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Turnpiking the Vale The main medieval routes through the Vale were confidently identified by Michael Honeybone in his 1987 book The Vale of Belvoir. On the west the Fosse Way (now A46) formed the western boundary of the Vale. With the exception of Flintham all parishes use the Fosse Way as their western boundary. In the east the Great North Way (now A1) lies outside the Vale. But 'Sewstern Lane' – also known as 'The Drift' (from when it was used by drovers to bypass Grantham) and, in recent decades, as the 'Viking Way' – forms the historic county boundary between Leicestershire and Lincolnshire (although a few 'blips' appeared in 1974). It also forms part of the eastern boundary of the Vale. Back in the fourteenth century it was referred to as 'Beauver Strete'. It may also be the same as 'Stonegate' mentioned in 1426. Longhedge Lane runs from north-west of Bottesford towards Flintham. It forms the boundary of parishes such as Flawborough, Orston, Shelton cum Hawksworth, Sibthorpe and Flintham. It originally continued to the River Trent where the Hazelford Ferry allowed travellers to continue to Bleasby. The Salters Way starts at Barrow on Soar, passes through Six Hills then enters the Vale near Old Dalby. It follows the top of the ironstone ridge towards Eastwell. A dog-leg caused by 1950s ironstone extraction means that a sharp turn at White Lodge is required to resume the route which then merges with the A607 heading through Croxton Kerrial. To the east of Croxton the Salters Way branches off right then passes south of Grantham, crossing the River Witham at Saltersford, before becoming the A52 through Threckingham (recently corrupted to Threekingham) and on to Boston. More about the salt ways of Leicestershire in this video: youtu.be/lwchup3WxLE. A route once known as Herriwell Lane runs roughly south from the Fosse Way near Owthorpe through Kinoulton, Hickling and Nether Broughton then heading along Green Lane to the Salters Way. 'Herriwell' may be a corruption of Old English here weg meaning the 'army road'. Honeybone omitted a former Roman road running from Margidunum, through Bingham, down to Langar, then passing Hose, going up to the top of the ironstone ridge via Pasture Lane before continuing due south (now only as a bridleway) to the meeting place of Framland Hundred near Great Framlands Wood and then to Melton Mowbray. Apart from these more strategic routes, most of the lanes now existing in the Vale had come into existence by the tenth or eleventh century. Some were rerouted during eighteenth century enclosure. But getting from village to village was important once settlements had nucleated around the tenth century so reasonably direct routes – allowing for the practicalities of crossing watercourses and getting up steep hills – would have fairly quickly been established. Named bridges in the Vale Longhedge Lane crosses the Smite at Oscar Bridge. This is a good example of how place-names evolve. In 1351 it is referred to as Horscroft. By 1825 this had corrupted to Ousegore Bridge. By the time Ordnance Survey teams arrived in the early 1880s that had become Oscar Bridge. At Sibthorpe Longhedge Lane crosses Car Dyke at Blackford Bridge. The bridge near the confluence of the Smite and Devon is now known as Wensorbridge. In 1330 it was Wendelforth Brigge, presumably a corruption of an earlier 'Wendel's ford bridge'. The Smite south of Whatton was crossed by Cokerbek Brigge, revealing an earlier name for the Smite as 'coker' might be a Brythonic word meaning 'crooked' or 'winding' with Old Scandinavian 'beck' meaning 'stream'. Further upstream the Smite was crossed near Granby at Thurrow Bridge, a name first attested in 1620. The bridge over the River Smite at Colston Bassett is probably eighteenth century. Presumably it replaced an earlier bridge. On the 1883 OS map it is labelled 'China Bridge', perhaps an allusion to its high and wide single arch. Just upstream from the eponymous ford at Bottesford the Devon is crossed by Washdyke Bridge in Easthorpe, indicating where sheep were once 'dipped'. Since this 1880s map the watercourse has been straightened and the road layout changed significantly. If you think the potholes today are bad… After travelling in the Vale Daniel Defore remarked in the 1720s that 'the deep clays which are so surprisingly soft that it is perfectly frightful to travellers.' William Stukeley, in his Itinerarium Curiosum published in 1724, reported that nearly all the Roman stone had been removed from the Fosse Way. In 1764 the Nottingham to Grantham road 'was totally impassable for even a single horse in safety' at Whatton (where the route crosses the Smite at Cokerbek Bridge and presumably regularly flooded). In 1790 pits up to eight feet deep were dug in the line of the Fosse Way to extract lime. The route became almost impassable in winter. About 1809 John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, wrote: … the roads of the Vale of Belvoir, in its open state, were in winter dreadful and almost impassable and are indeed at present, in wet seasons very indifferent.' Let's Act to get things sorted! The sheer difficulty of transporting coal to the Vale, especially in the winter when it was most needed, inflated the cost of the much-needed fuel. The answer was to create Turnpike Trusts. The Great North Road was turnpiked in 1739, which benefitted the eastern side of the Vale. Interestingly the Fosse Way, also once a major Roman road, was never turnpiked. The first Turnpike Act to help the Vale more directly was passed in 1753/4 and enabled the road from Trent Bridge in Nottingham via Melton Mowbray and Oakham towards Kettering to be improved. This is now the A606 and A6003. This route was used by mail coaches going to and from London to Leeds via Rockingham, Uppingham, Oakham and Melton Mowbray then on to Nottingham. Turnpiking allowed for coaches to arrive in two-thirds of the pre-turnpiking times, averaging over 9 m.p.h. instead of just over 6 m.p.h.. A second Act in 1758/9 (with an additional Act in 1766/7) enabled the road from Trent Bridge to Grantham (now the A52) to be made passable. However a letter which has survived since 1829 complains it 'was in a most disgraceful state' around Whatton. In 1780 key parts of the Melton to Grantham road began to be turnpiked, benefitting the southern part of the Vale (even though the route is not within the Vale). This is now the A607. Overall the turnpike trusts in Nottinghamshire did not create new routes but, instead, improved existing ones. In the north of Nottinghamshire parts of the Great North Road were diverted to more suitable terrain and the original Roman route fell into neglect. Wikipedia has all you need to know (and probably considerably more than you want to know) about turnpike trusts in the East Midlands. And there's also Arthur Cossons' 1934 book called The Turnpike Roads of Nottinghamshire. Who benefitted? Certainly both Bingham and Bottesford 'boomed' as a result of the Nottingham to Grantham turnpike. But villages elsewhere in the Vale still struggled with transport. Only in 1797 with the opening of the Grantham Canal did the middle of the Vale have an effective, reliable and comparatively low-cost means of transporting goods. Further reading: The Turnpike Roads of Leicestershire and Rutland by Arthur Cossons (Kairos 2003). Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland