ROMAN ROADS ^ 279 



chuse for their best advantages." A century later, a Reporter 



contrasts the state of a district near Norwich in the last decade of 



the eighteenth century with its condition before 1760 : " Thirty 



years ago," he says, " it was an extensive heath without either 



tree or shrub, only a sheep-walk to another farm. Such a number 



of carriages crossed it, that they would sometimes be a mile abreast 



of each other in search of the best track. Now there is an excellent 



turnpike road, enclosed on each side with a good quickset hedge, 



and the whole laid out in enclosures and cultivated in the Norfolk 



system in superior style." Instead of these common tracks, with 



their wide margins of deviation, enclosure Acts substituted defined 



and constructed roads. Not only was science needed for making 



new highways, but the existing machinery for maintaining those 



already in existence had broken down under the stress of modern 



needs. 



^Throughout the Middle Ages the great Roman roads were the main 



thoroughfares. Watling Street ran from Kent to Chester and York, 



branching northwards to Carlisle and Newcastle ; the Fosse Way 



crossed England from Bath to Lincoln ; Ermine Street led from 



London to Lincoln and thence to Doncaster and York ; Icknield 



Street, more difficult to trace, swept inland from Norwich, passed 



through Dunstable, and ultimately reached Southampton. For 



centuries they required and received little repair owing to the 



sohdity of their construction. A firm foundation of beaten earth 



was secured. On this were laid, first, large stones, often embedded 



in mortar ; then a layer of small stones mixed with mortar ; above 



these two layers, lime mixed with chalk and pounded brick, or with 



gravel, sand, and clay ; and finally the paved surface. 



Planned and built by the State, these Roman highways offered 



a striking contrast to the subsequent roads, which were laid out in 



haphazard fashion as need arose. The art of road-making was lost, 



or the cost beyond the reach of local effort. Unmetalled tracks 



crept along the edges of streams, which often afforded a better 



bottom than the ways themselves, or sought sound foothold for 



men and beasts across unenclosed land, or boldly kept on high ground 



to escape the bogs and quagmires. Gradually footways, horseways, 



and cartways ^ were levelled by traffic across the plains or hollowed 



^ The Romans recognised the same distinctions. The iter, actus, and via 

 were the English footpath, bridle- way, and carriage road. Both in Roman and 

 in English law the greater included the less, so that the via was open, not only 

 to vehicles, but to foot-passengers and animals. 



