Long Causeway or Long Causey was a medieval packhorse route in England, which ran between Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Hathersage in Derbyshire. In the past the route has been marked on maps as a Roman Road as it was believed it followed part of the route of Batham Gate between Templeborough and Buxton, although in recent years some scholars have cast doubt on this. [1]
In Medieval times, Long Causeway was the middle of three routes which left Sheffield to the west. It started in the Portobello area of the town beginning a seven-mile journey with over 1100 feet of ascent to Stanedge Pole on the border between the manors of Sheffield and Hathersage. From Portobello the route continued by a series of rises and dips, climbing initially through Leavygreave and crossing the top of the Crookes valley and up Lydgate Lane (then called Hallam Gate) to reach what was then open moorland. The route then continued through present day Crosspool and followed the route along what is now Sandygate Road and Redmires Road, crossing the location of the present day Redmires Reservoirs before tackling the steepest ascent on the route up to Stanedge Pole. [2]
From the pole the route began its drop down to Hathersage going due west for half a mile before swinging sharply north-west to descend Stanage Edge at an angle through a less rocky part of the crags. The road down Stanage Edge was notoriously difficult and it is recorded that carters often asked passengers to disembark and “hung stones at the end of their carts, when going down Stannidge, it having great descent”. After negotiating the Stanage incline the road swung round almost 180 degrees passing Dennis Knoll to enter Hathersage from the north. [3] [1]
Roman roads historian Ivan Donald Margary said that the Long Causeway had a slightly different route in Roman times. In his book Roman Roads In Britain, he said that evidence is now available that shows that after the Redmires Reservoir the Roman road did not follow the medieval route to Stanedge Pole but kept to the line of the present day track to Stanedge Lodge. The Roman road then descended Stanage Edge half a mile north west of the present route, on a narrow and steeper terrace. [4] The existence of any Roman Road in the Stanage Edge area was challenged in 2016 by an interim report by University of Sheffield staff on excavations of a linear feature in the Sheephill Road, Ringinglow area. [5]
Although Long Causeway was never a Turnpike road, milestones were added in the 1730s due to the high volume of traffic. This was an exceptional happening as even the law of 1758 required milestones only to be added on Turnpike roads. It is known that a milestone stood in the Sandygate area just past Crosspool and then a mile further on was the ancient marker of Barncliff Stoop on present day Redmires Road, which is still in place today. "Stoop" is a word of Scandinavian origin meaning a stone post and it stood near the "Barren Cliff", hence Barncliff. The age of the stoop is unknown but it predates the enclosure of the local moorland which took place in the 1500s. A milestone was added to the top of the stoop in 1738, this is now in Weston Park Museum, a replica now sits on top of the stoop which is now dedicated as a Grade II listed building.
After passing Barncliff Stoop the road dipped down to the valley of Black Brook from where it was possible to view the next milestone on the skyline, this stood outside the entrance to the former Lodge Moor Hospital and was still in place as recently as 1903 and it is believed that it disappeared altogether in the 1920s. The next milestones existed just east of Wyming Brook Farm, this became redundant at the end of the 18th century when the surrounding land was enclose and the Causeway was realigned. It survives as a farm gatepost, 175 yards east of the junction of Redmires Road and Soughley Lane. The final milestone before reaching Stanedge Pole stood on moorland next to a farm and a smithy and was submerged by the building of the Upper of the Redmires Reservoirs in 1854. This milestone has only been viewed in recent times when the reservoir has been drained for repair work. This happened in 1911, 1974, 2007 and 2018, the stone is inscribed "From Sheffied 6". (Photograph on Picture The Past) [2] [6]
The route was used extensively in the Middle Ages by traders bringing salt to Yorkshire from the Cheshire salt mines by packhorse. By the 18th century carts had replaced many of the packhorses and were transporting many goods including, oil, hardware good, barrels of tar, hogsheads of treacle, glue from Manchester, lead and small grinding stones. Traffic on Long Causeway started to decline around 1760 after the opening of an alternative route to the Hope Valley via Ringinglow. [7]
Between Redmires Reservoir and Dennis Knoll car park, just north of Hathersage (a distance of approximately four km), Long Causeway still exists as an unsurfaced track. This track is a BOAT (Byway Open To All Traffic), however recently this has been subject to a Traffic Regulation Order from the Peak District National Park, and vehicles have been banned. Small areas of the track are still paved in parts with the most extensive section being an 80-metre stretch just to the west of Stanage Pole. [1] In early 2013 Derbyshire County Council carried out some resurfacing work between Stanage Edge and Dennis Knoll car park; this resulted in many of the large boulders being removed, leaving a smooth surface for horse riders and walkers. Many people have said this is out of character with the ancient track and a National Park. [8]
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorland is found and the geology is dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas. It became the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors – some 20 million live within an hour's ride. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
Hathersage is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Sheffield.
Hallam Football Club is an English football club based in Crosspool, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Founded in 1860, Hallam is the second oldest association football club in the world. Hallam currently play in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, at the ninth level of the English football league system.
Stanage Edge, or simply Stanage is a gritstone escarpment in the Peak District, England, famous as a location for climbing. It lies a couple of miles to the north of Hathersage, and the northern part of the edge forms the border between the High Peak of Derbyshire and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Its highest point is High Neb at 458 metres (1,503 ft) above sea level. Areas of Stanage were quarried in the past to produce grindstones, and some can still be seen on the hillside—carved, but never removed.
Crosspool is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, located 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the city centre. The suburb falls within the Crookes ward of the City of Sheffield. It is a middle class residential area in an elevated position above the Porter and Rivelin valleys and stands at around 660 feet (200 m) above sea level. Crosspool is situated on the A57 road and is the last suburb on that road before the city boundary and open countryside is reached. In 2011 Crosspool had a population of 6,703.
Ringinglow is a village in the western section of Sheffield, England. It is on the western border of Ecclesall Ward, and although it is within the boundary of Sheffield, it is self-contained, being entirely surrounded by open countryside. The village now falls within the Fulwood ward of the City.
Fulwood ward—which includes the districts of Fulwood, Lodge Moor, and Ranmoor—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the far western part of the city and covers an area of 23.2 km2. The population of this ward in 2011 was 18,233 people in 6,476 households. Fulwood ward is one of the five wards that make up the Sheffield Hallam Parliamentary constituency. In the 2004 local elections John Knight, Janice Sidebottom, and Andrew Sangar, all Liberal Democrats, were returned as councillors for the newly drawn ward. The current Member of Parliament is Labour's Olivia Blake.
Derwent Edge is a Millstone Grit escarpment that lies above the Upper Derwent Valley in the Peak District National Park in the English county of Derbyshire. An Ordnance Survey column marks the highest point of the Edge at Back Tor. North of Back Tor the edge extends into Howden Edge and enters the county of South Yorkshire.
Blackstone Edge is a gritstone escarpment at 472 m above sea level in the Pennine hills surrounded by moorland on the boundary between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire in England.
Langsett Reservoir is in Yorkshire, England, near the villages of Langsett and Upper Midhope, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. The reservoir was constructed between 1898 and 1904, and is now managed by Yorkshire Water. Fed by the Little Don or Porter River, it is around a mile long, and supplies water for Sheffield and Barnsley via the Langsett Treatment Works.
The A625 is a rural road which runs through north Derbyshire and the Peak District.
Stanedge Pole also known as Stanage Pole is a landmark on Hallam Moors close to Stanage Edge in South Yorkshire, England. Standing at a height of 438 metres, it marks the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and can be seen for several miles around.
The Redmires Reservoirs are a group of three reservoirs in Fulwood, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They are fed from the Hallam Moors by various small streams including Fairthorn Clough. The three reservoirs are named Upper, Middle and Lower and were built between 1833 and 1854 to provide clean drinking water via an open water course which led to the Hadfield Dam situated in Crookes, following the devastating Sheffield cholera epidemic of 1832. The dams were built as part of the Sheffield Water Works continuing expansion to meet the ever growing population of Sheffield.
Batham Gate is the medieval name for a Roman road in Derbyshire, England, which ran south-west from Templebrough on the River Don in South Yorkshire to Brough-on-Noe and the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire. Gate means "road" in northern English dialects; the name therefore means "road to the bath town".
The Sheffield to Hathersage turnpike was an early road through the English Peak District, which was improved by a turnpike trust in the 18th century. The road may have originated as a Roman road.
Rivelin Dams are a pair of water storage reservoirs situated in the upper part of the Rivelin Valley, 5 miles (8 km) west of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The dams are owned by Yorkshire Water and provide water to 319,000 people as well as compensation water for the River Rivelin. They are named Upper and Lower and fall just within the eastern boundary of the Peak District.
The S11 district lies within in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The district contains 97 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, seven are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The district is in the south west of the city of Sheffield, and covers the areas of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Ecclesall, Ecclesall Road, Endcliffe, Greystones, Hunter's Bar, Sharrow Vale, Parkhead, Ringinglow and Whirlow, plus parts of Millhouses and Nether Edge.
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular 190-mile (310 km) walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District and was launched on 17 June 2017.
The Vale of Edale is the upper valley of the River Noe, in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The village of Edale lies in the middle of the valley.
Burbage Rocks is a gritstone escarpment in South Yorkshire, overlooking the village of Hathersage in the Peak District. The highest point along the escarpment is 429 metres (1,407 ft) above sea level, whilst Burbage Moor rises above to 438 metres (1,437 ft). Burbage Rocks is a southern extension of Stanage Edge. Burbage Brook runs from the northern end of the Burbage Rocks, past the southern end, through Padley Gorge and into the RIver Derwent.