ROMANO-BRITISH DERBYSHIRE i. Sketch of Roman Britain. 2. Sketch of Roman Derbyshire. 3. Brough. 4. Me- landra. 5. Little Chester. 6. Buxton. 7. Roman lead-mining in Derbyshire. 8. Inhabited Caves. 9. Roads. 10. Special items and alphabetical index. i. SKETCH OF ROMAN BRITAIN A'ONG the physical features which have seriously affected the internal history of our island, not the least notable is the division of the country into upland and lowland. Geographers and historians have not always adequately recognized this feature, and indeed its influence upon the fortunes of Britain has varied much at various periods. But it has never been wholly insignificant, and sometimes, as in the Roman age, it has proved all important. In the part of Britain which fell within the Roman Empire, that is, in the part lying south of the Forth and the Clyde, the uplands and lowlands form two more or less equal districts. The English midlands, the south, and the east coast constitute the lowland district. The moors of the west country, the hills of Wales, the Pennine Chain, and the larger part of the north belong to the uplands. The dividing line between the two districts may be drawn from York by Derby to Chester and from Chester by Shrewsbury to the Bristol Channel. This line provides only a rough boundary. Hills lie to the south of it in the lowland region and lowlands may be found to the west or north of it in the domain of the uplands. But, with a few obvious exceptions, it actually divides two different kinds of country. The lowland region is not, in general, level and unbroken plain. Much of it, indeed, is covered with hills. But the hills are small ; they seldom rise above 600 feet and their slopes are gentle and easy. The vegetation is lowland in character. The soil and climate, if not always favourable, is always tolerant of serious agriculture and settled habitation, and towns, villages, country houses and farms have at all times abounded. This lowland district has one further characteristic : it looks east and south, towards the Continent. In this direction its rivers flow and its hills slope gentliest down. Its easiest dealings are with the coasts of the opposite mainland, and it affords ready access up its river valleys to visitors from those coasts. On the other hand the uplands present a very different picture. Usually they rise above the 6oo-foot contour-line, and often they attain considerable heights. Their geological formations admit of deep 191
