There’s a definite ‘twin track’ of evidence, some in favour of the OS route, some – one in particular – suggesting an alternative.  History isn’t a science, but is susceptible to the scientific method; we can look at the evidence and try to place each piece on a scale from persuasive to, well … pretty unlikely.

The Gartree Road can be followed for 11 miles south-east from the City Centre.  At Glooston, although ‘Roman Road – course of’ is marked on the OS Map, the road seems to completely disappear from the physical and administrative landscape, following no stream, field boundary, track, footpath or parish boundary.

I’ve plotted some of the evidence on a map which you can access at this link to Google Map.

Evidence – Source	Evidence – and Comment
Victoria County History: Glooston J M Lee and R A McKinley, ‘Glooston’, in A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Gartree Hundred (London, 1964), pp. 112-115 (accessed via British History online).	“The houses of Glooston village are grouped round a cross-roads in the centre of the parish. The road from west to east follows the line of the Gartree road. To the west of the village it is a rough trackway to Shangton and to the east it forms the metalled road to Cranoe.” This suggests the Gartree Road does not follow the OS ‘Roman Road – course of’ but passes through Glooston (as Cranoe Road / Church Hill Road).
Victoria County History: Cranoe J M Lee and R A McKinley, ‘Cranoe’, in A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Gartree Hundred (London, 1964), pp. 81-84  (accessed via British History online).	“Part of the [road from Glooston to Welham] north of Cranoe is believed to follow the line of the Gartree road”, citing Margery, Roman Roads in Britain (see below), in support. This suggests the Gartree Road does not follow the OS ‘Roman Road – course of’ but passes through Cranoe (as Cranoe Road / Church Hill Road).
Victoria County History: Slawston J M Lee and R A McKinley, ‘Slawston’, in A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5, Gartree Hundred (London, 1964), pp. 297-303 (accessed via British History online).	“The Gartree road crosses Slawston but its course has been marked only by a footpath in the 20th century.” There is no public footpath on the OS ‘Roman Road – course of’, although pre WWII OS mapping shows the extent of physically visible remains.
Throsby J ‘Excursions in Leicestershire’ (1790) p340 (accessed via the University of Leicester Special Collections, online).	Throsby does not describe the Gartree Road directly but does refer to two sources: a text ‘Observation on the Itinera of the Romans’ by Dr Mason, late professor of Greek at Cambridge, and a map by Mr Prior, who “seems to have particularly noticed this [Gartree] road”.   Throsby’s Sources Prof. Reverend Charles Mason (1698-1770), Woodwardian Professor of Fossils 1734-62 Reverend John Prior (1729-1803)
Nichols, J ‘History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester’ (1795-1805) Volume II Part ii, Gartree Hundred (accessed via the University of Leicester Special Collections, online, and at the London Library and ROLLR as a physical text).	Nichols’ History of Leicestershire is an enormous work of synthesis, in which he includes his sources, in particular correspondence and essays, reproduced from other publications.  Nichols was initially joint editor, then from 1792 editor (until his death in 1826) of the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle’, a sort of eclectic open-correspondence Wikipedia.   Nichols’ Own Evidence   Nichols states that he has often travelled the Gartree Road (Vol II Part ii p717) and that, from one of three tumuli north-west of Medbourne (?SP 794932, he could ‘easily see a corresponding tumulus in Glooston Field (?SP 752953) upon the same Roman Road and direction towards Leicester’, supporting the OS route.   He states that ‘The Gartree Road through Slawston Lordship was stopped when the enclosure took place [1793]; and the carriage road from Medbourne to Cranoe Lordship now passes through Slawston Village’, footnote 5, p792.   He states that after the road enters Cranoe Field ‘it passes in an oblique direction … about a quarter of a mile below the town, slanting a hill between Cranoe and Glooston, on which is a tumulus, which is plainly seen from the tumuli near Medbourne Mill.’ If the Tumulus is the mound marked on the map SP 752953 then this supports the OS route.   Nichols’ Sources   Mr Thomas Leman (1751-1826) correspondence dated 21/02/1792 Reverend Thomas Reynolds (1752-1829) correspondence dated 1794               Leman (p CXLVII)   Leman states that, together with the Bishop of Cork, they travelled the Gartree Road in 1788-9.  After crossing the Welland and passing Medbourne ‘It then goes under the hill on which stands Slawston Mill, and is plainly seen on another hill, which separates the parishes of Cranoe and Glooston, where, as well as at Medbourne, is a tumulus. At a little distance from hence it enters the inclosure [Stonton Wyville was enclosed in the mid-Seventeenth Century], and is the common bridleway to Leicester.’  If the tumulus is the mound marked on the map SP 752953 then this supports the OS route. The tumulus is 200m west of the Cranoe – Glooston parish boundary.   Leman – Nichols’ Comments   Nichols states that Mr Leman is ‘very clear in the course of the [Gartree] Road’, footnote 6, p792.   Reynolds (p CLIV)   “It keeps its line, as appears by the map, nearly to the village of Glooston, when its course is perhaps interrupted by the hills in that neighbourhood.  When the line appears again, it bears to the right round the Mere of Slawston Field by the side of Welham Closes, and keeps along, by the meadows, towards Medbourne.”   Most strikingly, Reynolds provides a sketch map of the route, which, when plotted on a modern map is surprisingly accurate.  The map shows the course of the road but describing a pronounced ‘kink’ between Glooston and Cranoe and following the line of the later Cranoe Road Glooston / Church Hill Road Cranoe, contradicting the OS ‘Roman Road – course of’.           Reynolds – Nichols’ Comments   Nichols reports (p792) on Mr Reynold’s opinion that, between Glooston and Medbourne, the road ‘bears to the right [south], round the Mere [boundary] of Slawston Field, by the side of Welham Closes [field enclosures; Welham was enclosed in 1601-6] but says this is ‘a small mistake’.  Nichols states that the road ‘kept its course along Slawston Field in nearly a straight line over that field, about midway between the town and the Mere Mr Reynolds mentions, which is between the lordships of Slawston and Welham’.  Nichols usefully clarifies the ‘This Mere was a used road, but not a part (though it branched from it) of the Gartree Road’.   Note the reference to ‘Norton Hedges’ is to a distinctive double avenue of trees running south-south-east from King’s Norton toward Carlton Curlieu, shown on the 1814 Ordnance Survey Drawing and on current mapping as a bridleway.
Britton, J ‘A Topographical and Historical Description of the County of Leicester’ (1813) p316 (accessed via the University of Leicester Special Collections, online).	“… the track of the Via Devann [sic], a Roman Road which enters this hundred from Colchester, near the village of Bringhurst, and continue in a direct line to Rata: or Leicester.  Near Medbourn are the earthworks of an encampment; and between Cranoe and Glooston is a large Tumulus on the course of this road.” If the Tumulus is the mound marked on the map SP 752953 then this supports the OS route. Q – is this original research?
White, W ‘History, Gazetteer and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland’ (1846) (accessed via the University of Leicester Special Collections, online) p29.	“The Via Devana, which extended from Colchester to Chester, entered Leicestershire near Bringhurst, whence it proceeded to Medbourne, where there was no doubt a station, and where there is a tumulus.  This road is still visible on the hill between Cranoe and Glooston, whence it passes, almost in a straight line, between Great and Little Stretton, in the line of what is now called the Gartree Road”. This supports the OS route. Q – is this original research?
Hill, J ‘Medbourne Tessellated Pavement’ in Transactions, Volume 5 (1875-81) p70.	“the Via Devana, which passed through this parish from Cottingham to Leicester, by Slawston, where it assumed the name of Port Hill, to Cranoe Salters way, and so on by Glooston to Leicester.” Q – is it possible to trace any location for the ‘Cranoe Salter’s Way’?
Bellairs, G C ‘The Roman Roads of Leicestershire’ TLAHS (1893) p361	“From Medbourn it proceeds via Slawston and Cranoe over a hill called Crossburrow Hill, from thence it proceeds almost in a straight line to Leicester …’ Crossburrow Hill is marked on the map SP 951 748 and this supports the OS route. Q – is this original research?
Codrington, T ‘Roman Roads in Britain’ (1903) p253	The mapping and narrative is of insufficient detail to plot the route in detail around Glooston.
Hoskins, W G ‘Leicestershire; An Illustrated Essay on the History of the Landscape’ (Hodder & Stoughton, London: 1957) p104	Hoskins says the path, which deviates to Glooston, probably represents the approach road from the main road to the villa.  “From the Glooston deviation the line of the Roman road is not usually marked even by a footpath, except for a short stretch near Slawston.” Hoskins states his preference for the One-Inch map (p1, 103) as an initial guide to the landscape.  When he wrote ‘Leicestershire’ in 1957 ‘Roman Road – course of’ was not featured; it was not until 1968 (Sheet 133, B Edition) that the ‘course of’ was shown from the Glooston deviation to Home Farm, Medbourne. Q – did the Gartree Road deviate, contradicting the OS ‘Roman Road – course of’, or was the approach road just a spur?
Margery, I ‘Roman Roads in Britain’ (1967) p213-6	The mapping and narrative is of insufficient detail to plot the route in detail around Glooston.
OS Historic Mapping	Prior to the establishment of an Archaeology Department (1947), OS mapping focussed on the physical environment.  ‘Roman Road – course of’ does not, for example, feature on the Twenty-Five inch series (1929). It is only after the establishment of an Archaeology Department (1947) that ‘Roman Road – course of’ creeps across the gap between Glooston and Romans Farm on the 1:25,000 scale map (1954) and as other scale maps were reprinted, the six-inch (1967) and the one-inch (1968).
Other Historic Mapping	Glooston & Cranoe Enclosure Map (1828) ROLLR EN/A/122/1 (DE242/3).  Note that Gartree Road is named as such past the ‘kink’ towards the village, and Andrews Lane is limited to the track within the village.
OS Archive	The archive file shows that the archaeology department started with a map pre-printed ‘Roman Road – course of’ and looked for evidence on that line, rather than looking for evidence locally to support the inclusion of a line.
OS Current Mapping: Parish Boundary	The parish boundary between Glooston to the east at Stonton Wyville to the west intercepts and briefly follows the Gartree Road.  The parish boundary almost immediately (after a matter of meters) then turns off the Gartree Road and proceeds south, at the exact point at which Andrew’s Lane diverges from the ‘Roman Road – course of’.  Parish boundaries often ‘fix’ on significant features in the landscape; does this suggest that the Gartree Road turned sharply towards Glooston here? (It may, of course as easily mark the divergence of the spur to the Villa at Glooston).
OS Current Mapping: Topography	‘Roman Road – course of’ crosses a substantial area of flat ground bounded by Welham, Slawston and Cranoe, drained by an un-named stream running south east from Churchfield House onto the flood plain of the Welland (the banks of the Welland are 60-64m above sea level). The stream is of sufficient volume to accept a discharge from a sewage works (SP 760 947), although on 19/01/22 I spoke to an Anglian Water engineer at the sewage works and he confirmed that the stream into which the outfall is directed has a limited flow (the stream runs in the ditch to the S of the works).
OS Current Mapping: ‘Roman’s Farm’	Farm premises which were built post-Enclosure Act in the former open fields, distant from the nucleated settlement, can provide evidence from their names; the obvious Leicestershire example being Quebec Farm, named for the battle the same year the parish was enclosed (1759).  Roman Farm is on the physically surveyed track of the Gartree Road, although the buildings seem to come and go: 6” – first appears in 1885 but not shown in 1904 25” – first appears in 1885 but not shown in 1904 1” – first appears in 1898 but not shown on New Popular / 7th Series Post WWII The buildings are shown on the current 1:25,000 Map
Archaeology: Geophysics Turville, S ‘Finding the Gartree Road: A study in tracing the route of a Roman road through geophysical survey’ Unpublished MA thesis, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester: May 2013 (obtained via the Hallaton Field Walking Group, 11/01/2022).	The thesis was written in 2013 using the magnetometry surveys reported in TLAHS 2012 vol 86 p220-21. Magnetometry is fast, cheap, simple and the author and the group were experienced in using the equipment in the field (p23).  No results were found, although the author noted:   Rural roman roads can be difficult to detect using magnetometry because of limited contrast and frequent robbing out (p1).  There are very few examples of roman roads being discovered through geophysical surveys (p20) and many examples of failures (p21).  Geophysical results can be slight (p23).  No test pitting was carried out, due to restrictions on time and access (p24). Problems with data downloading meant that only 16 of 34 search grids (47%) were populated for interpretation (p31). The availability of volunteers and particularly poor weather didn’t help (p41).   The author notes (p29) that “there may be evidence of the road in the results from a field east of Crossburrow Hill (Fig. 5). Here there is a change in direction in the ridge and furrow on the western edge of the field. This may be indicative of the route of the road as traced by a medieval boundary. This possible evidence is further south than the projected line”.  The route between the two ridge and furrow alignments seems to me to be the track shown on the Ordnance Survey Drawing of 1814. The projected line is not, by definition, an established line – see comments on the Ordnance Survey archive.   The author notes (p40) that Prior’s map has a gap; “there are gaps in his route, noticeably at Glooston and Medbourne, but it appears that these gaps could easily be crossed by continuations of the line of the route”.  But there could also be a deviation in the route.  None of the archaeology work plotted in her thesis has been anywhere other than the ‘line of the route’.   The author’s view is that the road was built as a penetration route during the period of the roman conquest (p28).  Given the speed of the roman conquest in the East Midlands, is it possible that the Gartree Road was never subsequently fully developed as an engineered roadway, so that any remaining physical evidence was of a low grade and has been destroyed?
Archaeology: Physical Excavation	TLAHS Vol 34 (1958) p81 – G R Lee “… a gravel surface was discovered … but it did not seem thick enough to have been of Roman origin unless it was only in use for a very short time.” (SP 744957).   TLAHS Vol 42 (1966-7) p86 – J A Derry “ … a road with a base of large boulders in puddled clay, with flint and small pebble metalling, 14” thick at the centre.” (evidence was found at SP 688989, 69197(?), 727966, 734962, 737961, 738960, 740959.  Sterile trenches were excavated at 748055 (?), 751953, 753953, 785934, 795930.   Vol 43 (1967-8) p60 – J A Derry “There is now a considerable amount of evidence to suggest that the road alignment from SP 742958 (Glooston) to SP 800930 (Medbourne) followed a different alignment to that usually accepted.”
Physical Landscape: Fieldwalk	Cranoe Road Glooston / Church Hill Road Cranoe.  Q – Is this just an enclosure road or is it the track of the Roman Road sitting up on an agger?  It is shown on Reynolds 1794 map, so it can’t have been an enclosure road, because the parish wasn’t enclosed until 1828.  It is not shown on the OSD (1814).
Physical Landscape: Fieldwalk	Having crossed the Welland the route avoids the lowest lying land by skirting the shoulder of Port Hill and Slawston Hill.  The proposed alternative route avoids a low-lying and boggy area which may have been avoided by a military surveyor, today centred on Church Field House.
Physical Landscape: Fieldwalk	The bridleway between Church Field House and Medbourne, alongside the tributary of the Welland, was extremely muddy in January 2022 – after 250 years of agricultural improvement! The Victoria County History notes that, at Slawston, “much of the south of the parish is below 250 ft. and the low-lying ground adjoining the Welland is liable to flooding. The soil is a stiff clay…”
Physical Landscape: Fieldwalk	The agger of the roman road is visible at SP 769948 (looking south-south-east to Romans Farm):     (Unfortunately, this feature appears identical to the field headland at SP 786972 immediately north of Hallaton …! )
LIDAR	The LIDAR resource suggests a possible track on direct line extrapolating Church Hill Road through Cranoe, leading directly to the Langton Road and the Cranoe to Slawston footpath.  It is perhaps possible to make out former buildings to the east of the main village road and a faint hint of a linear depression in the direct line from the main village road towards the Langton Road / footpath junction, which may be a robbed out stretch of the Road.