A survey pack to help local community groups carry out their own historic routeways surveys is now available. It has been produced as part of a wider research programme to further our understanding of the High Weald's roads, lanes, tracks and paths, all of which make up our complex communication network.
The pack has been developed with the help of the Landscape Group at the University of East Anglia and a team of dedicated volunteers from Rolvenden Parish. By tapping into the wealth of local knowledge, stories and evidence we hope to add more detail to our existing landscape-scale view of historic routeways in the High Weald.
A routeway today can be a road, a footpath, a bridleway or a route no longer used but is still visible in the landscape. We'd like people to survey all four types. The pack provides a step by step guide to surveying routeways in an integrated way:
- looking at their physical character,
- identifying historic features along them,
- carrying out archive research,
- undertaking a simple ecological survey.
The survey pack is being regularly updated, so please be aware it may change in the future. The information gathered by volunteers will contribute to a much wider understanding of routeways across the south east, and will continue to inform the work we do with English Heritage. We will also be encouraging the volunteers to use this new information and research in positive ways to benefit their wider community.
More information about routeways can be found by going to our routeways story page. Or alternatively you can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more about our routeways research programme.