WHAT DID THE ROMANS DO FOR US?
(Extracts included here from Roy Coopers “Book of Chesterfield” 1977, and an image from https://www.romanobritain.org/ )
Britain before the Romans was divided into several tribal areas, all fighting one another, and the Brigantes were the ruling Celtic tribe in Blackwell area. The Romans arrived with their army in AD43, although the various tribes had been trading with them for many years before that. They obviously liked to be in total control. They called us Brittunculi, “wretched little Brits” . Cheeky!
The Brigantes worked with the Romans at the beginnning; They had little choice really as the Romans had a Really Big Army! Queen Cartimandua signed a treaty with Rome to sell lead out of the Peak District, and did very well from it, but a family feud caused an uprising, the Romans finally defeated the Brigantes, took over the lands, and forced the locals into labouring in their road building programme, or in the lead and coal extraction.
The A61 road between Derby and Chesterfield was a Roman Road, Rykneld Street. The Romans were after the minerals in Derbyshire, such as lead silver and of course Coal.
There is no written evidence of Romans in Blackwell, but they were certainly close by, setting up farms alongside Rykneld Street at both Higham and Pentrich, to keep their army fed. There was a small fort at Pentrich. There have been Roman finds in Morton, and there was a settlement in Ashover. All we have in Blackwell so far are some scatters of Roman pottery found in the fields south of Red Barn Farm.
Dorothy Mellors 2024