combe street Lane
combe street Lane
An ancient trackway, part of the Harrow Way
Combe Street Lane runs from Brimsmore Tree, via Noble's Nap, to the Mudford Road by the Hundred Stone. However, today's Combe Street Lane was originally part of an ancient ridge trackway, the Harrow Way.
The Harrow Way (also known as 'Harroway') is another name for the 'Old Way', an ancient trackway 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. 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.
Combe Street Lane lies along a ridge connecting Ham Hill with the Corton Denham Ridge - the high ground to the east of Yeovil that includes Cadbury Castle, another Celtic hill-fort enclosure. Straet is Old English, derived from the Latin strata meaning a paved way, since the Saxons often referred to clearly-defined highways, especially Roman roads (which Combe Street Lane was certainly not), as 'streets'.
gallery
Courtesy of Jack
Sweet
Combe Street Lane, looking east from a point adjacent to Mudford Rec. Photographed in 1993.
Courtesy of Jack
Sweet
Combe Street Lane, looking west. Again, photographed in 1993.
