The ore in the vicinity of Lydney – there are mines on the Temple site, indeed, one lies under the very building itself – was so plentiful that a Roman road was made across the Forest with the obvious intention of providing a passage to Ariconium. The Dean road, as it has been called, begins at Highfield above Lydney and cuts through the Forest, crossing the Viney Hill to Yorkley road, and on, passing over the Blakeney to Parkend road near Blackpool Bridge. The bridge itself rests upon foundations laid in Roman times, but the road was there before it, since a junction occurs in the kerbing to show that the old road ran through a ford before a short detour was made later for it to cross by the bridge. It is near this point that a section of the road is usually kept exposed for inspection, but the road goes on. Its track may be followed through the woods as far as Soudley where it disappears under the modern road to Littledean. But the Dean road still shows traces, and can be followed past Guns Mills to Mitcheldean where it finally vanishes in the direction of Ariconium.
The above text is from Forest Story by R.J. Mansfield (publisher: the author 1964)
Key words: Ariconium, Blackpool Bridge, Blakeney, Dean road, Guns Mills, Highfield, Littledean, Lydney, Mitcheldean, Parkend, Soudley, Temple, Viney Hill, Yorkley,
