Monument record 2030/1 - King's Wood Lane/Saltersway/Military Way

Gifford and Partners, 1992, The Archaeological Implications of the Proposed A550 Improvements (Deeside Park to M53) (Client Report). SCH4308.

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ37SE6/1959 (Index). SCH2487.

King's Wood Lane led through the Royal Wood of Saughall to Shotwick & poss to Wirral. Starts at SJ37896855, winds as far as 36557064 & then is straight as far as Woodbank Lane. 37896855-37546900 it is a greenway & then a farm track to 37376960, & overgrown to 37346970. From here to 37437010 it is part greenway & part farm track.

<2> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 64/132 Stewart-Brown R 1912 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

Lane leads into Fiddlers Lane. It was pitched & paved & in 1889 there were still patches of a once continuous stone pavement. Probably this was part of the 'Saltersway', which led to ford & is mentioned 1339-40. Also known as 'Military Road' & may poss be Roman.

<3> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 4/61-2 Bradford W H 1902 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

In 1902 in Fiddlers Lane, on the right hand side were small patches of a continuous stone pavement reaching from Fiddlers Lane to Woodbank Lane. 'It is only 3 or 4 years since the last of this pavement between the Shotwick Lodge Farm & Woodbank Lane was broken up. The road crossed Woodbank Lane, where it turned left & descended into a deep ravine to Shotwick ford.

<4> Gifford and Partners, 1992, Shotwick Park Estate: Archaeological Audit (Client Report). SCH4215.

'King's Wood Lane', now known as 'Lodge Lane'. Although the lane is itself narrow it lies within a much wider route corridor some 15m in width between hedgerows. It is thought to perpetuate the line of the road known as the 'Military Way' by which English forces at Chester reached the ford across the Dee at Shotwick during times of conflict with the Welsh in the early Medieval period. Its route is thought to have crossed 'Woodbank Lane' and then to have turned to the south-west to follow the deep ravine leading to Shotwick ford. A saltworks is recorded at Shotwick presumably explaining how this road also came to be known as the 'Saltersway'. It subsequently became the main driveway of the Royal Park. This route may have a Roman origin linking up settlements along the Wirral coastline whose existence is suggested by chance finds of Roman material in the vicinity.