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Old trackways and routes near Melksham

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-04-05 02:03:59 - Graham Ellis

I've often wondered why Statton's Walk leads into the road past the Co-op, through Dorset Crescent and out into the countryside on a public footpath that's well defined at first but then crosses another path, and a broken style. It can only then be followed by scanning the far side of the field and spotting the matching remains of a style.

Two hundred years ago, Melksham was the largest town for many miles around. A thousand years ago, it was mentioned in the doomesday book, and two thousand years ago, the Romans built a road straight across the countryside, just to the North.

Easter Sunday, and I went out to research some of these. The track across the ploughed field was probably one of those ancient ones. It crosses road and rail from Broughton Gifford,and runs down, straight as a die, to the Pack Horse Bridge over the today-swollen Avon. I can't tell you much more about the bridge or its history; online research tells me little - WikiPedia lists surviving Pack Horse Bridges in England, but doesn't tell when they were built, nor does it even this hidden secret of Melksham. [BUT see end of article for updates!]


Not so old - 70 years ago - Pillboxes were built as a line of defence against Hitler's planned invasion. The Kennet and Avon was one line of defense, the River Avon was another. This example - much more complete than many I have seen - stands slightly up from the floodplain off the path to the Pack Horse Bridge. I didn't look inside - I didn't have my Wellingtons with me.


The northern boundary of the parish of Melksham Without - where it leads into Lacock - is a straight line on the map - much of it field boundaries, and some of it public right of way. And there's a clue in the straighness - it was Melksham's own Roman Road. After 2000 years, there's sadly very little nothing left to see - but you can see the straight edges, and wonder at who may have passed though these now-remote valleys on their way from London to Bath and beyond.


But on a lovely Easter Sunday, it's good to see that the old roman route has some new uses - people were out cycling and walking, and here and there a horse. Yes, some of the tracks were hard to follow, and some clearly used horse routes were shown as just footpaths on the map - but this is the way the dynamics of the countryside develop.


Update"The packhorse bridge c.1725, near Monkton House, linking Broughton and Whaddon is a good and well preserved example and replaced a smaller wooden bridge" according to Wiltshire Council web site