The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1906-11-16
A PREHISTORIC ROAD
TrE OLDEST MEMORIAL OF HUMAN
ACTION ~ ENGLAND
nidcp BY Far Thsn the Rcmans q,
the hacient Wtnches
Highway. which Count. Its IEe by
Thousnnds Of Ncars.

4A'rt RUS aECL4 VI .Acle.ter 10 O4l-
te-Jary O prehistoric track which is
p-o.ah.y tie Oldest memorial of meu's
action .u E.g.aui n 81, certainly o.l-
or than tie I,Oaaus-tLat Is. il i Ger.
tl4.y 600 year, Oh. and how much
older lt L4y Be than that we have u
way % telling. but We DO know that
Wuchc-te- auI Canterbury must have
Je.u tae two great Ceutyrs % the ma
tYuai lie m tre OLD barbarian times
before tIe HJL.-us came. and we mag
therefore SUPPOSE without to- much
te-a.ty that ,l.s road ls almost coz
cval with the existence of o.glnizel
human lie in Great Britain.
Tw, years c-1 explored This road
thoroughly. Tie whole distance Is
about 10 miles. and Of tlat one may
say that antily4r.ans had discovered.
before my frlclIs aud / understood Is
thorough exploration. about tLree-quor-
tcrs Cf tAc remaining quarter some
part was douhtfUl and tie rcst uu-
known. but this unknown part did not
make one continuous stretch. IL was
p.cced In. as II were. along the length
OF the way, a BIT here and a bit there.
Thus one would have ten or fifteen
miles along which the old British road
spouded with the modern high.
way: then woull come perhaps two
miles os doubtful lane, the history OF
which had 10 be read md the direction
noted hcflr one could De certain that
II was really part Of the old road; tLan
n -
~ pure waste heath or marsh or for
est. In which nothing hut most care
ful examination. the records Of oil
maps. tie evidence Of place names, and
50 forth. Helped one 20 identify the
truck u the British way; then the
highway would appear again, coincid-
ing with the old trail and so forth,
long known or obvious hts coming In
between short doubtful or unknown
bits. until after infinite paias we built
up the whole Of the original track with
the doubtful exception Of few hun
| dred yards
~ may Interest my readers 70 know
what causes chiefly preserved this
road and what have tended 10 its obllt-
srntion.
The causes which preserved II were
tnree. In the FIRST place, it ran for the
rnhin part along the chalk hills which
nre known as the North downs, Just
above the level Of cultivation. and
chhlE IS an excellent preservativc for
n roal Of this kind II takes the i'm
preasion Of passing traffic, the weight
Of which makes sort Of platform
alDLg the hillside. II Is not easy to
| cultivate, and people do not build upon
It's Weights Moreover, chalk does not
was4 away. so that such II road, once
| form, ii, would remain for centuries.
Ths second cause which preserved
the Sond was the system Of turnpike
whc, was introduced. | think. about
900 yoars ngo and lasted until our own
time Men naturally tried TO avoid the
turuD.Gc IL toy were on horseback or
II theT were drovcrs, and they would
turn on the good turnpike roads Of the
valley. where they had to pay at every
gate. and 20 along the old free road
above the hills
And, thirdly the pilgrimage 10 the
tomb cf 81. Thomas at Canterbury,
which spraug up about 200 years ago,
powerfully helped the survival Of the
road. Winchester was beginning to
cull into decay when this pilgrimage
arose, and Canterbury was no longer
very important town. but when thou
sands Of men Ind occasion to % from
the west OF England to Canterbury on
a pilgrimage Winchester became the
natural meeting place, and the road
from Winchester 10 Canterbury once
again grew In Importance. Churches
ana villages spraug up along 1t, tradi-
tIous ana legends began to cling g. II.
and one way and another the memory
Of II was saved for history aul for
ourselves
have said that there were many
places whore the road was almost or
entirely lost The main cause OF this
was cultivation AS the population
grew Gcnscr II became necessary T.
olow up the poorer land high up on
the hillside ana as these old roads
wero NOT mctulod In any way the
moment their surface was p.pwed up
no trace nf the road could possibly re
main Another cause was The flrlra-
zion Il the great parks which rich men
began 10 Iuclosc ana to wall around
about l5O ycurs ago and later II q
1ch man took fancy tp a bit OF
ground which used q be common and
ur9ush which the old road went lie
would put a wall round 1t ana turn Il
into a park and divert the right Of
way by a special act Of parliament
couud his new property There are
example, Of this all along the old road
-as, for instance. nj Lord Sunho opc's
park at Chevcnpg, at the Levcson.
Gowcrs"placc ut 1ltscy. at Lord Ger
srd's park at EaStwcll and many other
places,
The old road would also be lost over
marshy ground, and now ANA then
but very rarely, modern buildings
MpulI uppnor ,p tT.4,