Doctor's Gate Explained

Doctor's Gate is a Roman road in the Derbyshire Peak District of England, which ran between Melandra fort at Glossop and Navio fort at Brough-on-Noe.^[1] Doctor's Gate was recorded in 1627 as "Docto Talbotes Gate", named after Dr John Talbot who is attributed with improving the summit section in the late 15th century and 'gate' is derived from the Scandinavian word for road.^[2]

The route of Doctor's Gate was investigated in the 1970s by Peter Wroe and Peter Mellor. The present day path across the moors, which is marked on OS maps, was a medieval packhorse route and may deviate about 1km to the north from the actual course of the Roman road on Ashop Moor.^{[3] [4]}

Four sections of the Doctor's Gate route are under the stewardship of the National Trust, within its Hope Woodlands property:

• Blackley Hey section: trackway through the Woodlands Valley north of Hope between Fulwood Stile Farm and the ford at Upper Ashop.^[5]
• Heyridge Farm section: path between Ashop Bridge and Oyster Clough.^[6]
• Lady Clough section: path between Oyster Cough (east of Snake Inn) and the Snake Pass.^[7]
• Summit section: paved routeway between Snake Pass (A57 road along the old Sheffield to Glossop turnpike from 1821) and just beyond the Pennine Way long-distance footpath.^[8]

Doctor's Gate Road was assigned the Margary number RR711 by Roman road historian Ivan Donald Margary, who commented that the road was "remarkably direct considering the very difficult country that the route has to traverse".^[9]

References

1. Book: Patterson, Mark. Roman Derbyshire. Five Leaves Publications. 2016. 978-1910170250. 219-225, 236-239.
2. Web site: MNA112649 National Trust Heritage Records. 2020-09-25. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. en.
3. Ordnance Survey. OL24 White Peak area. West sheet. 1:25000. Explorer.
4. Wroe . Peter . 1982 . Roman roads in the Peak District . Derbyshire Archaeological Journal . 102. 49-73 .
5. Web site: Part of Doctor's Gate road, Blackley Hey Section, Hope Woodlands. 2020-09-25. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. en.
6. Web site: Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Heyridge Farm Section, Hope Woodlands. 2020-09-25. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. en.
7. Web site: Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Lady Clough section, Hope Woodlands (Monument). 2020-09-25. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. en.
8. Web site: Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Summit Section, Hope Woodlands. 2020-09-25. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. en.
9. Web site: OS Roman Road Files (Margary). 2020-09-24. www.romanroads.org.