Huddersfield in Roman Times
By Ian A. Richmond
SUMMARY
The outlines of the history of the District in Roman times
run as follows:-
A.D. 43-71. Roman traders began to penetrate the District;
with the expulsion of Queen Cartimandua in A.D. 59. anti-Roman
reaction set in.
A.D. 71-74. Occupation began under Petilius Cerialis; between
then and A.D. 78 the forts at Meltham and Kirklees were
built, along a native “dirt-road.”
A.D. 79-80. Agricola built the first Roman road across the
Pennines, and forts at Slack and Castleshaw to guard it,
made almost entirely of wood. No active resistance.
About A.D. 90. Abandonment of the first fort at Castleshaw.
About A.D. 104. Consolidation of the fort at Slack; block-house
built at Castleshaw; active consolidation elsewhere under
Lucius Neratius Marcellus.
Before A.D. 114-117. Census taken in the Peak District,
suggesting peaceful control of native life.
A.D. 115-117. Scotland abandoned by the Romans amid disaster;
the District remained quiet; small trade was brisk; the
Ninth Legion from York disappeared about now.
A.D. 118-122. Preparations for making Slack a stone-built
fort. Sixth Legion arrives in York.
A.D. 122-125. Building of Hadrian’s Wall. Forts at
Slack and Castleshaw abandoned. A new road built across
the Pennines at Blackstone Edge; also a new fort, Cambodunum,
perhaps Greetland.
A.D. 125-130. Peace in the District, with prosperity, despite
disturbances further north in A.D. 140, A.D. 155-158, A.D.
180, A.D. 209-11, and A.D. 270.
A.D. 300-306. Disturbance in the Pennines, causing much
alarm. Peak District re-garrisoned. Constantius I. Died
at York in A.D. 306.
A.D. 369. Pictish war in the north; no sign of life in the
District; but garrisons still not far away; as at Manchester.
Attenuated life goes on elsewhere.
A.D. 383. Maximus robs many British troops for a Continental
campaign. No evidence for garrisons after this nearer than
York or Doncaster.
A.D. 410. Britain, left to her own resources, collapses
amid violent invasions.
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