Roman roads in Cumbria
Cumbria's Roman roads are frontier roads, and several are the most exposed in Britain. High Street crosses the Lakeland fells above seven hundred metres, higher than any other Roman road in England, though not every archaeologist accepts the whole line as Roman. The Maiden Way climbs the Pennines to Hadrian's Wall and served the lead and silver mines of Alston Moor. The Stanegate runs east to west below the wall, and the Stainmore road connects the county eastward to Dere Street and York.
- Mapped segments
- 53
- Surveyed length
- 500 km
- Named roads
- 5
Measured from the Itiner-e survey within the modern county boundary, which for Yorkshire, Cheshire and the other counties broken up in 1974 means the traditional area reassembled from its present-day parts. The survey maps far more road than it attributes to a named route, so the segment count counts everything, and the named roads below are only those with a history recorded here.
Where to see it
Hardknott Fort, on its shelf above Eskdale, is the most dramatically sited Roman fort in Britain and reached by one of its steepest roads. Ravenglass has the bath house walls standing four metres high, and the High Street ridge is a full day's walk on the road itself.
Named roads through Cumbria
High Street
Galava to Brocavum
Maiden Way
Bravoniacum to Magnis
Stanegate
Coria to Luguvalium
The Military Way
Stainmore Pass road
Cataractonium to Brocavum