lane” seems to have been an old British road, but subsequently used by the Romans; as at the point where it crosses the Sankey Brook, close to a tumulus called “Castle Hill”, two piers of a bridge remain... It leads from Haydock to Lowton, and is a sunken way.”
[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)]
“About midway between the Gasworks and the farmhouse the lane was crossed by the Roman road, visible in Mr Sibson's day. The road ran from the south … and joined the Wigan road opposite “The Woodlands”... Further on, on the right, is Lawson's Farm, occupied in our time by William Caunce, one of the original trustees of St Peter's National Schools. He was followed by George Gibbon and William Gilbert. The premises are now held by Samuel Kirkham.... On the field path, near the Glass Works, on the way to Haydock etc, there was a network of ancient paths that were ploughed up when Caunce left the farm...”
[From “Newton-in-Makerfield: Its history, With Some Account of Its People, Compiled from Authentic Sources by John Henry Lane With Notes and Reminiscences by Peter Mayor Campbell”, 2 volumes, 1914-16]
South of the Haydock/Newton boundary the modern A49 diverges from the Roman road, its route along the higher ground east of Newton Brook presumably influenced by the development of Newton (literally “new town”) and Winwick as important commercial and ecclesiastical centres in the later Anglo-Saxon period. A consequence has been that this section of the Roman road has been even more vulnerable to destruction and degradation through building and agricultural practices than was the case further north. As Robert Philpott observes in “Observations on the Wilderspool to Wigan Roman Road in Newton-le-Willows” (Journal of the Merseyside Archaeological Society, Vol 10/2000), “The failure of the section of the road south of Crow Lane to influence the pattern of field boundaries and local trackways suggests that it no longer played a role in the medieval landscape”.
“Townfield Lane” disappears from the map after the middle of the 19th century, but it can be seen on the 1849 OS and earlier maps running east-west from the main Ashton-Newton road opposite Lawson's Farm. Part of its route seems to correspond with present-day Billington Avenue and its continuation as an unmade track for a short distance to the west. The main photograph, taken on 22 May 2018, looks towards the Farm from Billington Avenue. Shown on the left, below, is a view from the unmade section further west, looking towards Lawson's Farm on the right and the modern Woodlands Business Park on the left. The camera position corresponds with the black square on the map shown above, right; it is just possible that the paler vegetation in the foreground of this photograph marks the subterranean remains of the Roman road (although the OS VectorMap Local, 2018 version, puts it closer to the A49 at SJ 581 965 – roughly, the camera position for the main photograph).
19th century Roman road sightings near Lawson's Farm, Newton-le-Willows
“The Roman road crosses an old lane, called Townfield-lane. This old lane runs in a westerly direction from Newton, and, about a mile from Newton, it divides into two branches, one of which leads to Bradley Hall, and the other leads to Hall Meadow, in Haydock, and, passing through the Town of Haydock, is called Haydock-lane. This lane is in most places enclosed by stunted oaks; and it is probable, from this hedge of oaks, the township of Haydock derives its name. This old lane is 6 feet below the level of the adjoining field, where it is crossed by the Roman road, and the Roman road appears to have descended to the level of the old lane, at the crossing; for the materials of the Roman road are visible, at the bottom of the hedge, on the north side of the old lane. This seems to prove that the old lane was made before the Roman road.”
[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]
“Again crossing the turnpike-road [the Roman road] is found in …. a field called Mather's Croft, beyond which it crosses an old lane called Townfield Lane which, being 6 feet below the level of the adjoining ground, and the Roman road sloping down to it, is considered by Mr Sibson as proof that it existed before the Roman road... This “Townfield Lane” seems to have been an old British road, but subsequently used by the Romans; as at the point where it crosses the Sankey Brook, close to a tumulus called “Castle Hill”, two piers of a bridge remain... It leads from Haydock to Lowton, and is a sunken way.”
[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)]
“About midway between the Gasworks and the farmhouse the lane was crossed by the Roman road, visible in Mr Sibson's day. The road ran from the south … and joined the Wigan road opposite “The Woodlands”... Further on, on the right, is Lawson's Farm, occupied in our time by William Caunce, one of the original trustees of St Peter's National Schools. He was followed by George Gibbon and William Gilbert. The premises are now held by Samuel Kirkham.... On the field path, near the Glass Works, on the way to Haydock etc, there was a network of ancient paths that were ploughed up when Caunce left the farm...”
[From “Newton-in-Makerfield: Its history, With Some Account of Its People, Compiled from Authentic Sources by John Henry Lane With Notes and Reminiscences by Peter Mayor Campbell”, 2 volumes, 1914-16]
South of the Haydock/Newton boundary the modern A49 diverges from the Roman road, its route along the higher ground east of Newton Brook presumably influenced by the development of Newton (literally “new town”) and Winwick as important commercial and ecclesiastical centres in the later Anglo-Saxon period. A consequence has been that this section of the Roman road has been even more vulnerable to destruction and degradation through building and agricultural practices than was the case further north. As Robert Philpott observes in “Observations on the Wilderspool to Wigan Roman Road in Newton-le-Willows” (Journal of the Merseyside Archaeological Society, Vol 10/2000), “The failure of the section of the road south of Crow Lane to influence the pattern of field boundaries and local trackways suggests that it no longer played a role in the medieval landscape”.
“Townfield Lane” disappears from the map after the middle of the 19th century, but it can be seen on the 1849 OS and earlier maps running east-west from the main Ashton-Newton road opposite Lawson's Farm. Part of its route seems to correspond with present-day Billington Avenue and its continuation as an unmade track for a short distance to the west. The main photograph, taken on 22 May 2018, looks towards the Farm from Billington Avenue. Shown on the left, below, is a view from the unmade section further west, looking towards Lawson's Farm on the right and the modern Woodlands Business Park on the left. The camera position corresponds with the black square on the map shown above, right; it is just possible that the paler vegetation in the foreground of this photograph marks the subterranean remains of the Roman road (although the OS VectorMap Local, 2018 version, puts it closer to the A49 at SJ 581 965 – roughly, the camera position for the main photograph).