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1922
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ROBARTS
Presentedtothe
LIBRARY
oftheUNIVERSITY
OF
TORONTO
from the estateofANN BODDINGTON
FRONTISPIECE.
Castle Tomen, Radnor Forest.
A Glade on a Ley.
Early
British
Trackways,
Moats,
Mounds,
Camps,
and
Sites*
A
Lecture given to the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, at Hereford,September, 1921, by
ALFRED
WATKINS,
Fellow andProgress Medallist(for 1910), of the Royal Photographic Society; Past President (1919)
of the Woolhope Club. With illustrations
by
the Author, andmuch
added matter.
1922:
Hereford:
THE
WATKINS
METER
Co.TABLE
OF
CONTENTS.
TABLE
OF
ILLUSTRATIONS.
FRONTISPIECE.
Top. CastleTomen,
Radnor
Forest, 1,250 feetabove
the sea,and
is supposed to be the Cruger Castle of the Itinerary of Giraldus. Background.A
gladeon
a ley.Bottom.
The
Four
Stones,New
Radnor, the easterly pairlined
up
for sighting over.PLATE
I.PRIMARY
PEAK.
Titterstone Clee Hill,and
Park
Hall, Bitterley.
PLATE
II.MOUNDS.
1, Tre-fedw,Pandy.
The
Skirrid, aprimarypeak, in distance. 2, Didley.
With
homestead
alongside.PLATE
III.MOUND
and
MOAT.
1,Houghton
Mound.
2,Lemore
Moat.
Note
how
slight is the dividing linebetween
this typeof
mound
and
a moat.PLATE
IV.THREE-POINT
PROOFS.
1 (atelephotograph),Here-ford Cathedral
and
Pen-y-Beacon.Here
thecamera
stoodon
aknown
ley ingateway
near top ofHafod
Hill,and
theline runs through
pond
at foot(marked
by
sheet of paper),tower of Cathedral,
and
the 20 mile distantmountain
pointorbluff.
Another
leyis seen crossingthemeadow
inastraightline just
where
" the lowing herd winds slowly o'erthelea."2, Tre-fedw
Mound
(see Plate II.),shown
at top of sightingline
down
present road to ancientMonnow
ford (alongsidepresent bridge) at Llanvihangel Mill.
PLATE
V.SIGHTING CUTTINGS
(all telephotographs). 1,Notch
with earthwork at
Trewyn
Camp
above
Pandy
(BlackMoun-tains). 2, Cutting through top of ridge at Marstow, abridge
now
spansit,and
the sightinglinedown
toafordon
theGarronis indicated.
The
roadbeyond
the cutting ison
the ley.3, Black Darren,
Longtown
(Black Mountains). This is takenfrom
theTan
House,Longtown,
and
only 100 yards to rightor left the notch begins to lessen
and
then disappear.PLATE
VI.CAUSEWAYS.
1,Through
pond
nearTen
Houses
(now
Priory Terrace), Holmer.Note
the unmistakable direction, confirmedon
map.
2,Through
the RiverMonnow,
behind
Tan
House,Longtown.
A
piece of fine engineering,the below-stream edge of large stones
embedded
in groutingPLATE
VII.CAUSEWAYS.
1,Over
a ford of Olchon Brook,Longtown.
2, Ingestone, Ross.Through
the "fold"and
straightto the centreof the
pond
against the house. I cannotassign a period to
any
of these.PLATE
VIII.LEYS
DISPLAYED.
1,Rhiw
(mountain track)south of
Llanthony
Abbey,
Mon.
This is sighted forBal-mawr
on
the ridge,and shows
thatwhere
possible evenmoun-tain side tracks were kept straight.
Taken
in evening lightand shows
(on left) the tripletracksdown
which
it is surmised the tile stones for roofing theAbbey
tohave
been slid fromthe quarry
on
the top. 2, Stones at base ofancient Wye-sidecauseway
atBartonsham
(formerlyBassam) Farm,
Hereford City.The
stones continue in a "wash-out " inbed
of riverto right,
and
the ley is sighted overtumps
atHoggs
Mount
and
Holmer
Lane.Note on
bank
to right the mark-stone for the ford (see Plate IX.).PLATE
IX.MARK-STONES.
1,Red
Lion, Madley.On
a " redline " ley
from
theWhitney
pottery.Note
subsequentboundary
stone alongside. 2, Credenhill. 3,Wye
Street,Hereford,
marking
the PalaceFord
; there are a pair of thesestones.
Bartonsham Farm,
Hereford (see Plate VIII.).PLATE
X.
TRANSITION
OF
MARK-STONE TO
CROSS.
1, Wergin's Stone, Sutton.
With
flat face suited for sighting.A
cavity forpayments
(or offerings)on
the flat base. Earlyexample
of " shaftand
base." 2, Pedlars Crossabove
Llanigon.A
menhir
chipped into rude semblanceofa cross.3, In churchyard,
Vowchurch,
unworked
base.A
ley runsthrough it. Inset, Sighting hole in shaft of Bitterley Cross.
4, In Capel-y-fin churchyard (Black Mountains).
PLATE
XL CHURCHYARD
CROSS.
Bitterley (seeInset PlateX.).PLATE
XII.TREE.
Eastwood
Oak, Tarrington,on
a ley.PLATE
XIII.TREES.
1,A
"One
TreeHiU
" nearLlanvihangel-nant-Melan. 2,
Monnington
Walks,an
avenue
of ScotchFirs (Scots Pines)
on
a ley sightedon
Scar Rock, Brobury,PLATE
XIV.
CAMPS.
1,SuttonWalls.One
ofthe sightingmounds,
therebeingfour,a pair at eastern end, apair atthisthewesternend. 2, Herefordshire Beacon.
Winds
Point to the left.PLATE
XV.
CHURCH.
Church
Lane, Ledbury.The
detachedtower of
Ledbury Church
isshown on
the ley.PLATE
XVI.
CASTLE.
Wigmore
Castle.The
keep ison
asightingmound,
theley passing also through the church, as is almost invariablewhere
castleand
church are near together.PLATE
XVII.
CASTLE.
Brampton Bryan
Castle (on a sightingmound)
with Coxall Knoll, anothermound,
inthe distanceon
theright.
PLATE
XVIII.
HOUSE
IN
MOAT.
Gillow.PLATE
XIX.
MAP.
TWO
LEYS,
a, Consecutive stripscon-taining the straight ley
from
Glascwm
Hill to Birley Hillviafour
mounds
; TurretTump, The
Camp, Batch
Twt, Almeley,Moat, Sarnesfield Coppice;
and Weobley
Church, b, LittleMountain
toHoly
Well Malvern, throughMoccas
" Castle "Tump,
Preston-on-Wye Church,Byford
Ford,Holmer
Church,Palmer's Court, Moat, Shucknell, Walsopthorne. Portions of
two
interesting leys are also shown, c, Scar Rock,Bro-bury, through
Monnington
Walks
toMonnington Church
(seePlate XIII) ;
and
d, LittleMountain
(Westbrook), throughArthur's Stone (dolmen), Cross
End, Moccas
Church,Mon-nington Church, St. Ann's Well,
and
Priory Church, Malvern.PLATE
XX.
MAP.
Portions :of eight leys passing throughCapel-y-tair-ywen (Chapel of the three
yew
trees), a chapel site, originally amound,
described inWoolhope
Transactions,1898, p. 38,
on
the high plateau below the great northernescarpment of the Black Mountains, a,
Hay Tump
(nearchurch ford) to Pen-y-Beacon,
on
to CastleTump,
Rhos-goch.b,
Mouse
Castle toTumpa,
passesthrough Maes-coch (red field), PrioryWood,
and
the ancient " red" pottery, Whitney.c,
Merbach
to Llanelieu Church, d,Mynydd-brith
Tump
toTalgarth Church, e, Castle
Tump,
Dorstone, toMoat
atFelin-fach. f, Snodhill Castle to Aberllynfi
Gaer
;beyond
Snodhill it passes to or through
Holy
Well, near Blakemere.G, Michaelchurch Escley to Llanigon
Mound,
h, Black HillFOREWORD.
To
the Average Reader.I judge that
you
pickup
this booklet withmuch
thesame
ideason
the subject that Ihad
a fewmonths
ago.The
antiquarianshad
not helped
you
orme
verymuch,
buthad
left us withvague
ideasand
many
notes of interrogation.On
early trackways theyalternated between amisty appreciationof hill-tracks
and
ridgeways,and an
implied depreciation ofalltrack-makers
before theRomans
came.To
learn themeaning
ofmounds
they did not go
beyond
the child's investigation of adrum,
cut itopen
to see ; and, if nothingwas
there, quite failed to profitby
suchvaluable negative evidence. In perhaps one
moat
in five they found a dwelling,and
argued finelyon
the defensive importance of a ringofwater ; butastothe otherfour,with
no
dwelling,and
inunexplainedpositions, they closed their eyes.
I
do
notknow,
dearreader,whetheryou
willbeasmuch
astonishedin reading the
new
factswhich
I disclose,and
the deductions I feelobliged to
make,
as Ihave
been inthe disclosure. Frankly, if anotherperson told
them
to me, I shouldwant
to verify before acceptance.And
I try to aidyou
to verify.But
do
notethis—
that the importantpoint in this booklet is the previously undiscovered string of facts,
which
make
it necessary to reviseformer conclusions.My
deductionsmay
be faulty.But
the facts are physical ones,and anyone
can test in theirown
district whether moats,mounds
and
churchesdo
notline
up
in straight lines with a hillpeak
at one end,and
with bits ofold tracks
and
antiquarian objectson
the line.So
please do not begin with the false—
as beinginapplicable-—
word
" theory." Ihad no
theory when, out ofwhat
appeared tobe a tangle, I got hold of the one right
end
of this string of facts,and
found to
my
amazement
that itunwound
in orderly fashionand
complete logical sequence.
Make
yourown
deductionswhen
you have
verified,and
I have tried to help you.B^SflMBHHftv
Plate II.
MOUNDS.
i. Tre-Fedw, Pandv. Skirrid in Distance.
EAELY
BEITISH
TEACKWAYS.
MOATS,
MOUNDS, CAMPS
AND
SITES.
INTRODUCTION.
I
have
read of a lad who, idly probing a kill-side rabbit hole,saw
agleam
of gold,then more,and
inshorthad
found aroyal treasury.And
he could notshow
all to those interested, but only samples,and
he
made
mistakes in describing the datesand workmanship
of thecoins, vessels
and
jewels.But
the treasurewas
there all the same.I
knew
nothingon June
30th last ofwhat
Inow
communicate,and
had no
theories.A
visit to Blackwardine ledme
to noteon
themap
a straight line startingfrom
CroftAmbury,
lyingon
parts ofCroft
Lane
past the Broad, over hill points, through Blackwardine,over Risbury
Camp, and
through the highground
at StrettonGrandi-son,
where
I surmise aRoman
station. I followedup
the clue ofsighting
from
hill top,unhampered by
othertheories, found it yieldingastounding results in all districts, the straight lines to
my
amazement
passing overand
over again through thesame
class of objects,which
I soon found to be (or to
have
been) practical sighting points.For
the sake of clearness I will givean
outline of the wholemethod
before furnishing proofsand
examples.It is necessary first to clear the
mind
of present ideas of roadsfrom
town
to town, or with enclosed hedges, also ofany
assumptionthat orderly road planning
was
introducedby
theRomans, and
thatmy
paper is to explain theRoman
roads.Presume
a primitive people, withfew
orno
enclosures, wanting a few necessities (as salt, flint flakes, and, later on, metals) only to behad from
a distance.The
shortestway
to such a distant pointwas
astraightline,the
human way
ofattainingastraightlineisby
sighting,and
accordingly all these early trackways were straight,and
laid out inmuch
thesame
way
that amarksman
gets theback
and
fore sights of his rifle in line with the target.OUTLINE OF
CONCLUSIONS.
During
alongperiod,thelimitsofwhich
remain tobe discovered,but apparently
from
the Neolithic (later flint) ageon
past theRoman
occupation into a period of decay, all trackways were in straight lines
marked
outby
expertson
a sighting system.Such
sightinglines were (inearlierexamples)from
naturalmoun-tain
peak
tomountain
peak, usually not less than 1,000ft., in thisdistrict, probably lower heights in flat districts, such points being terminals.
Such
a sighting line (or ley)would
be useless unlesssome
furthermarking
pointson
the lowerground between
weremade.
Thereforesecondary sighting points were
made,
easily to beseenby
the ordinaryuser standing at the preceding sighting point, all being planned
on
one straight line. These secondary,
and
artificial, sighting points still remain inmany
cases, either as originallymade,
or modified to other uses,and
a largenumber
aremarked
on
maps,and
are the basis ofmy
discovery.They
were constructed either of earth, water or stone, treesbeing also planted
on
the line. Sacred wellswere sometimes terminalsin the fine,
and
sometimes included as secondary points.Between
the sighting points thetrackway
ran straight, except in cases of physical impossibility, but did not of necessity go as faras the primary hill tops.
Earth
sighting points were chieflyon
higher ground,and
now
bear the
name
oftump,
tumulus,mound,
twt, castle, bury,cairn, garn, tomen, low, barrow, knoll, knap,
moat
and
camp.
Another form
of earth sighting pointwas
in theform
of a notch or cutting in abank
ormountain
ridgewhich had
to be crossedby
the sighting line.Water
sighting pointsseem
tohave
evolvedfrom
the excavationsmade
for thetumps
or moats.Almost
all areon
low ground, toform
a point or ring of reflection
from
higher ground,and
arenow
known
asmoats and
ponds.Stone sighting or
marking
points were natural (not dressed)blocks.
Sighting fines were (in earliest examples)
up
to 50 or 60 milesin length, later
on
rather shorter,down
to a few miles.Sighting points were used for
commerce and
for assemblies ofthe people.
MOUND
AND MOAT
i. Houghton Mound.
Plate IV.
HREE-POINT
PROOFS
i. Sighting Pond, Hereford Cathedral, Pen-y-Beacon.
When
troublesome timescame
and
stronger defences wanted,thegroups of
two
or three sightingtumps which
came
near together(especially
on
the top of a hill) oftenhad
defensive earthworksadded
to
make
a fortified enclosedcamp.
These trackways of successive ages
grew
so thickon
theground
as to vie in
number
with presentday
roadsand
by-ways.All forms of sighting points
became
objects of interest,super-stition,
and
genuine veneration,and
as such were utilizedon
the introduction of Christianity.Practically all ancient churches are
on
the site of these sighting points (tumps or stones), usually at a cross of tracks,and
there is evidence thatinsome
cases the churchyard cross ison
the exact spotof the ancient sighting or
marking
stone.In time, homesteads clustered
round
the sighting points, especially the ponds.The
moats and
tumps
were often adopted in after ages as sitesfor the defensive houses or castles of wealthy owners.
Hundreds
of placenames
give support to these propositions.PROOF.
The
facts Ihave
discovered,which
leadup
to the conclusions,can be verified for the
most
parton
an
inch to mile ordnancemap
with aid of a straight edge.
Taking
all the earthworks mentioned,add
tothem
all ancient churches, allmoats and
ponds, all castles (even castle farms), allwayside crosses, all cross roads or junctions
which
bear a placename,
all ancient stones bearing a
name,
all traditional trees (such as gospeloaks),
marked on
maps,and
all legendary wells.Make
a small ringround
eachon
amap.
Stick a steel pinon
the site ofan
undoubted
sighting point, place a straight edge against it,
and
move
itround
until several (not less than four) of the objects
named
and
marked
come
exactly in line.You
will then findon
that fine fragments hereand
there ofancient roads
and
footpaths, also small bits ofmodern
roadscon-forming to it.
Extend
the line into adjoining maps,and you
willfind
new
sighting pointson
it,and
it will usually terminate at both ends in a natural hill ormountain
peak, or sometimes (in the laterexamples) in a legendary well or other objective.
If
you
travelalong the actual sightinglineyou
will findfragmentsof the road showing as a straight trench in untilled land, although
these are few
and
far between, as the plough obliterates it all.The
line usually crosses a river at a
known
ford or ferry. Sightingtumps
not
marked
on
themap
are also to be found.Two
specific proofs are illustrated in Plate IV.and
explainedin the Tableof Illustrations. Also
from
the highest pointoftheearth-works
of DinedorCamp
the spire of All Saints'Church
can be seenprecisely
between
the pinnacles of Hereford Cathedral, thus showing asightingtump
and two
churcheson
oneley.The
Offa Streetexample
(see under Churches) is another three-point proof.
THE
LEY.
The
sighting linewas
called the ley or lay.Numbers
of farmsand
placeson
sighting lines bear this firstname,
viz., theLey
Farms,Weobley, Grafton, Stoke Edith,
and
many
other places.Wyaston
Leys,
Monmouth,
Tumpey
Ley
and
Red
Lay, near Letton,and Redley
in
Cusop
parish.There were cleverly planned high level
mountain
tracks which,although
on an
average sighting line, could not (beingon
the side of amountain
ridge) keep straight, but took a serpentine course, inround
thecwms, and
outround
the headlands.But
viewededgeways
they are a straight line (see Plate VIII.) as keeping a uniform level or
slope.
Such
are found highon
theMalvern
ridge, the road (on threeleys) through Oldcastle to Blaen Olchon, the lovely Bicknor
Walks
near
Symonds
Yat, the PrecipiceWalk
near Dolgelly.Therearesigns of paralleltrackways quiteclosetogether, whether one to take the place of
an
older one Ido
notknow.
And
between
Malvern
Wellsand Hanley
Swan
are three symmetrical triangularwoods
(seeMap,
Plate XIX.), which I find indicate parallel roads, one-sixth mile apart, running northwards,and
with a collecting roadhere atright angles,
which
comes
overtheridgeand
throughMainstoneCourt. There are six of these equidistant parallel roads.
The
fact of the ley isembedded
in the rural mind.A
countryman
in directingyour path
will invariably bring in thenow
mis-leading, but once correct, "keepstraight on." It
was
onceabsolutely necessary to "keep straighton
" in the ley, for ifyou
did notyou
would
be de-leyedon
your journey. This is not said as a pun, butas in
some
succeeding sentences, to point out the place ofthe ley inthe evolution of our language.
Where
the ley laid in awood
became
a glade (see Frontispiece).We
came
through one over WorsellWood
in a Club excursionon
ourway
to Gladestree.Where
the leyhad
lain fora
time oftenbecame
alane. Thislast
noun
became
a verb usedinthe 18thcenturyenclosureacts,
where
ground
was
" laned out."Where
itwas
so laned out itbecame
land. There is aLaynes
Farm
near Huntley.It is still a
common
phrase to go out to see " the lay (or lie) ofthe land."
The
trackways are chiefly 6 feet 6in. to 9 feet wide. I illustratetwo
pitched causeways atLongtown,
a fine one through theMonnow
nearthe
Tan
House,and
the other close to a ford over OlchonBrook
(Plate VI.).
Another
through thefarm
yard at Ingestone (Ross)going to the centre of the sighting
pond
(Plate VII.).ANTIQUITY
OF
THE
LEY.
The
word
" ancient " coversa vastperiod. If—
asIhave
proved—
thetumps
or burys are sighting tumps, excavations also prove thatthey usually date
back
to the Neolithic age, which, according to Mr.Ault's recent " Early Life in Britain," cannot belaterthan 2,000 B.C.,
and
may
be 4,000 B.C.A
prehistorictrackway
might, therefore,be planned
and
made
more
than three thousand years before theOld
Road
(which is a route rather than a road)was
devised or evolved—
as Mr. Belloc so well describes
—
as a Pilgrim'sWay
from
Winchesterto Canterbury.
I
have
found that the persistent thingsdown
the ages are notthe courses of the roads or tracks, but their sighting points,
and
thatcross roads with a place
name
are such. Placenames
are alsoper-sistent,
some
ofthem
goingback
to prehistoric times, but others evidently media?val.But
the real dating of the leysand
when
thesystem fell into decay is for future investigation.
INDIVIDUALITY
OF
A
LEY.
Each
ley or trackwas
as separateand
distinctfrom
other leysas each animal or tree is
an
organism distinctfrom
other animals ortrees.
As
they crossed each other,no doubt
users often transferredfrom
one to the other at the crossing,and
struck out inan
altereddirection, hence the place
name
element "turn."But
theway
thus travelledwas
a route, not a road. It isan
absurdity to speak of a sighted road having branches, or bending.Each
individual trackwas
"a long lane that has
no
turning."Previous writers, treating, say, of
Roman
or of mediaeval roads,not
knowing
of the existence of the ley,assume
thatthey are speaking of original primary structures,when
they are only describing a routeevolved
from
anumber
of the leys I describe, retaining the sightedstructureinthe caseof
Roman
roads,butlosingmost
ofitby
mediaevaltimes.
-Many
leys acquired in after ages individualnames from
the usetheywere
put
to,and
suchnames
weretransferred tothe sightingpoints. I find in severalcases agroup of leyswithsightingpoints passing quite close to,and
takingno
notice of, quite a distinct group of leys with other sighting points, thetwo
sets being either oftwo
different periods, or part of separate systemsmade
by
different sets of ley-men living in different districts.A
most
surprising fact is theenormous
number
of leys.MOUNDS.
The mounds
whose
many
names
Ihave mentioned
are artificial.I
do
not question the factthat they were often usedas burialmounds,
and
perhaps even built with thatend
in view ; but the straight leyson which
I find practically all in this district lineup
(in connectionwith other sighting points) prove their primary purpose to be sighting
tumps. Arthur's Stone, a dolmen,
which
was
probably the core ofa burial
tump,
ison two
sighting lines.I find various stages of evolution of the
tump.
The
smalltump
at a road junction for the local road construction, examples at Cross
in
Hand,
Belmont, Hungerstone, Shelwick old Turnpike, nearBowley
Town
(called the Stocks).With
most
of these thepond from
whichthe earth
was dug
adjoins.When
much
largertumps
werewanted
the trench of earth to
make them
was dug
in theform
of a ring,and
a
moated
tump
resulted, as at Eardisland (with water),Pont
Hendre,Longtown
(dry).The
waterintheseexcavationsprovedtobesplendid sighting pointsby
reflectionfrom
higher ground,and
themoats
withno
tump
but a flat plateau within a ring of water evolved.Many
tumps on
banks, as at Tre-Fedw, nearPandy,
show no
excavations.Many
tumps
were at the junction of leys, showing the technical skillof the early surveyors,
who
must have
moved
a temporary sighting pointon
one ley until it fell in the line of a second ley.A
sightingtump
alwayscommanded
a fine, clear view in at leasttwo
directions,and
in after ageswas
coveted as a dwelling spot.At
Didley isan
instance of the simplehomestead
against it.Thus
sighting producedthe sites, this being only one of
many
instanceswhere
the record ofthe ley is
embedded
in the English tongue.The
genericname
ofMerry
Hill applied (as near Hereford) tomany
tumps
gives a clueto their use as assembly points for recreation, confirmed
by
folk loreand
surviving customs of dancing in a circle with hands linked.The
folk-motewas
held at atump
with a dry moat, so admirably adapted for seating.Plate VI
1. Through Pond, Ten Houses, Holmer.
EARTH
CUTTINGS.
Where
amountain
ridge stoodinthe path of a ley, the surveyor, instead of building atump
on
the ridgeas a sighting point, oftencuta trench at the right angle
and
in the path of the ley. Thisshows
as a notch against the sky
and
makes
amost
efficient sightingpointfrom
below. Ihave
counted eight such artificial notches in themountain
ridgewhen
on
the roadfrom
Llanvihangel Crucorney toLongtown.
Each
notch can only be seenon
the line of sight,and
disappears
when
a quarter of a mile right orleft.They
aresometimesemphasised (as at
Trewyn Camp) by
an
earthwork thrown up on
one side.
The
Wych
on
theMalvern
ridge isan
instance.The
two
fine gaps nearFlansford (Goodrich)and
Marstow
(PlateV.), both with bridges over them, are also ancient sighting cuttings.
The
sighting cuttings were also used in passing overbanks
inlower ground. Cullis is one of the
names
for suchan
earth cutting,as Portcullis
between
Withingtonand
PrestonWynne,
and High
Cullisabove
Gatley Park, recently visitedby
the Club.There is a very neat
example
of such a cutting at Hungerstone,near Allensmore,
where
the cutting in thebank
allows the ley to besighted
on
to apond
on
itsway
to the nexttump,
the oneclose to thechurch at Thruxton.
The
word
hunger (acommon
place-name element) indicates,Ithink, acuttingthrough a bank, notthe
bank
itself, asnow
surmised.There are cuttings at
most
fords, which permit the water to be seenfrom above
and
serve as sighting points.The
cutting near Charing Cross,which
gives thename
to the present Hungerford foot-bridge,probably
came
down
through Inigo Jones' beautifulWater
Gate.Mr. Codrington in his
book on
Roman
Roads
describes themethod
usedby
Roman
engineers " wellknown
to surveyors forlaying out a straight line
between
extreme points not visiblefrom
each other,
from
two
ormore
intermediate pointsfrom which
theextreme points are visible.
By
shifting the intermediate pointsalternately all arebrought to He ina straight fine." This
method
was
evidently used for all the leys.
WATER
SIGHTING
POINTS.
I
have
suggestedhow
thesemight have
developedfrom
thetump,
and
shown
where
pond and
tump
were used together.Moats
are a similar arrangementon
a larger scale.The
trackways go straight for the island part of the moat. It is not the leastamazing
part ofthis revelation that I find practically all the small horse or cattle
ponds
in fieldorhomestead which
aremarked
on
a 6in. ordnancemap
have
leys running through them,and
that examination in dry seasonsshows
signs oftheroadpassingthrough them. "And
when we
cleaned thepond
outwe
foundit cobbled at thebottom
" is a frequent reportmade by
a farmer. Ishow
a photograph of one of these at BridgeSollars, with the trench of the road beyond.
A
beautifully constructedcauseway
of even pitched stones is to be seen at the foot ofHolmer
Hill (Plate VI.). It has well defined edges,and
lies at thebottom
of a small sighting pond. Inthe crevices of its stones I found fragments of crude red pottery,
with a bit of early (Anglo-Saxon) ornament, a bit of iron slag,
and
a bit of iron. This ley is sighted
on
theNorth
Hill, Malvern.I cannot say that passengers
walked
through thebottom
ofthese
ponds
(most ofthem
have
one shelving edge, with the oppositebank
steep), buttothisday an
ancientroad(atHarleyCourt, Hereford)does go through the
bottom
of a small pond, being sighted throughthe Cathedral.
When
there is a large central islandon
amoat
I surmise early dwelling houses—
a subject for spade research. There evidentlycame
a wish for roads not running through the water,
and
a pair ofponds
or lakes with a
causeway
between, such aswe
find atHolmer
fishponds, is frequentlyfoundon
themap, and
is the sure indicationof
an
ancient trackway. Probably the squaremoats
are later thanthe circular ones. I
saw
in the grass the track of a 15-foot road(probably
Roman
construction)making
straight for the centre ofYarkhill Moat.
Many
ponds
(as at Belmont,The
Burcot,and
adjoiningLedbury
Churchyard) not
known
asmoats
are really such, their islands beingsighting points.
The
causeway
to the centre of themoat
evidently suggestedtheir use
(many
ages after they weremade)
as a defensive ring of thehouse of a rich owner, as at Brinsop, Badesley Clinton, Gillow, etc. I think that the
word
lake,now
used for large sheets of water,was
originally applied to small reflecting sightingponds
as well.The
place
names
of Sutton Lakes, Withington Lakes, Letton Lakes,and
Tumpy
Lakes
are explainedby
this theory.MARK
STONES.
These (Plate IX.) were used to
mark
the way.They
were ofall sizes,
from
theWhetstone on
Hargest Ridge to a small stone notmuch
larger than a football.Some
were long stones or menhirs, butfew remain upright in this district. I
know
of three lying fallenon
leys,
namely on
the wall at the south gate ofMadley
Churchyard, near the inn atBush
Bank
(cross roadfrom
Weobley),and
used asa bridge over a ditch near the Field
Farm
on
the Litley-Carrots path.I
show
photographs ofa fine stone atRed
Lion, Madley, havinga flat top,
and
of the typewhich
developed intomarket
stones.The
market
stone atGrosmont
Town
Hall (onwhich
the firstmarket
basket placed
on market day
paidno
toll) is the successor of such amark
stone.Two
marking
stones (with ancient brick houses builtpartly
on
them) stand unnoticed in the shortWye
Street, just overWye
Bridge at Hereford.They
mark
the PalaceFord,and
aleyfrom
Castle Hill to Hunderton.
They
are of thesame
peculiar stone (not " old red ") as at Madley, Colwall, etc.Wergin's Stone (Plate X.) is a late type^of
mark
stonewhich
was
the prototype of the churchyardand
wayside crosses, all ofwhich
I think are
on
the sites of originalmark
stones, as I find leys passingthrough them.
In studying such crosses, I
was
puzzled to find several (as atVowchurch,
Hentland, Capel-y-fin) with ancient roughunworked
stones as a base. I
am
now
certain that these bases are the originalstones
marking
a ley.The
Pedlar's Cross near Pen-y-lanFarm
above
Llanigon (mentionedinMiss Jacob'sfine story, "
The
Sheep Stealers ") hasbeen chippedintoarudesuggestionof acrosswithouttakingdown,
and
aflatmark
stoneon which
ArchbishopBaldwin
issaid(bytradition)to
have
preachedwhen
on
his tour with Giraldus in 1188, hashad
acrossinscribed
on
it. Itstands closeto St. Ishaw'sWellatPartricio.There is a striking
marking
stoneon
theRhiw
Wen
route inthe Black Mountains.
Other stones
on
leys are :—
White
Stone, Withington (withoriginal stone at the base of
an
inverted fragment of its successor—
a wayside cross);
Queen
Stone,Huntsham,
at Credenhill cross-roads,at the foot of Froom's Hill,
on
the road near Turnaston Church,marking
a ford atBartonsham
Farm,
Hereford,and
Crossways,Bollingham.
The
stone that all theKings
ofEngland
arecrowned
on
is certainly amark
stone.SIGHTING
STONES.
Mark
stonesmay
beon
one side of the track, as are thewhite-washed
stoneswhich
mark
a coastguard's cliffwalk
to-day.But
there also appear to
have
been sighting points of stone exactlyon
theley, so constructed as to indicate its direction.
The
Four
Stones near Harpton,New
Radnor, are four upright boulders (see Frontispiece) inan
irregular quadrangle,and no
one has explained their purpose.I took sighting lines over successive pairs ofvstones, five lines
beingpossible,
and
althoughthework on
themap
is notyetcompleted, I can definitely say that the "Four
Stones " are directing postswhich
point out at least
two
leys,proved
by
passing through othergood
points.
The
first goes to the highest point in Deerfold Forest (TheCamp,
940ft.) in one direction,and
in the other throughThe
Follyand on
themain
road at Llanvihangel-nant-Melan, overBryn-y-Maen
Hill, here appearing to strike another " four stones,"
and
throughLlansaintfraed in Elvel
Church
tosome peak
beyond.The
second ley startsfrom
Bach
Hill (one of the highest partsof the
Radnor
Forest) ; through theFour
Stones,dead on main
roadthrough
Walton
village,dead
on main
road past Eccles Green, throughUpperton
Farm
and
Kenchester Church,and dead on
the presentroad
which
is theS.W. boundary
of theRoman
station ofMagna
;then going over the
Wye
through Breinton Church.Bitterley
Churchyard
Cross has a circular hole through its shaftat a convenient height for sighting. Mr. J. C.
Mackay
kindlyhad
theexact direction of this taken for
me
by
sighting compass. It is 28|°E. of Magnetic N.,
and
thison
themap
exactly strikesAbdon
Burf(or Barf), the high point (1,790ft.) of the
Brown
Clee.Southwards
the line runs through Stoke Prior
and
Hope-under-Dinmore
Churches, is confirmed in other ways,
and
goes overtheWye
atBel-mont
House.Bitterley Cross is of 14th century date ; it
must
be the successorof a sighting stone
which
insome
way
pointed the direction of theley,
and
it suggests that sighting along a leyhad
not quitedied outby
the 14th century.These
two
proved instances of sighting stones, together withthe cases of stone rows
on
Dartmoor,and
sightingcolumns
on
SuttonWalls, will give the clue to the hitherto
unknown
purpose ofmany
important ancient stone
monuments.
It is probable that the flat face of a
mark
stone, as in Wergin's Stone (Plate X.), pointedout aley. Thereis aDialPost nearTewkes-bury
which, with the Dial Carreg nearCwm-yoy,
seems to denote theabove
purpose,and
the last stone isan
upright shaft of rectilinearshape like the supposed cross at Capel-y-fin (Plate X.).
^p^pll
Plate VIII. LEYS DISPLAYED.
i. Track Climbing Ridge, Llanthony Abbey.
TREES.
I find that practically all the
named
historic trees (includingGospel Oaks) stand
on
leys.Such
as King's AcreElm,
Eastwood
Oak, Great
Oak
at Eardisley,Oak
near Moreton-on-Lugg Bridge, etc.Place
names
(which inmy
previous articleson
Crosses I too hastilyheld to signify the site of a cross) also indicate trees as marks.
Such
are
Lyde
Cross Tree, Cross of the Tree at Deerfold, Cross Oak, CrossAsh, Cross Colloe (hazel treecross),
and two
leys cross at these points. Actualtreesareshown
atthecrossroadsintwo
oftheabove
inTaylor'sfine county
map
of 1757.The
Oak
in the horse-shoemeadow
at Ross ison
the ley passingover
Over Ross
(the placename
indicates it)and
Wilton Castle.The
steep little street
coming
down
to the riverfrom
theSwan
Hotel isdead on
this ley.Where
a naturalhillcame
underaleyitwas
oftenmade
a sighting pointby
the planting of a single tree, hence thenumerous
"one tree"hills, as at
Backbury and on
theHolmer
Golf Links. Allplaces called"
The
Grove
"seem
to beon
a ley,and
a small group of trees (as at Ladylift)was
also used tomark
a sighting point. Existing trees areprobably successors of original ones.
I seeevidence thatatone time suchtreeswerecalledthe " stock."
The
site of the wayside cross at Winforton isknown
as the Stocks,and
amarking
tump
in the lane forBowley
Town
(or Court) hasan
ash
on
it,and
is calledby
thesame name,
as are farms at Wellington,Almeley
Woonton,
etc.The
highest point (a hill near the ThreeElms
on
the "Roman
" roadfrom
Kenchester toLugg
Bridge) ismarked
on
themap
as Bobblestock Hill. Ihave
known
it as Bubble-stock, buthave
no doubt
itwas
Baublestock, the tree or stock (westill
buy
apple stocksinthe market)where
men
who
peddlednecklacesand
other baublesmet
the buyers. To-day, ifyou
ask in a shopwhether they keep such goods,
you
will, perhaps, be told that theyhave
agood
stock of them.I think that the pole (Layster's Pole, Yarpole, Lyepole, etc.)
was
aform
of sighting point, lingeringon
to recent times as theMay
pole.
Every
considerable avenueof trees (asin parks of.country seats)which I
have
tested has a leydown
its centre.Monnington
Walks,aScotchFiravenuea mile long (PlateXIII.),is sighted through
Monnington Church and
the Scar Rock, Brobury,which
last can be seen central in the picture. I found the ancient track stillon
the ley at the Scar,and
alongside appeared to bean
enclosed
camp
withdefencesofa mildtype,suchasseem
tobealongsidemany
other sightingpoints, asLongtown
and
Bridge Sollars Churches.Other avenues
on
leys are atTrewyn
(two),where
the house, centralwith the Scotch Fir avenue, has been proved to be
on
aburialmound,
at Llanvihangel Court,
where
tradition also asserts the house (centralagain) tobe
on
aburialmound
; at OakleyPark,Ludlow
(TheDuchess
Walk)
;and
at Longworth.A
feature inmost
of these avenues isthat, as far as present roads or tracks go, they " lead to nowhere,"
and
the discovery of the ley solves this puzzle.A
striking instancecan beseen
from
the CastleMound
atNew
Radnor,from which Harpton
Court
and Old
Radnor
Church
are in line,and
the eye looksup
thecentre of
an avenue
of trees climbing to the church.That
beautifulavenue
(half its beauty gone sincetwo
recent gales) with the ancientname
Green
Crise,which
lines a public road out of Hereford, ison
a ley
which comes
down
theCounty
CollegeRoad,
overPutson
Ford,and
passes throughAconbury
Church.One
sure sign of a ley is a long straight strip ofwood marked
on
themap,
asfrom
Franchise-stone to Litley,and
towards Breinton Church.The word
"park
"had
ameaning
different to its present usage,but
was
probably connected with woodland,and
certainly with leys,which
pass through each of the innumerablePark
Woods
and Park
Farms.
The
Scotch Fir orPine isthetreewhich
seemsmost
characteristic of a ley, for a group ofthem
are almost always (I notice) signs of asighting point, as at Constable's Firs,
Hampstead
Heath.At
the present time it is impracticable to sightfrom
point to point (especiallyon
water points)on
account of intervening trees.It is certain that for
many
centuries the sighting points were used,and
that trees did not then intervene. This throws adoubt
on
the usualglibstatementthat ancient Britainwas
one denseforest. Perhapsthe increase of trees
was
a cause of the decay of the system.CAMPS.
I find that every
camp
seems tohave
several leys over it,and
that these usuallycome
overthe earthworks, not thecamp
centre,as with moats. Also that
camps
almost alwaysshow
signs of partof their earthworks being tumps.
At
Sutton Walls are fourunmis-takabletumps,inoneof
which an
intermentwas
found,and
in another(Plate
XIV.)
theClubatitsvisitsaw
the basesoftwo masonry columns
of
Roman
construction, the use ofwhich
seemed
a mystery. I feelcertain they were columns built
by
Roman
surveyors for exactsighting.
Standing
on
the highest part of DinedorCamp
earthworks, thetowers of Hereford Cathedral
and
All Saints'Church
can be seenexactly in a line to the stand point.
The
camp
plans in past Transactionsshow
signs oftumps
inmost
camps. It is impossible toassume
that leys (sightedbetween
two
mountains) should in the scores of instances exactly fallupon
the earthworks of
camps
previously builton
sites selected solely fordefence.
The
leyscame
first,and
the presentcamp
was
then merelythe site of
two
ormore
tumps. Therecame
a period of organisedraids
and
war,and
where a group oftumps
gave the first elements of defensive works, they were joinedby
earthworks into a completeenclosure for defence.
Here
again sighting settled the sites of camps.Hereford Castle
Green
with Hogg'sMount
the only remaining sightingtump,
others (asatthe Russian gun) beingnow
levelled, isan
example.Many
groups of tumps, never developed intocamps
but sufficientlynear to be so, are to be found
on
themap.
I found Caplar
Camp
tohave
somany
leys over it as toseem
the
Clapham
Junction of ancient trackways in that district. Itmay
be that in a few cases of lofty
camps
(as CroftAmbury
and
Hereford-shire Beacon) they
form
terminals of sighting lines, but in almost allcases the leys pass over them.
CHURCHES.
These
—
if ancient—
seem
to be invariablyon
(not merelyalong-side) a ley,
and
inmany
cases are at the crossing oftwo
leys, thus appropriating the sighting point to anew
use.A
ley often passesthrough a
tump
adjacent to the church,and
a cross ley through bothchurch
and tump.
In other cases amark
stone sitebecame
thechurchyard cross,
and
a cross leycomes
through both churchand
cross. In
many
cases one of the leyswent
through the tower only,and
it ispossiblethattowerand
steeplewerebuilttobe usedas sightingpoints, although
on
the otherhand
a large church did in fact blockthe road. I will
make
no
surmiseson
these interesting points.The
sighting system
may
have
been in decay or the tracksabandoned
when
the churches were first builton
the sighting points. Ido
notthink it probable that leys were
made
to provide sites for churches.In almost everyold
town
orvillage will be found examplesofa church builton
and
blockingan
ancient road althoughnew
roads (as atWeobley)
are oftenmade
on
one or both sides. Ishow
examples of anumber.
Broad
Street blockedby
All Saints, Offa Street (astriking example) with St. Peter's
Tower
dead
on
one end,and
theCathedral
Tower
dead
on
the other end. Other examples : Ledbury,Wigmore,
Shrewsbury
(Fish Street), Kington,and
Madley,where
tower, churchyard cross
and
village cross areon
one ley,and
tower, nave, chancel,and
amark
stone in the villageon a
lengthwise ley.At Warwick
a chapel is over atown
gateway,and
in Exeteran
ancient lane is also allowed to continue as a tunnel underthe altar of a small church,two
curious instances of the right ofway
being continuedand
the desire of the clergy to use the site also attained.Kenderchurch
is a striking instance of a church perchedon
theapex
of a sighting
mound, and
in other districts I can think ofEren Tor
(Dartmoor),
Harrow,
Churchdown
(Gloucester),and
thetwo
St.Michael's Mounts, these last obviously terminals of leys, as is St.
Tecla's Chapel out hi the channel below Chepstow, the termination of
the beach ley
which
gives itsname
to Beachley Village.In
London
St. Paul's blocks the Watling Streetand Ludgate
Hill leys,
and
St.Clement
Danes, St.Mary
le Strand,and
St. Martin'sin the Fields are all
on
another ley with subsidiary roads evolvedon
each side of the churches.
CASTLES.
Every
castle in this district has a ley passing over it,and
originated in a sightingtump,
upon which
the keepwas
afterwardsbuilt
when
some
lord selected this as a desirable site for a defensivehome.
If a largetump,
there were usuallysome
excavationswhich
were developed
and
extended into real defensive works.The
word
castle is applied tomany
tumps
(as inMoccas
Park),where
no
buildinghaseverexisted,and
to farms (asCastleFarm,
Mad-ley),where
there are signs of atump,
but merely ahomestead round
it.Where
theword
castle is part of a genuine placename,
therewas
a sightingmound.
TRADERS' ROADS.
Salt
was an
early necessity,and
"Doomsday Book
" records HerefordshireManors owning
saltpans at "Wick," namely
Droitwich.The
salt ley for Herefordcame
from
Droitwich through theWhite
House, Suckley,
Whitwick
Manor, Whitestone, Withington (site ofpresent chapel),
White
House, Tupsley, Hogg'sMount,
Hereford, 22RANSITION
OF MARK-STONE
TO
CROSS.i. Pedlars Cross, Llanigon. 2. Wergins Stone.
3. Churchyard Cross, Vowchurch 4. Churchyard Cross, Capel-y-Fin. (Inset, Hole in Shaft, Bitterley).
and on
to its terminalon
Mynydd
Ferddin Hill through Whitfieldmansion.
Another
salt ley passes throughHen
wickand
Rushwick
(Worcester), over the Storridge pass through
Whitman's
Wood,
and
ultimatelygets to
White
Castle (Mon.), passing over theWhite Rocks
at
Garway.
Similar leys pass through such places as Saltmarshe Castle, WhitewellHouse, thetwo White
Crosses, Whitcliffe,Whiteway
Head,
theWych
pass over the Malverns. It is plainwhat
the "white"man
carried.A
knowledge of the ancient pottery in the KilnGround
Wood
at
Whitney
enablesme
toshow
themeaning
of thenumerous
red banks, barns,and
houses.A
ley through this pottery is sightedon
Newchurch
Hilland
passes throughRedborough,
Red Lay
(acot-tage
on main
road this side of Letton) ; the ley isthendead on
two
miles of the present high road as far as the Portway,
and
passingthrough the
Home
Farm, Garnons
(where the ancient road exists), itultimately reaches the little
Red
House, the oldTannery House
atThe
Friars, Hereford; the ley goeson
throughWoolhope
Church,but the small local potter
had
come
to his limitand
the reds ceaseon
this road.Another
leyfrom
this pottery runs through theRed
Gates
and
Eardisley Park.What
the "black"man
carried is indicatedby
thename
still given to the smithwho
works
in iron.Whoever
carried to orfrom
the localforges, whether it
was
ore, charcoal, or iron,would
be black.The
earliest trade (before metals were worked)must have
been in flints,and
as aman
who
wanted
suchwould
nothave
gone across Gloucestershire to the nearest chalk districts to fetch them, the flintchippers, or knappers,
would
come
on
the road to sell them.The
sightingtumps
calledtheKnap
arecommon,
and
ifIwanted
tosearchfor flint flakes, I should go to the base of the
Knaps,
their earliestmarket. Tin Hill, Tinker's Hill,
and
Tinker's Crosshave
a similarmeaning.
HEREFORD
TRACKWAYS.
More
than a scorecome
through Hereford. There are sightingtumps
at Hogg'sMount
(Castle Green),Mouse
Castle (alsomarked
as Scots Hole), Gallows
Tump
(Belmont Road),Holmer
Golf Links,Holmer
Lane
(top of old brick field),and an
important one,Merry
hill(in
Haywood
Forest),now
marked
asBeachwood.
There alsohave
been
(now
demolished) sightingtumps
or points at Castle Hill, PalaceCourtyard,
Overbury
(Aylestone Hill),The
Knoll, Tupsley.And
remainsofoneforthe Castleferry is
on
the lineofearthwork boundingthe Bishop's
Meadow.
A
riverside track sighted over Hogg'sMount
and
Holmer Lane
Tump
is illustrated in Plate VIII.I
have
found trackways through the sites of each of the ancientchurches. St. John's Street extended passes exactly through the chancel of the chapel of the Knights of St.
John
of Jerusalem atWidemarsh.
Barrol Street through the site of St. Guthlac's. Inevening light a
trackway
can be seenfrom
the CastleGreen
terrace,running through the large
elm stump
in the Bishop'sMeadow
tocertain railings
on
theriverbank, it runsby
Vaga
House,Quay
Street,site of Blackfriars Church, northwards to Brimfield Church,
and
southwards through a
moat
this side of the rectory atUpper
Bulling-ham.
Other straight trackways are visible throughan
orchard behindKilburn (Aylestone Hill),
on
this year'sshow-ground
near the ThreeElms, through Litley orchard,
and
descending themeadow
on
thenorth slope of Aylestone Hill to pass
by
the Burcott Pool,and on
toTenbury.
TRADITIONAL
WELLS.
The
ley brings tomind
or discoversmany
of these, for a straighttrack
went
to or past all of them. There areHoly
Wellsat Dinedor,between Blakemere and
Preston,and
under Herrock Hill.As
children, living close by,we
used to call the Coldwell atHolmer
the Holywell,and
found ourway
by
stepping stones to the ancient stone built wellnow
destroyed. Itwas
much
like theChamber
well near the millat Weobley.
The
Golden
Well near Dorstone ison
a ley runningthroughArthur's Stone, the
Gold
Post(amountain
cot),and
terminatingin Pen-y-Beacon.
The
two
"golds "on
one track indicate a trader's way.Leys
go straightto,and
not beyond,many
wells in theMalvern
ridge
—
St. Ann's,Holy
Well,Walms
(there is aWalmer
Streetnamed
from
a ley in Herefordand
asurname
Walmsley), St. Pewtress,and
one (whose
name
Ido
not find) near the Chase Inn,above
Colwall,which
village itself is the Cole's—
or magicman's
—
well.I
have
photographed in Cornwall the pointed " beehive " stonestructure covering a Holywell,
surmounted
by
a cross ; the wholeobviously suited for a sightingpoint.
Here
and
there,as at the Flint-shire Holywell, a chapel has been built over the well.Our
localexample
is at Marden,where
the well, in the westend
of the church,central with the
nave
(and the ley),isconnected with the tradition ofSt. Ethelbert.
There is
an
ancient well in Goodrich Churchyard, with a trackway
obviously passing over it, but not through the church. 24PREVIOUS
DATA.
A
number
of observershave
recorded confirmatory facts.Mr. G.
H.
Piper ("Woolhope
Club Transactions, 1882," p. 176)says:
"A
linedrawn from
the Skerrid-fawr (mountain) northwards" to Arthur's Stone
would
pass over thecamp
and
the southernmost" pointof the HatterillHill, Old Castle,
Longtown
Castle,and
Urishay"
and
SnodhiU Castles."Mr. Thos. Codrington ("
Roman
Roads
in Britain," 1903) says :"
Between
the extreme points there aremany
straight pieces not" quite in the
same
line, generally pointing tosome
landmark. There" are several instances
where
abarrow
ortumulus
was
the landmark," theroadpassing
round
iton
nearingit. Silburyaffordsone example,"
and
Brinklow,on
the Foss, another."Mr.
James
G.Wood
("Woolhope
Club Transactions, 1910,"p. 146) says : "
The
originand
purposes of thesetumps
associated'with
Roman
roadswill well repay investigation. I
have
traced a' line of such
works
across SouthMonmouthshire and
West
Gloucester-' shire
from
Caerleon through Caerwent into the Forest. All of these ' are so placed thateach is in sight of the next in either direction.
' Again,
we
find that such roads were inmany
cases ranged or laid' outinlinewithsmall
camps
orsuch tumuli—
being,infact, surveying
' stations."
The
Rev. S. Baring-Gould ("Book
ofDartmoor,"
1900) says:1
The
stonerow
is almost invariably associated with cairnsand
'kistvaens.
They
do
not always run parallel ; they start
from
a'cairn
and end
with a blocking stone set across the line."The
Rev. S. Bentley (" History of Bosbury," 1891) says :'
Under
thecross in the churchyard, at its removal to its present
' site in 1796, a huge shapeless
mass
of rock weighingupwards
oftwo
'tonswas
found. This stonenow
lies in the churchyard close to' the tower
on
the southside."
Another
writer refers to it as this' large
unhewn
mass
of Silurian rock."Mr. HiUaire Belloc
("The
Old
Road,"
1904), writing of the Pilgrim'sWay,
says : "Now
on
itsway
from
Winchester toCanter-'
bury
theOld
Road
passes, not in the
mere
proximity of, but right'
up
against, thirteen ruined or existing churches."Mr. Belloc also says: "
The
sacredness of wells iscommingled
" allthrough Christendom withthatof altars "
;
and
giving Continentalinstances, also refers to the one under the altar at Winchester.