Longhedge Lane - Nottingham's Neolithic path
Longhedge Lane is one of the mysterious ancient roads of Nottinghamshire, but few know of its existence. It is pretty clear where one it starts in the NW - the ancient Hazelford crossing of the Trent, where the river divided into at least two channels which could be forded until the 1800s or so and later had a ferry nearby.
From Hazelford it climbed up out of the 'Trent Trench' onto the higher ground where the Battle of East Stoke was fought, then proceeded broadly ESE across country avoiding every village until it got to a crossing of the River Smite known as Oscar Bridge - where there was a bridge at least as early as 1351. Then it crossed a ridge of higher ground until reaching the River Devon, a distance of about 11km. Beyond that is open to conjecture - it has reached the gateway into the Vale of Belvoir and beyond. Probably it connected into the better-known Sewstern Lane and so was part of a N-S road.
When did it develop? There has been much speculation, but Bronze Age origins have been suggested. It remains as a public byway, unsurfaced for large sections, although the NW end has been breached by the construction of RAF Syerston.
That this is an ancient road and was well known in Norman times is pretty clear. Its SE end makes the boundary between Notts and Leics and then for much of its route parish boundaries run exactly along it. This is a useful indicator.
Esdaile's book on Rutland (1845) speculated that it was Roman and was convinced it connected to Ermine Street. He noted that at the SE end 'it heads straight for Bottesford Church' but the alignment for the last section had been altered by then during the enclosures. But, he found, 'the works of the old part is still to be seen in the old meadows, which have never been plowed, it has come straight forward after the river to the Church....' The answer may be that it does indeed date from the Bronze Age but was like Sewstern Lane, later used by the Romans and continuously so into medieval times and beyond - perhaps as a route to cross the Trent in preference to Newark or Cromwell.
LONGHEDGE LANE - OUR ANCIENT ROUTEWAY
I have previously posted about Longhedge Lane, the prehistoric routeway that ran through Sherwood Forest, across the Trent at Hazelford then via what is now Bottesford to join the equally ancient Sewstern Lane west of Grantham. It was part of a network of tracks that existed in the Iron Age and before.
From Hazelford in Notts to Bottesford just inside Leics the ancient route is pretty easy to follow, except where it has been diverted for an airfield. After Bottesford it becomes much more difficult with overgrown paths and a few tricky hedges to negotiate, before opening out along a field edge.
Walking this section it became very clear how it lined up with Bottesford church spire - which stands at the crossing point of the river. It also follows an alignment from Bottesford that brings Belvoir into view in the other direction. Makes you wonder what was on the hilltop at Belvoir before the Normans....
For the last mile before the canal, the ancient route is paralleled by a later one, clearly built as a better link between Bottesford and the canal. However, the parish boundaries follow the 'old' path and these are a useful indicator of pre-existing features.
