C O N T E X T 1 3 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 5 33 the thousands of routes likely to exist in any one local authority area. Third, some historians and archaeologists regard the identification of routes not supported by detailed physical or documentary evidence as slightly disreputable. This may stem from publications like AlfredWatkins’The Old StraightTrack and the wealth of nonsense on the internet. As the project progressed, we found that the heritage significance of routes could easily become confused with their nature conservation, amenity and landscape values. In many cases routes scored highly on all four attributes. However, there were, for example, routes that are now no more than rights of way through mundane, flat, urban fringe landscapes but reflect significant medieval settlement patterns. In contrast, there were attractive lanes with wide rural views laid out as recently as Parliamentary enclosure in the 19th century. With this in mind we asked: What historic routes survive?What is their significance? How can their context and setting be taken into consideration? What are the threats to them? Should they be given some form of protection and, if so, what? Ideally, the study should have been thematic, based on what the roads were used for, but we were a long way from having that level of consistent information. Moreover, although it is centred on the CherwellValley, the district includes parts of the Cotswolds, the Oxford Plain and NorthamptonshireWolds.With the time and information available, we classified routes by period for which there is the earliest evidence, in the full knowledge that many were probably in use long before. As might be expected, bona fide evidence for prehistoric routes is in short supply. We benefited from the advice of John Steane, a former county archaeologist, in a critical appraisal of it. In contrast, Roman evidence is more substantial. We were able to put together an interpretation based on fieldwork and the many studies of Oxfordshire Roman roads from Robert Plot’s in the 17th century onwards. For the Anglo-Saxon period we worked with the place-names scholar Ann Cole. She was able to explain the continued use of Roman roads and the early use of routes first recorded after the Norman Conquest from place-name evidence. Although the evidence for the seasonal movement of animals (transhumance) in Oxfordshire is slight compared with counties like Warwickshire and Sussex, we were able to identify some routes forming links to the forests of Wychwood and Bernwood on the fringes of the district. Routes where the first evidence dates from after the Norman Conquest were particularly interesting. The king’s highways linking markets and other significant centres that have survived today were straightforward to identify. Routes that had fallen out of use because patterns of trade had changed or settlements had shifted could be pieced together from map and documentary sources. The alignment of routes between minor and deserted settlements was often represented by no more than a right of way cutting across Parliamentary enclosure fields. Post-medieval routes were generally better documented, but still difficult to interpret. For example, cattle droving was a significant feature of the district until the arrival of the railways. However, it was difficult to form an overall picture, partly because it was such a common practice. Turnpike and enclosure roads have a substantial body of evidence but we needed to avoid over-emphasising their significance for this very reason. Our criteria followed those in English Heritage’s Conservation Policies,Principles and Guidance – evidential, historical, communal – but with the substitution of contextual for aesthetic. This was essential because change that might directly affect only part of a route would diminish the heritage value of the whole. It follows in our recommendations that when a short section may be affected the significance of the whole route has to be assessed, not just the section directly affected or the sections for which there is the most evidence. Aesthetic value is best dealt with as a landscape issue. Old Brackley Road was a drove road from Oxford to Northampton that became a byway when alternative routes were improved under turnpike acts.
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