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The Evolution of Roads in the Parish of Burbage
Part 1
Early Roads
Prehistoric Roads
There is obviously very little contemporary material about the ancient trackways which would have wended their way through the parish and its environs but it is reasonable to assume that the then unenclosed downs, open fields and commons would have been criss-crossed with lanes, sheep walks and drove roads as our forefathers favoured the dry upland and ridge routes to the wet valley floors. As the name implies, Burbage lies on a ridge which happens to be situated at the head of the Pewsey Vale, the Bourne Valley and the River Dun Valley.
The parish would have seen much of the east-west traffic that used the southern escarpment of the Marlborough Downs and its continuation east along the crowns of Terrace Hill and Durley Hill to Bedwyn and beyond; it was especially popular with drovers and those in later years visiting the annual ancient fair on Tan Hill. To the south, above Southgrove, the ridge was part of the northern escarpment of Salisbury Plain which continued eastwards via Rivar hill into Hampshire.
Being on the ridge which connects these two great east-west ridge road networks, the parish would also have also seen much north-south traffic and indeed would have provided a convenient (and dry) place for the traveller to cross from one upland area to the other. These ridge routes are less famous than the Ridgeway but would have been typical of routes of the same era; little hindrance by field boundaries, the route changing as erosion and mud made sections impassable, a common law right of passage.
The Romans
Following the Roman conquest the common perception is of a land suddenly criss-crossed by new straight high quality roads but to the subjugated masses the ancient routes described above continued to be their main transport arteries. Historians continue to speculate about the actual alignment of the Roman roads which led from the south towards the strategically important camp of Cunetio (near Mildenhall) with that from Chute Causeway via Crofton, Tottenham Park and Savernake Forest being best defined - a route which lies approximately parallel to the Grand Avenue and which passes briefly through the most easterly part of the parish. Less well established is the course taken from Old Sarum to Cunetio with some favouring the course through Milton Lilbourne while others suggest the route through Easton Royal. Whichever is true the fact remains that it certainly would not have passed through Burbage parish but, as we shall see, it did eventually have an influence on the evolution of our roads.
The Saxons
After the Romans departed there was a long period of instability before the whole area became ruled by the Saxons. The Saxons favoured valley floors to the wild uplands and lasting evidence of their presence in the parish can be found at Harepath Farm, which takes its name from the Pewsey road. For a time Burbage lay near the frontier of the ever-warring Saxon tribes and several battles were fought nearby, such as the Battle of Bedwyn in 675AD. Harepath means "war path" or "army path" and indicates the routes used by the Saxon armies.
The Saxons also left us their Charters with those of 961AD and 968AD recording the western Bounds of Burbage (at that time it was part of the parish of Bedwyn) and these mention several roads or ways, which were used or intersected. [See WAM Vol. XLI pp, 281-301]. These bounds at the south and west of our parish are still those we follow today and so they can be located by reference to either an O.S. map or the Inclosure Map (Map 9). The interpretations which follow are based on those of the article's author, the eminent local historian, Mr. O.G.S. Crawford.
MAP 1 - Saxon Roads
Weall Weg - Wall Way (961AD) or Wael Weg - Native's Way (968AD) ran along the crest of the hill to the south of, and overlooking, Southgrove Farm. Presumably this was a ridge route along the Salisbury Plain escarpment which was to later lose its traffic to the less exposed track whose course today forms the A338. Mearc Wege - Boundary or Mark Way, was crossed south of the Harepath and in 1920 was known as the Bishop's Walk; a lane connecting Easton Royal with Burbage via Laffey Lands Lane. Another Mearc Wege was crossed north of the Harepath and Mr. Crawford suggests that this is the Westcourt to Wootton Rivers footpath but it could easily be the path from Westcourt Pond to Easton. Although considered in the article, but for some reason dismissed, is the possibility the two references to a Boundary Way actually refer to the ridge route later known as the Bishop's Way which is shown on a map accompanying the article (Map 1) as following the entire length of the western parish boundary as far north as Ram Alley. It was here that many tracks converged to cross the relatively dry watershed before climbing Lye Hill. Even during Saxon times the course of the Roman Road from Cunetio to Old Sarum would have been a major route but with the lack of maintenance the problems of crossing the fledgling River Avon would have pushed travellers eastwards and many, many years later this would have been further encouraged by the emparking of Brimslade (certainly emparked by 1625).
Traveller heading north through the parish had, over time, the choice of five routes, all of which met at the watershed at what is now the Wharf: the Bishop's Way - which followed the parish's western boundary through Bowden Farm; the current Westcourt Road with its bridleway continuation; the now extinguished Pipers Lane (described in part 2 of this article); the High Street; the current footpath along the eastern boundary of Southgrove Woods (see Maps 6, 8 & 9) which then used Great Monheath Drove; Eastcourt Road and Long Drove (this last route is not shown on Map 1). All ultimately converged near Ram Alley where the Ig Feld Wege was met and this can probably be attributed to the modern Ram Alley Road. Ig Feld refers to the hog back hill to the North of the canal and its southern flank would be Ig Lea - hence Alley. Of course these routes have been described in terms of today's fenced lanes whereas in those days the routes were imprecise and varied according to the location of cultivated strips, penned livestock and mud.
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