[1][2] It is named after John Cade of Durham, an 18th-century antiquarian who in 1785 proposed its existence and possible course from the Humber Estuary northwards to the River Tyne, a distance of about 100 miles (160 km).

[1][3][4] Examples of place names with the suffix "le-Street": [b] Cade's Road began at Brough on the north bank of the River Humber, where there was a ferry, a Roman fort and civilian settlement (Petuaria) alongside a major Celtic settlement.

From the Tees the road heads north through Sadberge and then Great Stainton (also known as Stainton-le-Street) near Sedgefield.

From Concangis the road headed north through Birtley to Wrekenton, once a village but now a suburb of Gateshead.

From Wrekenton, a branch road, known as the Wrekendyke, headed north-east to the Roman fort and harbour of Arbeia at South Shields.