Medieval Roads
Travelling by Land in Medieval England
In the medieval period many Roman roads were still being used. The Gough map dating from 1360 shows over 3,000 miles of main roads in use of which around 40% were of Roman origin, including Watling Street, Ermine Street, Fosse Way and the Icknield Way: routes that are still in use today.
The Road System
The roads shown on the Gough map are the highways that linked the main towns and were used by English kings to travel around the kingdom. These were the ‘A’ roads of the their day and radiated out from London as far as Cornwall, South Wales, Cumberland, Yorkshire and Norfolk. In addition there was a dense network of local tracks and rights of way linking villages, manors, woods, meadows and heathland.
Medieval Road Maintenance
Very few medieval roads were surfaced, most were simply rough tracks with wide verges and many were simply unmarked rights of way across the countryside. The main highways were often very wide which was necessary to accommodate the travel of armies, wagons and flocks of sheep. In 1118 for instance Henry I decreed that two wagons should be able to pass each other or sixteen knights be able to ride abreast.
The maintenance of roads was, by and large, the responsibility of the land owner and since the main highways were used by the king these were usually kept in good repair. Land owners were also responsible for preventing attacks on travellers as shown in the Statute of Winchester issued by Edward I in 1285:
‘It is likewise commanded that the highways from market towns to other market towns be widened where there are woods or hedges or ditches, so that there may be no ditch, underwood or bushes where one could hide with evil intent within two hundred feet of the road on one side or the other……And if by the default of a lord, who will not fill up a ditch or level underwood or bushes in the manner aforesaid, robberies are committed, the lord shall be answerable.’
According to manorial records travellers using minor roads could also expect their path to be obstructed by timber, muckheaps, pits and dead horses!
Travelling on Roman Roads
Travel was undertaken either by horse or on foot dependent on how wealthy you were, and if the journey was expected to be hazardous you would probably travel in a group with overnight accommodation being provided by Inns along the way; carriages could offer a bumpy ride and were usually reserved for luggage.
On horseback you could expect to travel about 20 miles per day along the main roads. Indeed in 1336 Edward III achieved an average speed of 55 miles per day when he rode from London to York which suggests that medieval roads were not as bad as they are often portrayed.
Sources:
Nigel Saul, A Companion to Medieval England, (Tempus, 2000)
Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller’ Guide to Medieval England, (The Bodley Head, 2008)
Derry Brabbs, England’s Heritage, (Cassell & Co, 2001)
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