Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-17
OLDEST ROAD IN ENGLAND.
The Winchester-Can Highway
Counts Years by Thousands.

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From Black and White.
There runs from Winchester to Canter-
bury prehistoric track which ID prob
ably the oldest memorial OF mems action
In this island 1t is certainly older than
the Romans-that IL, II is certainly 2,000
years old. and how much older it may be
than that we have no way of telling.
But we do know that Winchester and
Canterbury must have been the two great
centers Of the national life in the old bar
barian times before the Romans came. and
we may therefore suppose without too
much temerity that this road is almost
coeval with the existence of organized hui
man life In Great Britain.
Two years ago I explored this road
thoroughly. The whole distance is about
10 miles, and of that one may say that
antiQuarians had discovered, before my
friends and I understood its thorough ex-
ploration, about three-Quarters. OF the re-
naming quarter some part was doubtful,
and the rest unknown, but this unknown
part did not make one continuous sketch
1t was pieced in, as 1t were, along the
length OF the way; bit here and a bit
there; thus one would have, ten or fifteen
miles along which the old British road cor
responded with the modern highway; then
would come perhaps two miles of doubtful
lane, the history Of which had to be read
and the direction noted before one could
old road; then after that would come, say,
half a mile of pure waste heath, or march,
or forest, in which nothing but most care
ful examination, the records of old maps,
helped one to identify the track of the
British way. Then the highway would ap-
pear again, coincidng with the old trail,
and so forth, long known or obvious bits
known bits, until after infinite pains we
built up the whole of the original track with
the doubtful exception of a few hundred
yards.
causes chiefly preserved this road, and
what have tended to it's oblfteration.
The causes which preserved it were three.
In the first place. 1t ran for the main part
1.-The North Downs" just above the level
of cultivation. and chalk is an excellent
preservative for a road of this kind. 1t
takes the impression Of passing traffic, the
along the hillside. 1t is not easy to Gull
tivate. and people do not build upon it's
heights. Moreover, chalk does not wash
away, SO that such road once formed
would remain for centuries.
/ The second cause which preserved the
road was the. system Of turnpike which
was introduced, think. about 200 years
ago, and lasted until our own time. Men
naturally tried to avoid the turnpike if
they were on horseback or If they were
drovers and they would turn of the good
turnpike roads Of the valley, where they
had TO pay at every gate and go along the
old free road above upon the hills
And, thirdly, the pilgrimage to the tomb
OF st. THOMAS at Canterbury. which sprang
up about 700 years ago, powerfully helped
the survival OF the road. Winchester was
beginning to fall into decay when this pill
grimage arose and Canterbury was no long
er g. very important town, but when thou
sands of men had occasion to 20 from the
west OF England to Canterbury on pill
grimage Winchester became the natural
meeting place, and the road from Win
chester to Canterbury once again grew in
Importance. Churches and villages sprang
up along It, traditions and legends began
to cling to it. and one way and another
for ourselves.
I have said that there were many places
where the road was almost or entirely
lost; the main cause Of this was cultiva-
ton. AS the population grew denser II be-
came necessary to pillow up the poorer land
high upon the hillside and as these old
roads were not metalled in any way the
moment their surface was ploWed I'D no
trace, Of the road could possibly remain.
Another cause was the formation Of the
great parks which rich men began to in
close and to wall around about 100 years
ago and later. If rich man took a fancy
to bit Of ground, which used to be COM
mon and through which the old road went.
he would put wall round it and turn It
into park, and divert the right Of way by
a special act of parliament round his new
property. There are examples Of this all
along Ne old road, as. for instance at Lord
Stanhopes park at Chevening, at the Leve-
son-Gowers' place at Titsey. at Lord &C.
rard's park at Eastwell and many other
places.
The old road would also be lost over
marshy ground, and now and then, but
very rarely, modern buildings would appear
on 1t, and then, Of course it-was impos-
sible to track It out unless one could get
a record Of what the ground was like be-
fore the buildings were erected.