Back to Guide SummaryWalks Around Marple No. 2 - The Roman Bridge & Lakes

One myth can be dispelled immediately: neither the lakes nor the bridge have any connection with the Romans. This walk passes many of the sites of one of Marple’s 18th century benefactors, Samuel Oldknow. Before Oldknow’s time Marple was mainly a collection of isolated homesteads involved in the cottage industries of the time.

Route Map - Click for larger version

Hollins House1) We start in the Memorial Park in the centre of Marple, home of Thomas Carver one of the owners of Hollins Mill and another of Marple's benefactors in a later period.

From the front of Hollins House, now council offices and Citizens Advice Bureau, head towards the war memorial. You now have a choice of routes:

Route A.
Take the path passing to the right of the skateboard area, down to the canal towpath near Lock 12. Turn right and make your way towards Posset Bridge where Oldknow supplied ale posset to the workers to ensure the bridge was completed on time. Notice that there are two arches at the bridge; the blocked-off one on the left led to an arm of the canal running towards the Lime Kilns.

Alternative Route B.
If time permits, take the path down the centre of the park with the bowling green to your left. This offers magnificent views towards Mellor Church on your right. After about 150 yards, the path forks to the right and down to the canal by Lock 10. Turn right here to follow the towpath and rejoin the main route.

The canal arm running alongside Strines Road to the loading house below the Lime KilnsClimb up the steps at the bridge and turn left. As you cross the bridge look to your right; this is how the scene would have looked in the 1920s (Inset is the view now.). Proceed down Oldknow Road.

Stone Row2) At the junction with Arkright Road cross over and down Lakes Road. On the left where there is now a group of bungalows stood the cottages of Stone Row. The 35 cottages were built by Oldknow to house the workers at his nearby mill and their families.

Carry on ahead past Beechwood Manor, formerly a house belonging to the railway but now private flats. As we descend the hill we can appreciate the difficulties the railway engineers must have experienced when carving the line along the hillside.

Mellor Lodge3) At the bridge over the River Goyt stood on the far side, Mellor Lodge Samuel Oldknow's house and on this side Marple Lodge, the mill manager's house.

In the 1930's Oldknow's fine house became a girls school but later it was vandalised when it stood empty and was demolished in 1949.

Mellor Mill4) Cross the bridge and bear right at the fork. You will need a powerful imagination to picture the scene here over a 100 years ago. On the left was Oldknow's Mellor Mill or Bottoms Mill as it was also known. The brick built building was over 400 feet long and was powered by 3 massive water wheels, the largest of which was 22 feet in diameter and 17½ feet wide.

Corn MillIn 1892 a disastrous fire destroyed the mill but the Corn Mill, which was a little apart from the main mill, escaped damage and survived until the 1930s. The Corn Mill stood close to this junction of the two paths.

Looking to the left as we make our way up Lakes Road we can see the mill pool, which was adjacent to the back of the mill.

Roman Lake - 19985) At the next junction take the path to the right. Through the trees you can see Bottoms Hall built in 1800. This is where some of the 100 apprentices lived who worked in Oldknow's mill. The children, both boys and girls, were mostly paupers from Clerkenwell in London. They worked 13 hours a day for 4 shillings (20p) a week, but it is understood that they were well treated by the standards of that time.

Continuing along the track we pass the Roman Lake. This was a very popular spot in Victorian and Edwardian times when excursion trains would bring hundreds of visitors to Marple Station. Besides the rowing boats available for a small charge there were tea rooms and a dance floor.

Flood Gates CottageFlood Gates Cottage - 1998A little further on the river runs alongside the track and under the viaduct. The weir is where Oldknow redirected the river to form the pools that would provide water power for his mill. On the left is Flood Gates Cottage which many years ago was a popular place for refreshments for the many visitors to the area.

6) The track moves away from the river and we turn right just by the “Roman Lodge” (following the sign to Strines) to reach the Roman Bridge. The “Roman” tag was coined in Victorian times to add a little romanticism to this packhorse bridge dating back to the 17th century.

Roman BridgeRoman Bridge - 1998Crossing the bridge we follow the path beside the river ignoring the steps on the right. The path joins a narrow road near two cottages and then makes its way up the hill to Strines Road. Cross over and up Plucksbridge Road. As the canal is reached, turn right to enter the towpath just before the bridge.

7) This is the Peak Forest Canal and Oldknow was a major sponsor for this waterway. The canal runs 6½ miles to Whaley Bridge and Buxworth and it was here that limestone was brought down from the Peak District by tramway. As we make our way along the towpath there are extensive views across the valley to Cobden Edge and Mellor Church.

8) Some 200 yards short of Brickbridge the canal on the far side is a little wider, and marshy ground leads into a woody section. This was the site of one of Oldknow's coal mines used for burning of the lime in the kilns.

Brickbridge is a roving bridge where the towpath changes sides and you will notice that we pass under the bridge before circling round to cross it. This was to enable the rope of the horse drawn narrowboats to remain attached.

As you cross the bridge you will notice a door set in the wall ahead. This leads to another Oldknow coal mine and also a footpath leading up to All Saints' Church which was used by the apprentices on their way to Sunday worship.

Top Lock House9) Turning right to follow the towpath, ahead we can see a number of boats moored in a pool off the main canal. This was adjacent to the top of the Lime Kilns where the lime and coal was dropped into the kilns. Such was Oldknow's concern that the Lime Kilns did not present an eyesore, that he built them in a gothic style that led later to visitors to the area to assume it was a ruined abbey.

The Lime KilnsTop Lock House was the site of James Jinks boat building yard. Cross the bridge at the Macclesfield Canal junction. [ If you would like too see what remains of the Lime Kilns cross the bridge at the end of the top lock and go on past the bungalows.]

Posset Bridge Horse TunnelMake your way past the top four locks of this flight of sixteen. Pass under Posset Bridge using the short horse tunnel and make your way back to the car park.

Location Map
Location Map - Click for Larger view

Also in this Series

  1. Marple Dale
  2. The Roman Bridge & Lakes
  3. Marple Locks and Brabyns Park
  4. Chadkirk
  5. Middlewood Way & Macclesfield Canal
  6. Donkey Wood

Acknowledgement

These Guides have been designed and produced by Gordon Mills & Co.on behalf of Marple Community Council © 1998

They can be purchased from Marple Library and other local outlets as a set of 6 guides in a protective plastic wallet for £2.50, or individually for 50p.

Mr. Mills has given permission for the Guides to be reproduced on this site and you may print them off if you wish. You can show your appreciation by making a small donation to the British Heart Foundation.