Rykeneld Street

Rykeneld Street or Ryknield Street was a Roman road which ran through the northern Midlands of England from Deva (Chester) to Derventio (Derby) via what is now Stoke-on-Trent [1]. The territory traversed would have been that of the Cornovii [1]. Beginning at Chester the road ran south-east to a known Roman fort structure at Chesterton in North Staffordshire (partly excavated with modern methods from 1969 to 1971) [1]. It then ran through Wolstanton, as discovered when the Marsh was partly drained in the 1870s, then in a major educational excavation in the 1960s [1]. The road was 20 feet wide between the kerbstones [1]. The road then ran from Wolstanton along the valley ridge to drop down into the often-flooded Fowlea Valley [1]. Various Roman relics have been found along the route in North Staffordshire, including a well-preserved updraught pottery kiln at Trent Vale in Stoke-on-Trent with supporting coin and pottery finds [1]. A Roman hoard was found at Longton, on the line of the road through Stoke-on-Trent, in 1960 [1].