The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-26

bit there: thus one would have ten or
hfteen miles along which the old
BRITISH road correspondent 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 be certain that 1t was really part
Of the old road; then after that would
come, say, half mile of pure waste
heath. or marsh, or forest, In which
nothing but most careful examina-
ton. the record OF old maps, the evil
dence of place names, and so forth,
helped one to identity the track of the
British way. Then the highway would
appear again, coinciding with the old
trail. and so forth, until after in
finite pains we built up the whole of
the original track with the doubtful
exception Of few hundred yards.
1t may interest my readers to know
what causes chiefly preserved this road
and what have tended to its oblitera-
ton.
The causes which preserved It were
three. In the first place, It ran for
the main part along the chalk hills
which are known as "the North
Downs" just above the level Of cultiva-
ton; and chalk is an excellent pre-
sentative for a road of this kind. 1t
takes the impression Of passing traffic,
the weight of which makes sort of
platform along the hillside. It is not
easy to cultivate, and people do not
build upon its heights. Moreover,
chalk does not wash away, SO that
such a road once formed would re-
main for centuries.
The second cause which preserved
the road was the system of turnpikes,
which was introduced, I think, about
two hundred years ago, and lasted
until our own time. Men naturally
tried to avoid the turnpike IL they were
on horseback, or II 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 seven hundred
years ago. powerfully helped the sur
vival of the road. Winchester was be-
ginning to fall into decay when this
pilgrimage arose, and Canterbury was
no longer very important town, but
when thousands of men had occasion
to go from the West of England to
Canterbury on pilgrimage, Winchest-
er became the natural meeting place,
and the road from Winchester to Can
terbury once again grew in import
ance. Churches and villages sprang
up along 1t, traditions and legends
began to cling to It, and one way and
another the memory of it was saved
for history and for ourselves.
have said that there were many
places where the road was almost or
entirely lost; the main cause of this
was cultivation. AS the population
grew denser 1t became 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 up no trace
of the road could possibly remain.
Another cause was the formation Of
the great parks which rich men began
to enclose and to wall around about
$50 years ago and later. II rich
man took fancy to bit of ground,
which used to be common, and through
which the old road went, he would
put a wall round 1t and turn 1t 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 the old road, as, for in
stance, at Lord Stanhope's park at
Chevening. at the Leveson-Gowers'
place at Titsey, at Lord Gerard's park
at Eastwell, and many other places.