Doctor's Gate

{{short description|Roman Road between Glossop and the Hope Valley}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}}

File:Doctor's_Gate_path_-_geograph.org.uk_-_941519.jpg]]

Doctor's Gate is a Roman road in the Derbyshire Peak District of England, which ran between Melandra fort at Glossop and Navio fort at Brough-on-Noe.{{Cite book|last=Patterson|first=Mark|title=Roman Derbyshire|publisher=Five Leaves Publications|year=2016|isbn=978-1910170250|pages=219-225, 236-239}} Doctor's Gate was recorded in 1627 as "Docto Talbotes Gate", named after Dr John Talbot who is attributed with improving the summit section in the late 15th century and 'gate' is derived from the Scandinavian word for road.{{Cite web|title=MNA112649 {{!}} National Trust Heritage Records|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA112649|access-date=2020-09-25|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}

The route of Doctor's Gate was investigated in the 1970s by Peter Wroe and Peter Mellor. The present day path across the moors, which is marked on OS maps, was a medieval packhorse route and may deviate about 1km to the north from the actual course of the Roman road on Ashop Moor.{{cite map|publisher=Ordnance Survey|title=OL24 White Peak area|at=West sheet|scale=1:25000|series=Explorer}}{{cite journal |last=Wroe |first=Peter |date=1982 |title=Roman roads in the Peak District |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2300-1/dissemination/pdf/102/DAJ_v102_1982_049-073.pdf |journal=Derbyshire Archaeological Journal |volume=102 |pages=49-73 |doi=10.5284/1066449}}

Four sections of the Doctor's Gate route are under the stewardship of the National Trust, within its Hope Woodlands property:

• Blackley Hey section: trackway through the Woodlands Valley north of Hope between Fulwood Stile Farm and the ford at Upper Ashop.{{Cite web|title=Part of Doctor's Gate road, Blackley Hey Section, Hope Woodlands|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA113419|access-date=2020-09-25|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}
• Heyridge Farm section: path between Ashop Bridge and Oyster Clough.{{Cite web|title=Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Heyridge Farm Section, Hope Woodlands|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA111767|access-date=2020-09-25|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}
• Lady Clough section: path between Oyster Cough (east of Snake Inn) and the Snake Pass.{{Cite web|title=Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Lady Clough section, Hope Woodlands (Monument)|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA113191|access-date=2020-09-25|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}
• Summit section: paved routeway between Snake Pass (A57 road along the old Sheffield to Glossop turnpike from 1821) and just beyond the Pennine Way long-distance footpath.{{Cite web|title=Part of Doctor's Gate Road, Summit Section, Hope Woodlands|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA112132|access-date=2020-09-25|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}

Doctor's Gate Road was assigned the Margary number RR711 by Roman road historian Ivan Donald Margary, who commented that the road was "remarkably direct considering the very difficult country that the route has to traverse".{{Cite web|title=OS Roman Road Files (Margary)|url=http://www.romanroads.org/osarchive.html|access-date=2020-09-24|website=www.romanroads.org}}