Icknield Way

The Icknield Way is a historic footpath in southern England. It lies in the year-round dry area above the water sources on the chalk escarpment of the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.

History

The Icknield Way is probably one of the oldest long-distance paths in the UK and has already been used, before the Romans occupied the country, although this is not quite scientifically proven beyond doubt.

The name is Celtic - British origin and can be traced back to the tribe of the Iceni who has used this route for trade from its base in East Anglia with other parts of the country. But the path could even be older prehistoric origin. It is not like a Roman road to a single, systematically structured way, but a group of historically developed paths from Berkshire to Oxfordshire, the Thames crossing at Cholsey near Wallingford, and from the Iron Age ( Roman ie long before the invasion of 43 AD ) were used to in Anglo-Saxon times.

Route

In many places there or was the Icknield Way of several parallel routes, particularly along the line of the escarpment of the Chilterns, probably because of the seasonal use and possibly because of the amount of traffic especially in the livestock herds.

In the West it is below the steep slopes of Wessex Downs. Near Wantage, the route along the ridge of the Downs is known as The Ridgeway, and the name Icknield Way is a parallel route in the lowlands above the water sources on the northern edge of the chalk. Between Lewknor and Ivinghoe Beacon there are two parallel routes that are known as the Lower Icknield Way and Upper Icknield Way. In Cambridgeshire Street Way ( Ashwell Street), Ditch Way and other routes used as a variant for the particular application in the summer or winter.

The Icknield Way forms part of the border between Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and in earlier times Royston was cut from this boundary into two parts. In Royston the Icknield Way crosses the Ermine Street.

Icknield Way Path

Today there is a long-distance footpath, the Icknield Way Path is called. It runs from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk, where the Peddars Way begins. The trail was designed in 1992 by the Icknield Way Association with the support of the Ramblers Association and entertained. Planning, the path along the entire route of the historic footpaths from the south coast to give the National Trail status up to The Wash, so far have not been successful.

Because parts of the Ridgeway National Trail and the Icknield Way path can only be used for pedestrians, there are parallel to the Icknield Way Path Riders route or the Icknield Way Trail, which was created for riders and mountain bikers. The route leads from Bledlow after Roudham Heath, where it merges into the Peddars Way Horse Riders route.

Modern roads

Many modern roads follow the Icknield Way, for example, the A505 from Baldock by Royston and the B489 from Aston Clinton to Dunstable. In some places, especially from Luton in Bedfordshire after Ickleford ( so named because of the Icknield Way crosses a stream there ) and near Hitchin in Hertfordshire follow several side roads of the route. At other places one can hardly recognize the route, with the exception of graves and grave hills, and hard-packed trails and ravines, which have resulted from the frequent use. The Icknield Way can be described as an irregularly studded with archaeological sites belts.

The earliest written mention

The earliest written mention of the Icknield Way is available in Anglo-Saxon charters from the year 903, the oldest extant copies were made in the 12th and 13th centuries, and they use the spellings Ic ( c ) enhilde away Icenhylte, Icenilde away Ycenilde away and Icenhilde away. The documents relate to places in Wanborough, Hardwell in Uffington, Harwell, Blewbury and Risborough, on a length of 65 km (40 miles) from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire.

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