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The Evolution of Roads in the Parish of Burbage
Part 1

Normans to the late 18th Century

Consolidation of the Routes

Several itineraries of routes taken by our 13th and 14th century monarchs exist and from these it can be determined that the road between Marlborough and Salisbury via Burbage was the major north south route in the area at this time. Indeed it is not until 1289 that the road between Hungerford and Salisbury is mentioned. Prior to then the kings preferred to travel from London to Marlborough (no doubt motivated by the presence of their castle there) before turning south to their castle at Ludgershall [See WAM Vol. 89 pp, 84-87].

The first rationalisation began in 1596 when the first large scale enclosures in the parish were approved by Act of Parliament. There had been some piecemeal enclosure prior to that time - especially around Bowden in 1450 where there were lands associated with the priory at Easton - but this act enclosed the swathe of fields across the central belt of the parish from Westcourt to East Sands, as far south as East Sand Lane and the Pewsey road and north as far as Stibb. The result no doubt rationalised the five-route system mentioned above. One route disappeared as, having lost its ridge-route advantage once it left Easton Hill; the Bishop's Way was probably diverted down Laffey Lands Lane where it and any other north/south route through the south west of the parish were consolidated into Westcourt Lane and Pipers Lane. To the east the Eastcourt Road / Taskers Lane / Smithy's Lane route was created around the new fields and was probably responsible for truncating the route along Long Drove. The route eastwards to Bedwyn saw the creation of Fir Green Lane and Sudden Drove / East Sands Lane.

Once passed the lanes created by the newly enclosed fields the routes continued across common lands much as they had done for centuries and certainly once across the watershed the way north lay through the forest where there were several ill-defined routes.

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Maintenance of the Roads

With the exception of Turnpikes Trusts (which were first formed in Wiltshire in 1706), from Elizabethan times until the creation of Highways Boards in 1862, responsibility for the maintenance of all public highways lay with the local parish. To fulfil their obligations they would appoint an unpaid surveyor from within their population who would initially have to call upon the inhabitants to provide free labour in order to carry out the necessary repairs. Quite naturally this enforced duty was extremely unpopular, especially in parishes like Burbage which lay on major a thoroughfare, and so the village elders often replaced such obligations by levying a local tax and engaging hired labourers. For Burbage the turnpiking of the main road between Marlborough and Salisbury in 1762 would have come as a great relief and left the surveyor to concentrate on the maintenance of the lesser roads and lanes. Of the few records that have survived we learn that George Nutley and Robert Highett jointly held the post of Survey of Highways for Burbage in 1820 and Giles Noyes and George Lewis held them in 1853.

Whenever problems arose which could not be resolved locally, the matter was ultimately sent to the Quarter Sessions who would serve an enforcement notice on the erring party. Sometimes these resulted in the parish receiving a suspended fine for generally neglecting their duties (the fine being payable if the remedial work was not done by a specified time) whilst others often cited landowners who had failed to maintain their boundaries with public roads. Burbage had its fair share of problems and the following transcripts from the minutes of the Quarter Sessions make interesting reading. [Transcriptions reproduced by courtesy of Bill Riley]

Quarter Session Extracts - Highways

Wee present A marle pitt by the Parrisherners of Burbedge at the ffootte of Lye Hill neere unto the Hye Way leading from Burbedge to Maulborgh.

Higheway in Burbage Common field leading from Everleighe to Marleborough in great Default soe that neither horse, man or a cart can passe without Danger.

High way is Damde up in Burbige ffielde.

Digging a Marlepitt in the High way goeing to Burbage from Marlebrough at a place called feare oake.

High way in Burbadge field betweene Burbadge and the Downe that leadeth to Salisbury in Default.

High way betweene the footte of Lyhill and Burbage Downe which Leadeth to Sarum from Marlebrough out of repaire.

Presentment. We present a marle - pitte in the paresh of Borbeg at the bottom of Liehell joining to the Rode Way leading from Sarum to Marlborough in or near the highway there a common nusance and that the inhabitants of the said Pish ought to fill the pit and repair it.

We present the gate and bounds at the north end of Burroughs Lane lying against a common highway in the parish of Burbage containing by estimate five luggs or pole being ruinous and out of repair and that one Ambrose Smith of the parish of Burbage aforesaid yeoman and Mary Kingstone of Wootton Rivers ought to repair the same. Also, we present the gate and bounds at a certain place called Holt Pound in this parish containing by estimate eight luggs or poles of ground and also the north end of a certain drove called Durleigh Drove containing by estimate about three luggs or poles ground between lands of one Robert Bird of Great Bedwyn and Wm. Gales of Durleigh which said severall bounds are very ruinous and out of repair and ought to be amended by the said Robert Bird and William Gales.

We present the fence or bounds situate lying or being in the parish of Burbage att a certain place called Sowgrove from Thorny Down Lane to Wood Corner containing by estimation ffifty luggs in length be the same more or less and the fence or bounds from the said Wood Corner unto a certain place called or known by the name of William Andrews Little Ham is very ruinous and out of repaire and that Roger Hall of the parish of Bedwyn Magna must repair and amend the same by St. Martyns Tyde next.

These extracts confirm that Burbage lay on the main Marlborough to Salisbury road, even prior to the route being turnpiked, but what of the places which are named? Was Feare Oake Big Bellied Oak (as at this time Burbage claimed the parish extended well into the forest)? Burroughs Lane had been created by the 1722 enclosures. On Map 3 you will see it as the parallel road into the forest (east of the Marlborough Road) leading to the "Burbage Gates" (it later became known as Forest Drove). Holt Pound lies to the east of Warren Farm, along the parish boundary running north-west from the Bedwyn Gate shown on Map 3. Durleigh Drove was referred to as Durley Hatch Drove on the 1722 enclosure award and is shown on Map 3 going east from Burroughs Lane to Durley (where the obstruction was located). This lane was simply extinguished when the railway arrived as the Marquis stated it was not a public road (see part 2).

In 1725 the attention had switched to the south of the parish; Little Ham is a field to the north west of Southgrove Wood but where are Thorny Down Lane and Wood Corner? - Little Ham lay along the now lost highway which once skirted the western borders of Southgrove Wood to join Great Mon Heath Drove so presumably they also lay along this route. Incidentally, a lugg was typical of many ancient units of measure in that it was imprecisely defined being anything between 15 and 20 feet.

These claims of unfit highways in 1724 and 1725 may possibly show some of the discontentment with the enclosures of 1722 as they all refer to roads which were meant to be created by that act but were obviously still causing resentment a few years later.

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Maps of the Roads of Burbage

For the rest of this article I shall be relying of published maps to illustrate the development of the road network. In each case a date is given for the map and this usually refers to when it was published. However the parish may have been actually surveyed many years prior, and this may explain some discrepancies (such as Smith still showing a long tunnel for the canal many years after that plan was abandoned)

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Bowden's map of 1736

The earliest maps were simply strip maps for travellers to follow. They appeared in the 17th century and seem to have been frequently copied for many years to come without being updated. The example below, Map 2, by Bowden in 1736 is a typical example.

Heading north, the route from Everleigh passes the False Stone (later Falstone Pond although this now is also just a memory) to the road from Collingbourne (now the A338). After passing the "Arable" lands around Goldenlands and Fore Furlong, the "S" bends are reached. Note how Westcourt is referred to as Westgate. The side roads to the east are of interest: at Seymour Pond the road is to Andover (via Vernham Dene); Smithy's Lane leads to Gratton (Grafton); at Stibb the road is to Durley; at the Ram Alley crossroads it is to Bedwyn; within the forest, that at the top of Leigh Hill goes east to Ramsbury (along Three Oak Hill Drive) and west to Easton; finally, nearer to Marlborough, there is a further public road through the forest to Ramsbury.

MAP 2 - Bowden 1736
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Andrew & Dury's map of 1773

As the 18th century progressed the skill of the cartographer improved and in 1773 John Andrews and Andrew Dury published the first map of Wiltshire since John Speed's of 1611. Although known to contain several minor errors, the standard of its surveying was very high and was copied to form the basis of many "new" maps until well into the 19th century by which time the Ordnance Survey had published its first edition.

The map is fascinating and today highlights some of the changes forced by enclosure and naughty landowners. Although the main road layout is discussed below, this map, showing a wider area, helps us to better understand how our forefathers' communicated with the surrounding villages. Being drawn before both the coming of both the canal and the railway, the area from Brimslade (then the pile of Sir Edward Ernle) to Crofton is especially worthy of scrutiny. "Burbage Gates" marked the exit from the paled Forest park for both the Turnpike and Forest Drove (Burroughs Lane). These converged at the tollgate beyond which it entered the wide expanse of Steep Common (sometimes known as Burbage Common) and Lower Heath (the marked boundaries can still be seen along the bridleway to the west, and, to the east, the inner eastern fence of the long thin field accompanying the A346 from the canal to Stibb). Love Lane, then known as Lye Hill drove, is shown as opening onto unenclosed land but the use of this ancient ridgeway may have become discouraged following the massive tree planting and forest beautification activities from about 1760 onwards but Forest Drove, then Durley Hatch Drove, still provided an alternative route. The eastward continuation along Durley Hill towards Crofton is clearly shown and is almost certainly a "lost road".

Within the village the map shows the modern Blackman's Lane as an important road to the church. However note that the current road around the Church Green is not shown and that will be explained in Part 2.

To the east we see some significant changes. The beginning of the modern Wolfhall Road is shown but it was just a farm track at this time with no public rights for wheeled vehicles. Travellers to Wolfhall, Crofton and Bedwyn from the heart of the village used Fir Green Lane and then the track to Suddene Farm (marked "Southings" on the map). Travellers from Marr Green could use the modern East Sands road (then known as Sudden Drove Way) to join Fir Green Lane at Cherry Orchard. Note that the settlement of East Sands did not then exist and that the area was known as East Horns (possibly after the road layout but more probably a mistake as the name did not appear on later editions and does not appear in any document). A second route, now gone, left the Grafton Road just before the first bend, turned right and followed Dark Lane along the ridge before turning right to join the current road near the top of the hill before Freewarren Farm. John Chandler, in his "History of Marlborough and East Wiltshire" (published Salisbury 2001), claims that this road was closed because it had become a regular haunt of gypsies - however I cannot find an act which legally extinguished the public rights.

To the south of Seymour (Sirmore) Pond it is notable that the triangle of lanes was still largely unenclosed and that a track or path across the open downs to Easton Royal is clearly shown (as it is on some extant Estate maps). The track above Southgrove Farm, mentioned in the Anglo Saxon Charter, is shown as part of a track across Easton Hill to Easton Royal. Note also that Great Mon Heath Drove formed part of an interesting lane to West Grafton.

MAP 3 - Andrew & Dury 1773
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Most of the local names shown on the map are still in use today. Of the others Southings for Suddene Farm, Sirmore for Seymore and East Horns for East Sands have been mentioned but also of note are "Granton" for the area around Kinwardstone, "Woolfall" for Wolfhall and "Cockmore" for Station Farm, West Grafton. Note also the delightful "Puddell Duck" at Southgrove.

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Robinson, 1792

A Topographical Survey of the Great Road from London to Bristol & Bath

MAP 4 - Robinson 1792
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In 1792 one Archibald Robertson published a "Topographical Survey of the Great Road from London to Bath and Bristol" which included strip maps of the route. Although possibly based on Andrews & Druy's the maps were certainly the result of some more recent surveying and were certainly redrawn. Sadly, only the northern part of the parish was included but at least it shows the presence of the drove along Durley Hill and its westward continuation to Lye Lane and Durley Hatch drove then Forest Drove.

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