Monument record 1939/1 - Blakestrete

Blakestrete, medieval road, poss with Roman origin. Traced for over 2 miles SJ428637-457624. Prob not a major Roman road, but may have been minor road. In W road traced running NW along field boundaries, from Saighton Hall followed by parish boundary. Turns NE & then E along Ridges Lane, to Ridgeway Farm (1). E of Portersheath Farm, road c.6m wide, ditched on either side & metalled. At SJ 43506366 road is 12m wide from hedge to hedge & is unmetalled. Further east the road widens out, 18m wide hedge to hedge. Best preserved section between SJ 43506366 and 44006365 (2). Nr Ridgeway Farm road is raised, 3.3m wide & runs between parallel ditches c.11m apart. E of Ridgeway Farm, road runs SE towards Hatton Lodge on A41. In lst field SE of Saighton Lane, old road could clearly be seen up to old footpath (451631), where level of road was c.0.3m above ground & was flanked by ditches c. 6m apart. In 2nd field from lane ground rose flanked by ditch & line of trees. 3rd field had raised embankment which continued into the 4th field. At 455626 a modern ditch cut across the embankment & revealed sandstone blocks 0.3m below turf level. At NE corner of field were 4 sandstone blocks. Parish boundary follows most of the road's length (3). By 1986, the road east of Saighton Lane only survived as a slight rise south of the existing hedge line. From SJ 45236300 to Hatton Lodge it had been so reduced by ploughing as to be only traceable in a fragmentary form (2).

<1> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 55/90-91 Jermy K E 1960 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46SW25 1986 (Index). SCH2487.

<3> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 54/25-6 Jermy K E & Evans D M 1959 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.