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Writer's pictureGlyn Coy

Roman Road - Morgan's Hill to Beckhampton

Updated: Nov 14, 2020



Wiltshire has a few Roman Roads which can still be walked on, but I discovered this one while visiting Morgan's Hill in 2017. The map clearly showed a Roman Road clearly cutting across the landscape to Silbury Hill, following a straight path.

If you look at this map extract, you can see it marked in between the A4 and A361 and it passes south of Cherhill Down and Calstone Down, goes past the gallops at Beckhampton and heads towards Silbury Hill.

It is possible to walk this road today, as it is an open trackway, quite wide in places and clearly used by offroad vehicles. In the winter it can get very muddy but in the summer it dries up nicely, enabling some nice walks through the local downland taking in stunning views of Cherhill Down.

We took a walk up over Morgan's Hill and followed the path of the Wansdyke before circling back and walking the length of the Roman Road from Beckhampton all the way back to Smallgrain picnic area car park. Walking the path was a dull exercise as despite the views, it is a long, straight track which is psychologically challenging.

This is part of the original Roman Road that ran from London to Bath and has since been superseded by the A4. It is amazing how many of our modern roads have their roots on ancient Roman tracks.

In the photo with the radio masts on Morgan's Hill, you can see the straight trajectory of the Roman Road to the right.



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