This is a surviving 370m stretch of the "Roman Ridge" (or Roman Rig), a linear earthwork running through Wath Wood near Wath upon Dearne in South Yorkshire. The Ridge as a whole comprises a system of banks and ditches extending some 18 km between the Don valley near Sheffield and the Dearne valley, and although traditionally labelled "Roman" its actual date is disputed, with most scholars now favouring a late Iron Age or sub-Roman origin associated with the Brigantes or post-Roman Elmet.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The earthwork is generally interpreted as a territorial boundary or defensive frontier work, possibly demarcating Brigantian tribal land or controlling movement along the Don–Dearne corridor between the Pennines and the lowlands. The Wath Wood section is one of the better-preserved stretches because woodland cover has protected it from ploughing, making it important for understanding the monument's original profile.
No modern excavation has been published for this specific length, and dating evidence for the Roman Ridge as a whole remains slight; earlier antiquarian observations (notably by Joseph Hunter in the 19th century) and 20th-century survey have recorded the bank-and-ditch profile but produced no closely datable finds. The Wath Wood section survives as a visible earthwork bank with traces of an accompanying ditch, but its specific function and chronology in this stretch are not independently established
This is a surviving 370m stretch of the "Roman Ridge" (or Roman Rig), a linear earthwork running through Wath Wood near Wath upon Dearne in South Yorkshire. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman Ridge: section 400yds (370m) long in Wath Wood is classified as a Roman site — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman Ridge: section 400yds (370m) long S of Abdy Farm (0.8 km), Roman Ridge: section 300yds (270m) long N of Birchwood (E of Chemical Cottages) (1 km), Roman Ridge: section 140yds (130m) long in Dyson's Plantation (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Roman Ridge: section 400yds (370m) long in Wath Wood