More Aerial Archeology.

David Muston wonders if there is more than just a modern road and a driveway between him and his neighbours.

It has been proposed for some time now that the the track running from the gate at the sharp corner, out across Crow Piece and on up to the A5 was a possible Roman road. This shows up well (left) as it passes the crescent-shaped quarry and runs parallel with the braided stream bed between it and the dark line of the hedgerow bordering The Leys to the north. It has also been proposed that this might also be the course of the lost portion of the famous east-west route between Oxford and Cambridge but this might not be the only claim to fame for this corner of Lower Weald.

In earlier historical bulletins I have discussed the croft enclosures in Causeway piece opposite Old Pound Barn. There are three quite well-defined areas with perimeter ditch earthworks separated by a gap opposite Causeway House driveway.

It was not until I examined the latest aerial photo shown below that I realised that the gap between the end of our barn and Causeway House (i.e. the Louries' driveway), aligns perfectly with the gap between the crofts and also with the hedge in the bottom of the picture from the point where it kinks. To the left of the hedge is a ditch now heavily overgrown but still rather wide for a boundary ditch.

So could this be the remains of a sunken way running south from the Church, along the edge of The Leys, crossing the Roman causeway at a ford in front of Causeway House driveway and then passing between the ancient crofts in Causeway Piece before following the sheep trails on to Middle Weald?

It is only a theory, but it might just form a key part of the pattern of ancient pathways which is now starting to emerge.

David Muston.

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Last updated 24th February 1998.