Packhorse Tracks, Drove Roads & Lost Lanes

Although the tithe maps were principally designed to show land holdings, they do show some through routes which can be compared to later maps. Here at Escott, near Stogumber,  is a route which ran towards Capton and which no longer exists.

The course of the road can still be seen although it is now well overgrown and partially in filled

There are dozens of similar examples within the parish of Stogumber and surrounding areas.

The map on the right from 1762, shows (in green)  minor lanes near Stogumber which were closed in 1816 and 1862 after the existing route (in red) was turnpiked.

Parts of these routes survive as tracks. This is Lower Ashbeer, known locally as Sally Teapots, which now ends after a few hundred yards at a ruined farmstead.

It is surprising to find that there were many more roads in the past than  today. These minor lanes disappeared mainly because the communities they served shrank – less people made less traffic. But also the tarmacing of roads in the 1920s and 1930s was selective and untarmaced routes fell into disrepair and disuse