A follow up on Sherborne Saltways

The letter I put out last week about the Sherborne “saltway” running past the Iron Age Windrush Camp seemed to capture people’s imagination. One of the Brook Support Group had talked in the past to a lifetime resident of Farmington who made the claim that part of a saltway between Farmington and Sherborne was still visible in its original form. This is the narrow “pack horse bridge” across the Sherborne Brook at Bittam Bottom - just after you leave Sherborne, before the hill up to Farmington. From today’s road you will see a lot of tree clearance going on - very dramatic but in amongst it is a delightful narrow arched bridge. One horse wide. This bridge wasn’t used for carts. The bridge is a little worse for wear and I think used to have a 3ft tall stone post at each “corner”. I think you can see one of these posts at the bottom left of the bridge. I hope the owner restores it. Packhorse bridges were deliberately narrow to prevent two horses crossing at once and an accident occurring. Uou can see quite a few in the north of England, but precious few around this parts, so it’s very special.

I’m pretty sure the original road ran on the other side of the brook, crossed here and then joined the road on to Sherborne. This photo doesn’t really do the bridge justice, so I asked my AI system to come up with an illustration to help us imagine an ancient packhorse “convoy’ transporting the salt from Droitwich to Lechlade, transiting Farmington in the distance ands crossing the bridge on the way to Sherborne. I suspect the packs on the actual horses may have been a little larger (the AI ran out of tokens!) but I think this image really helps our imagination.

If anything the actual bridge has somewhat smarter masonry than the AI version, but you’ll get the drift. I imagine that the pack horse leader will stop at the Sherborne Village shop for a cappuccino and a bun, as he passes. Or something.

So next time you drive up the road to Farmington, slow down and peek over the hedge and the felled trees and see if you can imagine the scene above, hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago. I expect, like me, your spine will shiver.