The Harrow Way (also spelled as "Harroway") is another name for the "Old Way", an
ancient trackway
Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...
in the south of England, dated by archaeological finds to 600–450 BC, but probably in existence since the
Stone Age.
The Old Way ran from
Seaton in
Devon to
Dover,
Kent. Later the eastern part of the Harrow Way become known as the
Pilgrims' Way
The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coina ...
in the 19th century: the latter was a route invented by Albert Way of the
Ordnance Survey, who imagined it (without evidence) to have been a
pilgrimage route ran from
Winchester,
Hampshire, via
Farnham,
Surrey, to
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
Kent.
The western section of the Harrow Way ends in Farnham, the eastern in Dover.
The name may derive from ''
herewag'', a military road, or ''har'', ancient (as in hoary) way, or ''heargway'', the road to the shrine (perhaps Stonehenge). It is sometimes described as the 'oldest road in Britain' and is possibly associated with ancient
tin trading.
The Old Way
The Eastern part of the Harrow Way
The eastern part of the Harrow Way (Old Way) from Farnham,
Surrey, later known as the ''
Pilgrims' Way
The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coina ...
'', runs on or parallel to the
North Downs Way National trail. The Harrow Way can be traced from
Rochester and alternative Channel ports on the
Straits of Dover
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...
. A principal track also starting in the valley of the
Great Stour from
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
, to lead along the
North Downs or its southern slopes, through
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with ...
and
Guildford to
Farnham,
Surrey. With its natural season-round well-drained soil, slightly more
humus
In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin ...
-rich than the crest itself, forming the most travelled of often several
terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk ...
d routes.
The Pilgrims' Way, diverts from the Harrow Way and continues from Farnham to
Winchester. This
pilgrimages route helped the growth of Winchester. Winchester, apart from being an ecclesiastical centre in its own right (the shrine of
St Swithin), was an important regional focus and an aggregation point for travellers arriving through the seaports on the south coast. (See
Early British Christianity
Celtic Christianity ( kw, Kristoneth; cy, Cristnogaeth; gd, Crìosdaidheachd; gv, Credjue Creestee/Creestiaght; ga, Críostaíocht/Críostúlacht; br, Kristeniezh; gl, Cristianismo celta) is a form of Christianity that was common, or hel ...
).
Farnham, was a second aggregation point for travellers joining from the south coast. Gibson reports the section going eastward just north of Farnham ran through the area now Farnham Park and continued its course along the chalk outcrop, crossed the Bagshot Road where the Six Bells pub now stands and continued past
Badshot Lea
Badshot Lea is a small village in Surrey, England, and close to Aldershot. Badshot Lea has access in either direction to the A31 and A331 and is connected to railway stations in the nearby towns with regular bus services. The village is part o ...
,
Surrey where an important Neolithic Long Barrow burial mound (
tumulus) was found. The Harrow Way then continues to the crest of the
Hog's Back
The Hog's Back is a hilly ridge, part of the North Downs in Surrey, England. It runs between Farnham in the west and Guildford in the east.
Name
Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, he ...
where the ancient trackway is known to have run. There are several
barrows along the Hog's Back.
Western section
The western part of the Old Way, the Harrow Way, can be traced from
Farnham,
Surrey west through
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
and
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andov ...
to
Salisbury Plain and
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting h ...
,
Wiltshire, through
Dorset and on to
Seaton on the
Devon coast. In
Dorset, the Harrow Way can be traced through the villages of
Halstock and
Corscombe
Corscombe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, in the Dorset Council administrative area. The parish includes the small settlements of Benville and Toller Whelme to the south and in the 2011 census had a population o ...
, where it is known as Common Lane. At the Halstock end, a short length was realigned to form the access for a
Roman villa (which was built on the site of a late
Iron Age farmstead).
References
{{reflist, 2, refs=
[J.H. Gibson MD, Surrey Archaeological Society, Prehistoric Finds]
[{{cite book, title=The archaeology of Wessex , last=Grinsell , first=Leslie , publisher=Methuen , location=London , year=1958 , page=298 , oclc=400319]
[P.R. Lemmey, A History of Halstock, {{ISBN, 0-9512063-0-3]
[Saxon Farnham by Elfrida Manning, Phillimore & Co, 1970]
[Daily Telegraph. 9 Oct 2008 Greywell and the Harroway. Christopher Somerville sets out on his 200th Walk of the Month](_blank)
/ref>
[{{cite book, last=Wfirst=Christopher John, title=Pilgrims' Way, publisher=John Constable, location=London, year=1971, page=15, isbn=0-09-456240-7]
Ancient trackways in England
Archaeological sites in Dorset
Archaeological sites in Wiltshire