Great Britain Ancient trackway

1 great britain

1.1 wallingford
1.2 brownhills
1.3 cadbury castle , south cadbury village

great britain

in roman britain, many trackways built upon romans form foundations roads. prior this, people used trackways travel between settlements unsuitable swift movement of troops , equipment.

icknield way near lewknor in oxfordshire



the ridgeway (uffington castle ringfort in distance on left)



the pilgrims way climbing st martha s hill

these settlements connected each other ancient trackways, referred green ways. tracks followed natural contours in landscape, , evolved on time animals driven place place , people walked , neighbouring settlements. of land forested; lower valleys provided fertile land , ideal places fishing, agriculture , rearing of cattle.

the trackways provided links between farmsteads , fields, other farmsteads, , neighbouring long barrow tombs. trackways joined separate localities camp meeting places , cross-country flint roads. others more have been processional ways, such 1 leading gigantic temple @ avebury in wiltshire. long distance ways included known as

the icknield way, running on 100 miles (161 km) buckinghamshire norfolk,
the ridgeway national trail, running 85 miles (137 km) along chalk hills wiltshire buckinghamshire,
the harrow way and
the pilgrims way in north downs.
the mariners way in devon
the saints way in cornwall

some trackways followed tops of higher land, whilst others progressed along lower slopes. lowland areas thickly forested , poorly drained , long distance travel there advantage in following top of line of hills or ridgeways. ridgeway in fact ran wash along chalk escarpment across britain via avebury english channel across salisbury plain, longer route current national footpath suggests.

the skills needed develop tracks across boglands, such in somerset levels, learnt people. known corduroy roads, formed when huge quantities of alder poles , brushwood used link fen islands across marshes. sweet track in glastonbury fens, somerset believed oldest purpose built road in world , has been dated 3800s bc.

on occasion, rivers caused obstacle progress, bridges built across them, , several roads met use bridge. major settlements grew around bridges, providing sustenance travellers , animals using trackways. there many examples of this: 3 follow.

wallingford

the original settlement @ wallingford in oxfordshire dates dawn of british history, when founders showed remarkable discrimination in choosing site. nestling in fertile valley on banks of river thames, ideal place fishing, agriculture , rearing of cattle. ancient trackways, in particular icknield way, provided lines of communication converging on ford. remains of ramparts still surround town , successors of rudimentary fortifications of old british settlement, adapted in turn roman, anglo saxon , norman conquerors.

brownhills

a similar site brownhills in west midlands. brownhills has been meeting point ancient roads , trackways since prehistoric times. thought watling street in use before romans came , predates roman roads; later called chester road , coventry road thought have been ancient trackways.

cadbury castle , south cadbury village

cadbury castle in somerset iron age camp covering 18 acres (73,000 m²) , considered 1 of impressive iron age sites in britain. focal point of many ancient trackways , guarded 4 huge banks height in places of on 40 feet (12 m) bottom of ditch.