Long Causeway or Long Causey was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

route in England, which ran between

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

and

Hathersage 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 south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

. In the past the route has been marked on maps as a

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

as it was believed it followed part of the route of Batham Gate between Templeborough and

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

Route

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

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

s 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.''"Information board at Barncliff Stoop"'', Gives details of milestones, route and history. 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.''"The Making Of South Yorkshire"'', David Hey, Moorland Publishing Co, , Pages 18 & 64 Gives historical details of route. Barncliff Stoop, Redmires Road

Roman deviation

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.''"Peakland Roads and Trackways"'', A.E. Dodd & E.M. Dodd, Moorland Publishing Co, , Page 38 Gives details of Roman deviation. The existence of any Roman Road in the Stanage Edge area was challenged in 2016 by an interim report by

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth C ...

staff on excavations of a linear feature in the Sheephill Road, Ringinglow area.

Milestones

Although Long Causeway was never a

Turnpike road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

, 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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. 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
''"Yorkshire Water Information board at Redmires Reservoirs"'', Gives details of milestones.

Goods carried

The route was used extensively in the Middle Ages by traders bringing

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

from the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

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 Tar is a dark brown or black viscosity, viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic matter, organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. ...

hogshead A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoh ...

s of

treacle Treacle () is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.Oxford Dictionary The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker variety known as black treacle, similar to molasses. Black treacle has ...

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

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.''"Historic Hallamshire"'', David Hey, Landmark Publishing, , Pages 13, 98 & 102 Gives historical details of route and goods.

Remaining signs of the road

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 A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

(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. In early 2013

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. It has 64 councillors representing 61 divisions, with three divisions having two members each. They are Glossop and Charlesworth, ...

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 A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

. UK Climbing - Stanage Causeway Resurfacing Furore
Gives details of resurfacing and reaction.

References

{{coord, 53.356664, N, 1.641153, W, scale:5000_region:GB, display=title Trade routes Ancient trackways in England History of Sheffield History of Derbyshire Roads in Derbyshire Roman sites in Derbyshire