Cade's Road

54.855944°N 1.571972°W / 54.855944; -1.571972

Cade's Road
Roman Road
Roman Roads in Britain
Route information
Length	100 mi (160 km)
Margary number	80 ( a ) -- Petuaria to Old Durham ( b ) -- Concangis to Pons Aelius
Major junctions
From	Petuaria ( Brough, Humber Estuary )
Major intersections	Derventio ( Stamford Bridge ), (North-East)--Malton Roman Fort [a] (East)--Bridlington (West)--Eboracum ( York ) Lugunduno , River Tees (East)--Dunum Sinus, ( Tees Bay, North Sea ) (West)--Piercebridge Roman Fort (North-West)--Vinovia ( Binchester Roman Fort ) Old Durham, River Wear ( 80 b ) Concangis ( Chester-le-Street Roman Fort ) (North-East)--Arbeia ( South Shields Roman Fort )
To	Pons Aelius ( Newcastle Roman Fort ), River Tyne
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Road network
Roman roads in Britannia

Cade's Road is a Roman Road in north-east England.^[1][2] It is named after John Cade of Durham, an 18th-century antiquarian who in 1785 proposed its existence and possible course from the Humber Estuary northwards to the River Tyne, a distance of about 100 miles (160 km). The road's Roman name is unknown. Although evidence exists for such a road on some parts of the proposed route, there is still some doubt regarding its exact course.^[1][3][4]

Cade's Road near Middleton One Row.

Examples of place names with the suffix "le-Street": ^[b]

• Chester-le-Street, County Durham ( Concangis Roman fort )^[6][7]

• Thornton-le-Street, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire^{[8][9] [c]}

• Thorpe le Street, near Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire^{[8][10] [d]}

Route

From the Humber to the Tees

Cade's Road began at Brough on the north bank of the River Humber, where there was a ferry, a Roman fort and civilian settlement (Petuaria) alongside a major Celtic settlement. The road ran northwards through Thorpe le Street and Market Weighton, before gradually turning westwards (possibly following the line of another Roman road) until it reached York (Roman Eboracum). From York it continued northwards to Thornton-le-Street near Thirsk and on to cross the River Tees (on a stone bridge now gone, but stones of which are incorporated into local buildings)^[12] near Middleton St George and Middleton One Row, where 'Pounteys Lane' is possibly named after the Roman Pons Tees (Bridge of Tees).

From the Tees to the Tyne

From the Tees the road heads north through Sadberge and then Great Stainton (also known as Stainton-le-Street) near Sedgefield. The route of the road in the Durham area is unknown, but it is thought the road passed east of Durham City, crossing the River Wear at Kepier.^[13] The road ran past the Roman fort of Concangis, located at Chester-le-Street.^[14] Concangis is the only known Roman fort on the road between York and Newcastle.

From Concangis the road headed north through Birtley to Wrekenton, once a village but now a suburb of Gateshead. From Wrekenton, a branch road, known as the Wrekendyke, headed north-east to the Roman fort and harbour of Arbeia at South Shields. It has been conjectured that the site of a Roman fort exists on the golf course at Wrekenton, but this has never been confirmed.

Cade's Road continued north from Wrekenton along Gateshead High Street and crossed the Tyne over the Roman bridge of Pons Aelius (Newcastle upon Tyne). It is not believed that the road continued north of Hadrian's Wall.

See also

• Roman roads in Britain
• Roman Britain