Brinsworth Common near Rotherham

[Bayleaf]

This article first appeared in the Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society, Vol 6 p164 and is reproduced by kind permission of the Society.

BRINSWORTH COMMON near ROTHERHAM:

Ancient and Roman Roads. -

By DOROTHY GREENE and F. WAKELIN.

The story of the ancient roads on Brinsworth Common begins in September, 1947, when a survey was made of the fields lying an the north side of Bawtry Road, and to the west of Atlas Street. The land was required for miners' pre-fabricated houses, and when assisting with the survey, Mr. W. A. Ainscough, of the Borough Engineer's Department, Rotherham, noticed a long, low ridge running across the fields. He mentioned this to Miss Dorothy Greene, who visited the site and realized that this ridge must be the trace of a road shown on the 1855 six inch Ordnance Map.

The ridge is 2ft. 9 in to 3ft. In height and runs across fields numbered 139 and 160 on the 1,/2500 Ordnance Map (Edition 1934, Sheet No. 289/14). It leaves the Bawtry Road on

the north at a point 250 yards west of the Atlas Hotel, situated at the corner of that road and Brinsworth Narrow Lane; and it runs in a north-easterly direction for about 160 yards and then turns almost due east; disappears under Atlas Street, and then comes directly on to old Canklow Bridge, now standing within the precincts of Rotherham Main Colliery.

Miss Greene got into touch with Mr. F. Wakelin and it was decided to cut the ridge at the point shown on the block plan. Mr. T. Walker was approached, and with his invaluable assistance the job was started.

A trench 29 ft. by 2 ft. 6 ins. was set out across the ridge and the top layer of soil skimmed off. At a depth of 4 ins. a modern road surface appeared which had obviously been cindered in recent years. Mr. Walker was not surprised; he remembered an old farm track on this line.

At the south side of the trench a worked kerb stone appeared at l ft. 6 ins. below the ground surface. As the trench was deepened, a metalled road surface was found, heavily cambered.[1]

On the north side no kerb was at first discovered, but at eighteen feet from the south kerb the broken remains of a road surface were found at a depth at 2ft. 6 ins., and a line of stones emerged which was assumed to be the kerb line.[2]

It was decided to strip the south side on the trench. An area 7 ft. 3ins. by 2 ft. was laid bare and a line of worked kerb stones, averaging 2 ft. 9ins. by 9 ins. was found lying on the original ground surface. These were laid to act as a drain, as shown on the section.

The surface of the road exposed was of broken sandstone, finely graded, waterbound, rammed and set to an incredible hardness. It was heavily cambered and raised some 2 ins. above the kerb, and set at an angle to the kerb to form a small channel.[3]

Road No. 2 was also stripped for 3 ft. s ins. by2 ft. and there appeared a line of sandstone pitching four inches in depth, lying on a band of sandy soil about an inch thick which had covered the surface of Road l. Road 2 was surfaced with a coarser material than Road l, and was not so heavily cambered.

No. 3 Road was likewise stripped for 3 ft. 6 ins. by 2 ft. and again emerged a line of four inches of sandstone pitching, resting on a band of sandy soil approximately one inch thick. This road was surfaced with a medium sized material and was more cambered than Road, 2.[4]

The cart road was also stripped for a similar distance and was found to be some four inches below the modern surface. It was com¬posed of a three inch pitching, surfaced with a flinty slag much in use about thirty to forty years ago, waterbound.

On the north side the ground was stripped to the original ground surface, and at 3 ft. 3 ins. the edge stones of a stone "raft" were un¬covered. On this raft were laid the kerbstones of road 1, and also a small "wall" 1 ft. 8 ins, by 5 ins., which had presumably been erected to bear up the northern side of the road. At this point the ground is marshy and the raft was constructed to carry the road over this boggy patch.

On the surface of the raft, at a distance of 12 ft. 4 ins. from the north edge of the trench, a wooden baulk, 17 ins. By 5 ins. By 4 ins. was found. This was taken up in fragments and sent to Professor Clapham of Sheffield University, who informs us that it is made of oak, possibly from the heart of a slow growing and probably old tree.

Upon this baulk was laid brushwood, and also lying on the raft surface was a large stone 10 ins. by 6 ins. which appeared to be intended to act as a stay to prevent the Road 1 slipping. A similar stone appeared on the south side at the same level. The distance between them was 9 ft. 9 ins.

It was decided to break down to the original ground surface, and so the work started on the south side of the trench, and continued across to the north. The section shows how the roads were laid, one upon another, and also indicates the position and length of the raft, which was 11 ft. 6 ins. by 6 ins., edged with stones approximately, 10 ins. by 6 ins.

Under the lower road (No. 1) was a filling between four to five inches deep, and on the southern side this road appeared to have been dug out for about 3ft. 6 ins, until at 24 ft. 8 ins. the pitching was found in situ for 2 ft. up to the worked kerb.

On the surface of the filling at the points marked XXX on the plan traces of brushwood were found under the pitching. Road 1 had obviously collapsed under the strain of wear and tear, and the combined weights of the superimposed Roads 2 and 3.

Road 3 had also been very much in use and had given way an the south side. Over the entire surface of the upper road (3),was spread a layer of fine red sandy soil, three inches thick, which defined very clearly the camber of the combined roads. This was assumed to have been deposited upon the upper surface after disuse. This type of sandy deposit was found between each successive road. On the surface of this three-inch band of sand was laid the modern cart road, which was six feet wide and had been cindered in recent times.

Nothing was found to indicate the age of the roads, but until 1840 the traffic from Tinsley to Bawtry ran over this route. The roads lead directly on to the old Canklow :Bridge (Knoucth Bridge, to use the original name) now disused.

The plans for the widening and reconstructing of the Turnpike from Bawtry to Tinsley dated 1752 and 1782 respectively have proved elusive, but this was presumably the main route until at some un¬known date the line was "improved" by constructing the new length of road to the southward which we use to-day.

This was achieved by utilizing an old closed road which ran from the point where the ancient road just described strikes north-east into the Brinsworth Narrow Lane.

Brinsworth Narrow Lane originally continued on the line of the present main road until it joined up with Whitehill Lane, just westward of Canklow (new) Bridge and then together the two roads came to the south-west corner of the o1d Canklow Bridge.

Whether this improvement was indeed a good thing is a moot point, as this :new line of approach made an extremely awkward bend to gain access to the old bridge which continued in use until 1927 when the modern bridge was built.

It is pretty clear that the upper roads (2 and 3) were old coach roads, and were built upon a much earlier main road, the date of which it is at the moment impossible to fix definitely. But it must be remembered that the Canklow crossing of the Rother dates back to prehistoric days, and so it is possible that in very early times this road to the west was metalled, and probably Road 1 built by very competent engineers.

In November, 1947, the party was augmented by Mr. Thomas Salvin, and the students of Brincliffe College, Sheffield, under Mr. A, W. Goodfellow and Dr, Edith Raynor, and a search was made for the Roman road which ran north across the Common. This was found at the point marked "Y" on the plan, where a slight ridge running north-west was visible.

At a depth of 1 ft. 6 ins. a road surface was bared and the width was found to be 18 ft. The road was broken down to half its width and was found to be composed of heavy boulder pitching of the sand stone of the district, 1 ft. 6 ins. in depth.

The weather proved very bitter and work had to cease, but Mr. Wakelin cut a trench at "Z" and there discovered what may be traces of the road again, proceeding in the direction of the Golf Course, and thus on the line of the route from the South Gate of the Fort of Templeborough.

The Contractors are now in possession of the site and, at the request of Mr. B. H, St. J. O'Neill, M.A., V.-P.S.A., Chief Inspector of Antiquities, Ministry of Works, a clear cut will be made across all roads, and all finds carefully noted and preserved. A full report on the Roman road will be made at a later date.

The thanks of the excavators are due to Mr. E. J. Manson, M.Inst.C,E., Borough Engineer, Rotherham, and to Lt.-Colonel A. R. J. Mahon, A.M.I.C.E., his Deputy, for their courtesy in permitting the work to proceed; also to Corporal E. R. Ducksbery of the War Agri¬cultural Dept. for his help and to Mrs. Ducksbery for the welcome cups of tea with which she regaled the workers! To Mr. A. W. Goodfellow, Dr E. Raynor and the students of Brincliffe College, to Mr. F. L. Morgan, Head Master of St. Ann's School, and his deputy, Mr. F. P. Hinchcliffe, who nobly assisted in very wintry weather, thanks are also due.

[1] Photograph No. 1.

[2] Photograph No. 2.

[3] Photograph No. 3.

[4] Photograph No. 4.

[5] Photograph No. 5.

[Guest Jeremy]

This is great, thanks Bayleaf.

I think that this is part of the excavations that Michael Wood mentions in his book In Search of England (excellent book BTW). In it he describes a meeting with Dorothy Greene:

Dorothy was a kindly, grey-haired lady, not the sort you'd associate with dirt archaeology; but her digging experience went back to the excavation of the Roman fort at Templeborough during the First World War, and no one knew the area better. [.....] [Greene:] 'There's lots of Roman traditions around here: the Roman Rig, The Roman Fort, you know.' She paused. 'But this might interest you. There was a Roman remple on White Hill.' [......] [Wood:] 'But you don't mention it in your report.' [Greene:] 'The trouble was, it was a rescue operation before the new estate was built at Brinsworth. We started digging up a bit of road and ended up finding a small town which we never guessed was there. The whole dig was never published. There wasn't the time, and it would have been far too expensive. But we found the platform of a temple. I'm absolutely sure of it. It was at Canklow on the northern side of White Hill. It's a perfect spot for a Roman temple, by the main road north, on a hill by the border with the Brigantes.'

Jeremy

[Guest Jeremy]

From The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 39 (1949):

Miss Dorothy Greene reports that by watching drainage trenches during the erection of prefabricated houses on Brinsworth Common, 3/4-mile S of Templeborough on the north of the Tinsley-Bawtry road and west of the ancient ford across the R. Rother at Canklow Bridge, she found nine roads forming a grid within an area of c. 926 ft. by 490 ft. Five of those she measured varied between 16 ft. and 23 ft. between the kerbs. They were made of stones pitched edgewise about 15 in. below ground and in places were surfaced with gravel. Walls of buildings were also traced, with pottery of the late-second and third century.

[Guest Jeremy]

Just for fun... a Google Earth overlay of the area: