Evening journal., 1906-10-24
DAD OLDER
HAN THE ROMAN
/ Canterbury H'ehw
Counts Age By the
Thousands

ffODaDly the OldeSl memOElai OF men
ction in England. 1t is certainly old
than the Romans-that is, 1t Is GER
lnly 1900 years old, and how much
dcr 1t may be than that we have no
;ay Of telling, but we do know that
Winchester and Canterbury must have
Jccn the two great ocnters of the ma
ional life IN Tie Old barbarian times
before the Romans came. and we may
therefore suppose without too much
temerity that this road Is almost CO
eval with the existence OF organized
human life in Great Britain.
Two years ago | explored this road
thornu~'.'-. -r'',e -~hale distance is
about 120 miles, and Of that one may
say that antiquarians had discovered,
before my friends and understood its
thorough exploration. about three-quar-
ters. OF the remaining quarter some
part was doubtful and the rest un-
known, but this unknown part did not
make one continuous stretch. 1t was
pieced in, as it were, along the length
Of the way, a bit here and bit there.
Thus one would have ten or fifteen
miles along which the old British road
corresponded with the modern high
way; 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
It was really part OF the old road; then
after that would come. say, half mile
Of pure waste heath or marsh or for
est, in which nothing but most care
ful examination, the records OF old
maps, the evidence OF place names, and
so forth. helped one to Identify the
track Of the British way; then the
highway would appear again, coincid-
ing with the old trail, and so forth,
long known or obvious bits coming in
between short doubtful or unknown
bits. until after Infinite pains we built
up the whole Of the original track with
the doubtful exception Of a few hun
dred yards.
1t may Interest my readers to know
what causes chiefly preserved this
road and what have tended TO its oblit-
GRAFTON.
The causes which preserved IL were
three. In the first place. 1t ran for the
main part nlong the chalk hills which
are known rs the North downs, just
above the level OF cultivation, and
chalk Is an excellent preservative for
a road of this kind. II takes the Inn
preston Of passing traffic, the weight
of which makes sort OF platform
along the hillside. 1t is not easy TO
cultivate. and people do not build upon
its 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. l think. about
200 years ago and lasted until our own
time. Men naturally tried to avoid the
turnpike II they were on horseback or
II they were drOvers. and they would
turn Off the good turnpike roads Of the
valley, where they had to pay at every
gate. and 60 along the old free road
above 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 pilgrimage
arose, and Canterbury was no longer
n very important town, but when thou
sands of men had occasion to go from
the west Of England to Canterbury on
q pilgrimage Winchester became the
natural meeting place, and the road
from Winchester TO Canterbury once
again grew in Importance. Churches
and villages sprang up along 1t. tradi-
tlons and legends began to cling to 1t,
nnd one way and another the memory
Of It was saved for history and for
ourselves
l have said that there were many
places where the road was almost or
entirely losts The main cause of this
was cultivation. AS the population
grew dcnser it became necessary to
plow up TIE poorer land high up on
the hillside. and as these old roads
were not metaled IN any way the
moment their surface was plowed up
no trace Of the road could possibly re-
main. Another cause was the forma-
| tion Of the great parks which rich men
I began TO inclose and TO wall around
about 150 years ago and later. II a
rich man took fancy 70 bit Of
groand which used 10 be common and
through which the old road went he
would PCT q wall round It and turn II
into park and divert the right Of
way by a special act Of parliament
round his now property. There are
examples OF thi1 al along the old road
--as, for instance. at Lord Stanhopes
park NJ Chevening, at the Leveson-
Covers place at Titscy. at Lord Cor
ards park Mt 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 &. an1 then. Of
course. 1t was impossible to track Il
out unless one could get a record o.
what the ground was like before tn
bulldogs were erected.--London Biac,
md White.