The (Possible) Roman Road from Longcliffe to Brough, Portway

Margary Number: None

Distance: 18 miles

Portway was a pre-Roman track way going north-south through the county. Roman Portway - if it is real - was a later adaption running from Longcliffe on the Street to Brough. I have strong doubts as to its reality but what is presented here is largely down to what Derbyshire HER records. There is some Lidar evidence south of Bakewell but not the strongest. North of Bakewell then virtually nothing. That is a big worry!

Historic Counties: Derbyshire

Current Counties: Derbyshire

HER: Derbyshire

location

Full Route - Map & Lidar Image This is the route from the Derbyshire HER shown in blue.	Click for larger view
Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Longcliffe The start of the road is unclear. Yes there has been a lot of quarrying and mining so perhaps not unexpected.. The first and best possible Roman road agger is at Grangemill - see below.	Click for larger view
Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Grangemill This is best possible Roman agger on the whole 18 miles.	Click for larger view
Oblique 3D Lidar Image - Bakewell Definitely an old road but perhaps a bit wobbly to be Roman. That cutting though is very Roman-like. North of Bakewell I could see nothing that would convince me there was a Roman road there.	Click for larger view
Wroe's Route Map & Lidar Image, Brough South This is Peter Wroe's route heading south from Brough. He did carry out excavations - those cross bars on his map - to prove the road and yet nothing at all is visible.	Click for larger view
Possible Lidar Evidence as far as Bakewell These are sections that are visible in the Lidar imagery that could be the road remains - shown in red. Some of these sections coincide with the HER route, some do not. North of Bakewell then I drew a blank. Overall the evidence is just not there for this road to be certain. In my opinion "Possible" is the best category for it.	Click for larger view

Last update: March 2026