Dating county routes

[Raging Sheep]

It is said that you can date a hedgerow by counting how many species of shrubs grow in it. Is there any way of dating a routeway without digging through it?

[Emanresu]

Speaking purely about the UK, there is a lot you can tell about routes (footpaths, green lanes etc) just by looking at the land around them. Very few ancient paths were planned, they just developed because people walked between two important places on a regular basis. If the two places concerned are ancient, you may well be able to conclude that the footpath that stretches between them is of the same age - often dating back to the iron age.

You should not assume that these routes are clearly defined paths or roads. Although the Ridgeway path and the Icknield Way are now signposted paths, both of these were probably a mile wide originally. They were a swathe of common land, rather than following a specific path.

There is an excellent free fact sheet you can download from the Institution of Civil Engineers at: www.ice.org.uk/rtfpdf/BS-History_of_Routes.rtf