Drovers' road 1218551 224784653 2008-07-10T12:02:15Z Jeremy Bolwell 3483939 /* External links */ [[Image:Drovers Road.JPG|thumb|250px|Drover's Road near [[Latteridge]], [[South Gloucestershire]]]] [[Image:Old Drovers Path at Cotkerse.jpg|thumb|250px|A section of drover's road at Cotkerse near [[Blairlogie]], Scotland]] '''Drovers' road''', or ''drove'', or ''droveway'', is the term used for an ancient route for the long distance driving of [[livestock|animals]] on the hoof to [[marketplace|market]] in [[Great Britain]];<ref>K.J. Bonser, "The Drovers", London, 1970</ref> and some other regions of the world. In parts of Britain, especially near to bigger towns and cities, Drovers' roads are often wider than other roads in a particular locality. In the [[United Kingdom]], where many original drovers' roads have been converted into single carriageway [[metalled road]]s, unusually wide verges are often left on either side of the road. Thus wide verges are often an indicator that a particular road may have once been used as route for moving [[livestock]]. In [[Wales]], where animals often started out on their journeys, drovers roads are often recognisable by being deeply set into the countryside with high earth walls or [[Hedge (barrier)|hedges]]. The most characteristic feature of these roads is the occasional dog-leg turn in the road which provided cover for animals and men in severe rain or snow. Some drovers roads had to cross mountains and it is likely that the so-called ''Roman steps'' in the [[Rhinogydd]] is an example of an early drove road. == Drovers == The people using such routes were called '''drovers'''. They accompanied their livestock either on foot or on [[horse]]back, travelling substantial distances. Rural [[England]], [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]] are crossed by numerous drove roads that were used for this trade, many of which are now no more than tracks, and some lost altogether. The word "drovers" is used for those engaged in long distance trade - distances which could cover much of the length of Britain or other world regions where droving was used - while "drivers" was used for those taking cattle to local markets. == Early history == Some form of Drovers' roads existed in [[Romano-British]] times and certainly throughout the [[Early Middle Ages]]. For example, the old Drovers' road consisting of the main east/west trail that connects the [[Dorset]]/[[Exeter]] region with [[London]] and thence [[Suffolk]] is along a similar alignment as the original [[Roman road]] of the same route.<ref>[http://www.luminatechnologies.org/luminaaw2.html C. Michael Hogan and Amy Gregory, ''History and Architecture of Calcot Manor'', Lumina Technologies Inc., prepared for Calcot Manor, July 5, 2006]</ref> ''Drove'' as a [[placename]] can be traced to the early 1200s, and there are records of [[cattle]] driven from [[Wales]] to [[London]] and sheep from [[Lincolnshire]] to [[York]] in the early 1300s. Drovers from Scotland were licensed in 1359 to drive stock through England. These may be simply the earliest records of a more ancient trade. There is increasing evidence for large-scale cattle rearing in [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] Britain. Cattle and [[sheep]] were part of the [[Romano-British]] economy. By the [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] period there was long distance movement of cattle, including stolen stock. What is certain is that during the [[medieval]] period there was a substantial trade in [[cattle]] out of [[Wales]] into England, to which cattle from [[Ireland]] were added. These were driven across [[Somerset]], [[Wiltshire]]<ref>K.G. Watts, ''Droving in Wiltshire'', Trowbridge Publishing (1990)</ref> and [[Berkshire]] to feed the growing population of [[London]]. == Seventeenth century onwards == By the seventeenth century [[Daniel Defoe]] described [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]] as the greatest meat market in the world. In 1855 it was moved to the outskirts of the city, to a site known as the [[Caledonian Market]] on [[Caledonian Road]], [[Islington]], to avoid the problems of large numbers of stock being driven through the streets. Cattle were also driven to other major cities, to areas of intermediate grazing to be fattened for market, and to markets and fairs. Many of the greatest stock fairs, such as Tan Hill, Yarnbury and White Sheet in [[Wiltshire]], were held on ancient sites to which cattle were driven for centuries, perhaps since prehistoric times. In addition, [[domesticated goose|geese]], [[domesticated turkey|turkey]]s, [[domestic pig|pig]]s, and [[horse]]s were also driven to markets, and in large quantities to London. Cattle were fitted with iron shoes--and geese with boots--to protect their feet after roads were "improved". There is a record of a wager in 1740 on whether geese or turkeys would travel faster – the winner being the geese which could graze as they moved, while the turkeys had to stop to be fed. The task of controlling herds of three or four hundred animals on narrow droves, keeping them healthy, and feeding them ''en route'' over several weeks required expertise and authority. There was licensing under the legislation intended to control [[Badger (person)|badgers]], although it seems to have been less rigorously applied to drovers. They were also exempted from the Disarming Acts of 1716 and 1748, which were passed after [[Jacobite rising|Jacobite uprisings]] . <!--What was the consequence of this? Were they able to carry arms and others were not? --> They were not necessarily literate but were respected as experts in their trade. The regularity of the Welsh trade across Wiltshire is proved by an inscription in Welsh on a cottage at [[Stockbridge, Hampshire|Stockbridge]], still visible in the twentieth century; "Satisfactory hay, sweet pasture, good ale and a comfortable bed". Much of the trade in cattle from Wales to London was done on [[letters of credit]]. In 1706 the law was changed specifically to prevent drovers escaping their debts by declaring themselves bankrupt. The trade promoted the development of [[bank]]ing systems in both London and Wales. One drover set up his own Black Ox Bank in [[Llandovery]] in 1799, which survived until 1909 when it was taken over by [[Lloyds Bank]]. Droving declined during the nineteenth century, through a combination of agricultural change, rail transport, cattle disease and more intensive use of the countryside through which the stock had passed for hundreds of years. The last recorded large-scale cattle drove out of Wales was in 1870, and of sheep in 1900, although it briefly revived during the rail strike of 1912. == North America == [[Cattle drives]] in North America by American [[cowboy]]s and South American cattle drivers are similar in nature; however, these routes generally did not follow an exact roadway, but rather a general geographic route. == See also == *[[Cattle drives in the United States]] *[[Stock route]], roads specified for stock movement in [[Australia]] == External links == *Droving at the [http://www.gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/Permanent/DROVERS/Droving.html Border Collie Museum] *[http://home.clara.net/tirbach/HelpPagepearls5.html Cattle drovers] *[http://www.northumberland-national-park.org.uk/AboutUs/Community/Projects/TheDroversProject/DroversProjectInterpretationTheTelfordDroveStory.htm The Telford Drove Story], oral history of a 40 mile (63.4km) cattle drove in 1943 *[http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2749475 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Drover's roads today] *[http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item1/24049 Photo of two drovers taken in Montgomery in 1885, from Gathering the Jewels] == References == {{Reflist}} == Further reading == * Bettey, J.H. (1983). "Livestock Trade in the West Country during the Seventeenth Century", In: ''Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society'', '''vol.127''', (1983), p.123. * Godwin and Toulson (1977). ''The Drovers' Roads of Wales''. London: Wildwood House. [[Category:Historic trails and roads in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Pastoralists]]