Two major routes crossed the valley. A north-south road runs from Sandford Hill (ST599580) to Shute Shelf (ST421560). It can be shown that this road was in use in the Romano-British period as a resistivity survey clearly indicates a small building (associated with 3rd and 4th century pottery) with a well-constructed track leading to it, and also several 4th century coins have been found along the line of it. It is probable that the trackway dates back to at least the Bronze Age as several round barrows have been identified close to it.
A small 3rd or 4th century Roman building (c.10m by 8m), probably a farmhouse, with a track to the south east connecting it to the larger north-south trackway.
This route appears to leave the line of the present Sandford Road just north of Broadleaze Farm and turn towards the sharp bend at the end of Ilex Lane and the green lane towards Towerhead, crossing the east-west road at this point.
The line passes to the north west of a ploughed-out round barrow and to the east of a probable Iron Age enclosure before it meets the crossing. From this point the road turns south, skirting the edge of a large enclosure ditch and continues towards the Winscombe/ Banwell parish boundary. The resistivity survey indicates that the road ran between two ditches.
A portion of the north-south road looking north from the Winscombe/Banwell parish boundary. The ditches AA and BB indicate that that the road at this point turns slightly towards the east. The area shown here is 40m by 100m. Two coins of Magnentius (350-353) were found by a metal detectorist in the south of this area.
