In ancient times, probably before the advent of the Romans, there existed a track known as the Portway which initially probably ran from forest clearing to forest clearing. There is strong evidence that this Portway ran from Ashford in the Peak District through Wirksworth to just north of Sandiacre, passing through Depedale and Stanley Park. A branch of It can still be traced through Hermit’s Wood below the Hermitage, joining up with the main line which crosses a causeway to the east of the Abbey field, and crossing the shoulder of the hill to the east of Hermit’s Wood, then passing through the farmyard and buildings at Boyah; it then runs to the south of Sandiacre Lodge Farm and along the grass verge bordering No Man’s Lane, whence it goes off via No Man's Lane towards Nottingham. A recent book tracing its path has it starting at the Hemlockstone in Bramcote.

The valley of Stanley Park and Depedale may well have been a major junction of ancient tracks, for an old track passes through Ockbrook Wood to the west of the church and up the hill in the direction of the ancient village of Ockbrook. The northern branch of the Portway seems to have crossed the field to the south west corner of the gardens of the cottages on Woodpecker Hill, then the field to the east of Abbey Field, crossing the Sow Brook by the ancient causeway mentioned above, then curving west to the north of Abbey Farm and up Arbour Hill (see next paragraph), crossing the main road and continuing past the Hagg Farms.

On the road out of Dale to the north, just before the junction with the main Derby to Ilkeston Road, there is a wooded hill called Arbour Hill. This name comes from the pre-Anglo-Saxon word arrhber, meaning a fortress or earthwork; it is also attested in Arbour Low, the henge further north in Derbyshire, and Harborough Rocks near the Roaches. Our Arbour Wood is full of humps and hollows and was heavily altered during the 19th and 20th centuries. Of similarly ancient derivation is the word hagg, meaning a clearing: this is still found in the Hagg Farms, Upper and Lower, on the small road (once the Portway) leading from Dale to Stanley; it is also behind the word Boyah (boy hagg) and many other names in this area, for example Hayes Park Farm, Morley.
It is known that in the 6th century A.D., West Angles came up the rivers Derwent and Dove. South Derbyshire became a northern division of Mercia.  In the 9th century, the Danes ravaged the area: in 874 the monastery at Repton, the seat of the Mercian kings, was destroyed.  Before the Norman invasion, land divisions were known as wapentakes, and south Derbyshire had five recorded in the Domesday Book.

Depedale itself is not mentioned in the Domesday Book; neither is Dale (which is not surprising, as the name did not become generally used until the mid 12th century) nor Stanley Park. Stanley itself is registered as belonging to Robert Fitzwilliam, and Stanton to Gilbert de Ghent.