Akeman Street, Pay Lane and Ramsden
Ordnance Survey Explorer maps (1:25,000):
180: Oxford
Length: 17.5km (11 miles).
Duration: 5 to 6 hours.
Start: Hailey, Ramsden or New Yat
Public Houses:
Lamb and Flag, Hailey: 01993 700694
Royal Oak, Ramsden: 01993 868213
An Ancient Walk
The main reason for designing this walk was to hike along the Roman road, Akeman Street. However, while designing it and subsequently walking it, I came to realise that the path followed a number of other ancient routes. This included Saint John’s Lane, Pay Lane and other sections which must surely be very old.
From a walker’s perspective Akeman Street is interesting, because, unlike other Roman roads in the Cotswolds, much of Akeman Street has not been incorporated in to our modern road infrastructure. As such good sections of it are now public rights of Way; although, much of it is also hidden under fields. And it is straight, very straight, but what do you expect, it is, after all, a Roman road. What intrigued me as I was walking along it was what did the Roman legions think of it? As a walker, out enjoying yourself on a leisurely hike, being able to see so far ahead is not an issue; it is not boring and there are many things to distract you, to loiter over. In this case the distraction was the view, which is marvelous both in its scale and beauty. But as a Roman soldier on the march, with your feet hurting and you pack rubbing and you shield bumping with every step, to be able to see your journey laid out so starkly ahead of you must have been a rather demoralising prospect.
We know Akeman Street to be of Roman origin and may have been constructed from the 2nd century onwards, but there is evidence that the Roman road was constructed over an earlier more ancient route, along some sections at least. The origins of Pay Lane/Saint John’s Lane are much more obscure. It has been suggested that it is also Roman in origin – after all it is straight and near Akeman Street. Regardless of its origins, a suggestion of its later use is put forward by Bruce Smith, an enthusiast and amateur expert on drove roads. Have a look at his website for a fascinating insight into the drove roads of Britain. (www.localdroveroads.co.uk).
An Ancient Landscape
Another interesting stretch of the walk is south of Wilcote where an avenue of ancient ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) can be found. I have seen many gnarled and ancient oaks (the grounds of Blenheim Palace are an excellent place to see ancient oaks), but I seldom see ash trees that display the gnarled hollow trunks in a similar manner. Although some of the trees have been planted recently, I assume to replace those that have died, a number display considerable age. Dendrological analysis has shown that the oldest are some 300 years old. It has been speculated that the avenue was created by John Cary, who was lord of the manor in the later 17th century. He was a keen planter and is known to have laid out 'nurseries of walnuts and ashes' at Woodstock for Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon.
Another plant that is an indicator of the ancient landscape through which this walk takes you is the blue bell (Hyacinthoides Non-Scripta). This delightful little plant does not spread very easily and so its presence is considered to indicate the woodland in which it is found to be ancient in origin. The same is true for hedges where the plant is prolific (such as the hedge at the southern end of Saint John’s Lane). Indeed, the presence of blue bells alongside both Pay Lane and Saint John’s Lane attest to the ancient origins of these two public rights of way.
Yet another indicator of the ancient landscape is the ridge and furrow pattern in the fields to the east of Poffley End. Ridge and furrow was a farming technique that was established soon after the Romans departed. The undulating effect was created as the result of ploughing with non-reversible ploughs on the same strip of land year after year. A good explanation of how it arose can be found on the Cotswold Journeys website.
What’s in a Name?
Poffley End is an example of the magical names that can be attributed to villages in the Cotswolds. The name was originally attested as Pouwele and may be derived from Pohha 's stream (or well?).
Equally enchanting is the name Delly End which has had a number of spellings during its history, including Denle, Denleghe and Denlegh and is believed to be derived for the term meaning a valley clearing. In this hamlet you will find an example of a peace memorial. It is a rather stark concrete, grade II listed structure that is listed for its architectural and historical interest. There is no explanation given why it was erected. It has no names on it and so is evidently not a war memorial. It was not until I bumped into Martin, a resident of Delly End, that I got an explanation. Martin was out walking his dog and was an eccentric looking fellow just approaching retirement, with grey locks flowing from beneath his hat and side burns that would put any Victorian gentleman to shame. A delightfully chatty man, we engaged for a good few minutes conversing over a broad spectrum of subjects. He is the owner of a house to the south of the hamlet. Indeed, the public right of way passes through his land and should you see any goats during your wonders south of Delly End they almost certainly belong to Martin.
A Memory of Peace
After the First World War the UK saw the largest single wave of public commemoration in its history with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country to commemorate the brave soldiers that had given their lives. This was partly result of official policy of not repatriating dead soldiers and so the memorials provided a focus for the grief that was felt at the loss of loved ones.
However, as explained by Martin, the memorial at Delly End is a Peace Memorial. The memorial was paid for by Mrs Phipps of the nearby Hailey Manor and was erected on Delly Green in 1921 partly as a testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community during the First World War, but particularly to commemorate peace at the end of the war and the safe return of those who survived the slaughter. This included her two her two sons and as many as five of her nephews. A biennial thanksgiving service has been since on the first Sunday of July.
As we bid each other farewell after our chat, Martin said, “keep smiling” and I did for the rest of the walk.
Maybe Next Time
However, one disappointment came at the northern end of Pay Lane. Here I came across a wooden box on a post inside which were two jars of honey and an honesty pot. Now I like honey, I like it a lot and having placed a pot in my backpack was sorely disappointed to discover I only had a £20 note in my wallet. I do like honey, I like it a lot, but not that much! So, I dejectedly took the honey from my backpack and replaced it in the box. A lesson for next time, make sure I have £5 on me!
The Way of the Pig
Pay Lane is walled on both side and is, apparently, also known as Sows’ Road. Indeed, a 12th Century copy of a 969AD Witney Charter refers to Pay Lane as suga rode; Sugu is Anglo-Saxon for sow. Unlike herding livestock, such as cattle and sheep, pigs are notoriously difficult to drive, so a wall on either side of the road (as can be found along Pay Lane and Saint John’s Lane) would stop them scattering into the adjacent fields and woodland. So, these lanes could have been used to drive pigs to market. Smith suggests it is not too much of a stretch for the etymology of the name to evolve from Sow to Pig to Pay. Given the hand written nature of historical documents and the manner in which place names can change this is, I suppose, plausible.
Smith then goes on a bit of a flight of fancy, but again there is logic (if no hard evidence) to his arguments. The orientation of the path and its immediate links to others might suggest the swine drove continued on to North Leigh. From there it could have gone onto Barnard Gate (evidence of the connecting route having been lost by the establishment of Eynsham Hall Park) and then onto Eynsham and across the River Thames at Swinford (i.e. Swine’s Ford). When you study a map it does seem to make sense, but who knows?