![\"P1020682a\"](\"https:\/\/www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1020682a.jpg\")
<\/a>Culverts under roads are not unusual but Ian was struck by size and quality of this one. It was big enough for him to crawl into and had huge cap stones both on top and underneath. ![\"Wingates](\"https:\/\/www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wingates-Lane-Culvert5a.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0On reaching the other end, the culvert\u00a0opened up into a kind of chamber big enough for him to stand up in with two or three opening where the\u00a0water was coming in. ![\"Wingates](\"https:\/\/www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wingates-Lane-Culvert6a.jpg\")
<\/a>The site is located about half way between Leyland Mill and Brock Mill on\u00a0the Douglas side of the road. When Ian began to speculate about its age he realised that there had been quite a lot of industrial activity in the area including mining and this could be connected. However he also knew that Wigan was a Roman town and there had been reports of Roman mining further up the Douglas valley at Arley (see our Projects page here<\/a>).<\/p>\nFurther research has led him to an article by John Howard entitled \u00a0A Roman Road and its Culverts<\/em> published in 2002 which details the investigations done on a section of\u00a0road between Ribchester and Burrow-in-Lonsdale. The photographs in the article (see below) are remarkably similar\u00a0to the culvert he had uncovered and that’s when he decided to contact the Society. The road from Wigan to Ribchester has long been speculated upon but no evidence of it has ever been found. The Wingates road is in the right direction but how it fits into the generally considered route is hard to imagine. It would be quite something however, if this could be shown that this road has\u00a0some connection to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Date: February 01, 2015 The very name is suggestive of an old road but I must admit I hadn’t thought about it before. Yesterday\u00a0we were invited down there by Ian Parker, the land owner, to have a look at an … Continue reading ![\"Culvert](\"https:\/\/www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Culvert-No.4-Ribchester-to-Burrow.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Roman](\"https:\/\/www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Roman-Culvert-Ribchester-to-Burrow.jpg\")
<\/a> Ian became\u00a0even more convinced of its antiquity when\u00a0we told him about the supposed road leading from Wigan to Ribchester (although it is\u00a0general thought that the road\u00a0followed\u00a0Wigan Lane before branching off at Boar’s Head). Even if it is not Roman (and to be honest, its location halfway down the high embankment doesn’t suggest it is), it is quite a remarkable feature of some age and worthy of further investigations. Ian has said that he is quite willing to allow an excavation of the site to see if we can establish\u00a0its age. This could only be limited however due to the steepness of the embankment (and need to check for inhabitants such as bats).<\/p>\n