Wade's Causeway: Difference between revisions
adding more details on course of route, and an extra reference |
adding more information to infobox |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
|name=Wade's Causeway |
|name=Wade's Causeway |
||
|marker_image=[[File:Wheeldale Moor Roman Road - geograph.org.uk - 646937.jpg|200px]] |
|marker_image=[[File:Wheeldale Moor Roman Road - geograph.org.uk - 646937.jpg|200px]] |
||
|map= |
|map=SE805975 |
||
|length_mi= |
|length_mi=1.1 |
||
|length_km= |
|length_km=2 |
||
|length_round= |
|length_round= |
||
|length_ref= |
|length_ref= |
||
Revision as of 10:22, 15 September 2013
 | |
|---|---|
| File:SE805975 | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 1.1 mi (1.8 km) |
Wade's Causeway is the name applied to an ancient structure in the North York Moors, North Yorkshire, England. Part of the structure, on Wheeldale Moor, is well preserved, and has been excavated.[1] The extant section uncovered by archaeologists in the 1920s runs for approximately 2 km over Wheeldale Moor.[2] However it is commonly believed that this represents a small section of a structure that is conjectured to have run from Derventio Brigantum (possibly modern Amotherby near Malton[3]) to Whitby passing roughly northward from Malton via Stape and crossing the River Esk at Grosmont, beyond which the structure is thought to extend eastwards to Whitby. The extant uncovered section is as of 2013 heavily covered by vegetation again.[4] It has also been heavily robbed of stone for use in other local construction, such as dry-stone walls and farm buildings.
For much of the last century, the structure has popularly been thought to have been a road or causeway across marshy ground. As recently as 1964 this was a definitive and unquestioned narrative.[5] A local legend that is the source of the structure's name was that it was build by a Giant called Wade for his wife, Bell, to take her sheep to market. More recently, archaeologists for a long time thought it was almost certainly a road constructed during the Roman period to connect the Roman camp at Cawthorne Camp with the garrison at Lease Rigg.
Recent archaeological work has cast some doubt on this narrative, since the structure does not obviously connect to the main Roman road network and there are some discrepancies of construction from what can be seen of the remains compared to known Roman roads (namely, it appears to have a surface dressing of stone flags rather than the gravel typically used on Roman roads).[6] It has therefore been suggested that the structure may be a road dating from either the pre-Roman or post-Roman (medieval) periods.[7][8]
Even more recently, there has been some doubt as to whether the structure is actually a road or causeway at all,[9] with suggestions that it may actually be the collapsed and heavily robbed remains of a Neolithic of Bronze Age boundary wall or dyke,[10] of which there are a large number in the Moors area,[11] though none so substantial. To cover this, the term "Wheeldale Linear Monument" is used to refer to the structure, whatever its origin[9]
This uncertainty of origin is now (as of 2013) reflected by an information board at one end of the extant section of structure, which admits that the origin and purpose of the structure is unknown.
In Popular Culture
Scottish Author Michael Scott Rohan drew heavily on the legend of Wade's Causeway, as well as more generally the legends and history of the surrounding area and its history of Viking occupation when he wrote his Winter of the World trilogy while residing in Yorkshire. The books feature mention of a legendary giant, Vayde, who built a causeway across the marshes. It bore his name, Vayde's causeway.
See also
References
- ^ "Wade's Causeway", www.engineering-timelines.com
- ^ http://whitbypopwatch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/wades-causeway.html
- ^ http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/roman%20britain/wheeldale_road.htm
- ^ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wheeldale-roman-road/history-and-research-portico/description/
- ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3tMrajZuWR0C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=wade's+causeway+neolithic&source=bl&ots=-0wsL6c0RL&sig=RltY5fwKyzRY2WSA5pgDmLD0sBE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g2vFUcitD6aa0QXFzYCoBA&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=wade's%20causeway%20neolithic&f=false - R Hayes and J Rutter, Wade's Causeway, Scarborough and District Archaeological Scoeity
- ^ http://www.dalesman.co.uk/places-to-visit/goathland
- ^ "WADES CAUSEWAY", www.pastscape.org.uk, English Heritage
- ^ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wheeldale-roman-road/history-and-research-portico/significance/
- ^ a b http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wheeldale-roman-road/history-and-research-portico/history/
- ^ http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba29/ba29lets.html
- ^ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/iha-prehist-linear-boundary-earthworks/linearboundaryearthworks.pdf
External links
