Footpaths: their significance for the local historian

Dopson, Laurence

pp 73-76

Detailed discussion of several rural footpaths in Somerset and the evidence which they offer of much older roads and tracks. The conclusions are supported by reference to early maps. Other tracks and paths are mentioned, including drovers' and tinners' paths. As source material the author recommends the use of old road and county maps, tithe maps, enclosure maps, turnpike maps and early editions of the Ordnance Survey, together with written descriptions. Occasionally, paths were the subject of disputes which may be reported in local newspapers. Dopson suggests that field work is often necessary to investigate further, and lists possible clues for finding ancient routeways: the presence of churches on obscure sites; T-junctions, which often turn out to be crossroads that have 'lost' one arm; and a variety of visual clues.

The Amateur Historian Volume 1 Number 3 December January 1953