Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
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Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
The original road - the Old Road - was a turnpike which went over Forest Hill and Shotover Hill.
Now interstingly, whe I went to look at this ancient route recently, I found that part of it is a "restricted byway" which surprised me, as this has clearly been a road since "time immemorial" and until 1790 this was the only route. I have evidence of it being used for coaching certaily well into the 1850's, but it appears that in 1889, Oxfordhsire County council did not record it as a highway.
As a result, in the 1950's it was recorded (again I say wrongly) as a RUPP, and became a "restricted byway" in 2006.
The route is still passable by vehicle, and still contiguous. It's just never been recorded as a "motor road".
What could be done to fix this discrepancy?
Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
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Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
Nothing, the enforcement of such restrictions is usually applied by a Traffic Restriction Order and this one appears to have been already been challenged and the change declined.BikerPaul wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 16:22 Tha "Old Road" from London to Oxford has a lot of history, and the vicious hills east of Oxford were essentially bypassed by the building of the Headington Road (Now the A40/A420) into the city.
The original road - the Old Road - was a turnpike which went over Forest Hill and Shotover Hill.
Now interstingly, whe I went to look at this ancient route recently, I found that part of it is a "restricted byway" which surprised me, as this has clearly been a road since "time immemorial" and until 1790 this was the only route. I have evidence of it being used for coaching certaily well into the 1850's, but it appears that in 1889, Oxfordhsire County council did not record it as a highway.
As a result, in the 1950's it was recorded (again I say wrongly) as a RUPP, and became a "restricted byway" in 2006.
The route is still passable by vehicle, and still contiguous. It's just never been recorded as a "motor road".
What could be done to fix this discrepancy?
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/dmmo/02032
Oxfordshire County Council holds the definitive map of all such restricted byways - see map at.
https://publicrightsofway.oxfordshire.g ... rdmap.aspx
The detailed map showing the restriction order identifier can be found at
http://portal.oxfordshire.gov.uk/conten ... SP50NE.pdf
<Edited to add link to detailed map>
- Jonathan B4027
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Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
Harold Shand: "Nothing unusual," he says! Eric's been blown to smithereens, Colin's been carved up, and I've got a bomb in me casino, and you say nothing unusual ?"
Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
Big and complex.
Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
There are dozens in South Cambridgeshire which were never sealed that have been restricted to non motorised traffic. One reason was the damage done by Green Laning. One enthuastically driven 4x4 can destroy in a day a road that survived for centuries.
Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
This road was in use from time immemorial until at least 1790, there are records of it's use in the 1880's. yet this is not recorded on the Oxfordshire definitive map as a road, due, apparently to their own error in 1889.
While I'm not suggesting that it should be opened as a metalled road, it should be recorded as a Highway, rather than a byway, because it's never been legally stopped up as a "Road" other than by failure, by the relevant authority, to comply with its legal duty.
Because it ailed to comp,y in 1889, it slipped away in the 1950's, and again in 2006, to a "path" rather than a historical and significant part of our road network.
Would anyone here suggest that, for example, Stonehenge Bottom should be allowed to fall into disuse by the local authority not bothering to comply with its duties?
- RichardA35
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Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
- Richard_Fairhurst
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Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
Re: Oxford "Old Road" from Wheatley to Shotover
A byway is simply a road that is too minor to be called a highway.BikerPaul wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 17:25 My point is this.
This road was in use from time immemorial until at least 1790, there are records of it's use in the 1880's. yet this is not recorded on the Oxfordshire definitive map as a road, due, apparently to their own error in 1889.
While I'm not suggesting that it should be opened as a metalled road, it should be recorded as a Highway, rather than a byway, because it's never been legally stopped up as a "Road" other than by failure, by the relevant authority, to comply with its legal duty.
Because it ailed to comp,y in 1889, it slipped away in the 1950's, and again in 2006, to a "path" rather than a historical and significant part of our road network.
Would anyone here suggest that, for example, Stonehenge Bottom should be allowed to fall into disuse by the local authority not bothering to comply with its duties?
There two categories of byway
Byway Open To All (BOAT) which has unrestricted access including motorised vehicles
Restricted Byway on which certain classes of vehicle are restricted. Legally this is no different to making a city street pedestrian only. Try driving your car through pedestrianised streets in York where some existed during the Roman area.
This has nothing to do with the 19th century and the road has not been stopped up it has been reclassified as a Restricted Byway under the terms of the Countryside act of 2006 which required councils to review the classification of all routes , amend the definitive maps, issue notices to that effect and consider any appeals. One such appeal was lodged and rejected. Far from ignoring their statutory duties they have carried them out scrupulously. From the interactive maps on their website you can zoom into any byway and not only see the restrictions but access the reclassification order and any appeals lodged. I provided a link to that map.
Raising Stonehenge is a mistake, I suggest you dont try to drive up the A344 from Stonehenge Bottom to Woodhenge, it was 'stopped up' in 2013.
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... title=A344
Many old sections of long existing roads have been reclassified in this manner including stretches of the original Great North Road.
Lastly asserting that anything has existed since time immemorial requires proof that it existed at the start the reign of King Richard I on 6 July 1189. The date of 1790 suggests it was a Turnpike Road which was not open to all, you had to pay a toll to use it. 10 minutes of research showed this to be true, it was an offshoot of the Stokenchurch, Wheatley, Begbroke & New Woodstock Turnpike
Not that this matters as the reclassification was legally carried out in 2006
From the SABRE Wiki: A344 :
Created in 1922 as part of the direct route between Andover and Warminster avoiding Salisbury, the A344 was shortened twice in the 20th century until its final route was scarcely more than a mile long. The number has now disappeared completely from the maps.
The A344 used roads that pre-date human habitation of Britain,