Maiden Way

Maiden Way ran north from Bravoniacum at Kirkby Thore through the Pennine moorland to the fort at Magnis at Carvoran on the line of Hadrian's Wall. It is the most desolate of the great British Roman roads, climbing across exposed fell country at over four hundred metres for much of its length. The name comes from the Old English mægden, maiden in the older sense of unspoilt or never taken, as with Maiden Castle further south. The road served the lead mines of Alston Moor as well as the wall garrisons. Sections survive as bridleway through some of the emptiest country in England, particularly across the moor above Kirkland where the road is plain as a pale ribbon in the heather.