A Walk in Lesnes Abbey Woods
Walking along one of several paths in Lesnes Abbey Woods towards the old abbey ruins, l noticed that our pathway was sunk into the landscape with raised mounded sides, and lined with old oak and chestnut trees. This path is reminiscent of an ancient hollow trackway, which may have linked settlements to the medieval abbey down in the Thames River Valley. So l could not help but wonder how old was this landscape, and how many of these pathways can be traced back into early antiquity? Today the Lesnes Abbey Woods is criss-crossed by paths running in different directions. Some are just randomly laid modern tracks, while others seem to be related to traditional woodland industries, such as chalk-flint mining, quarrying, charcoal burning, timber cutting and faggot making for wood burning, some of which could possibly date from Roman, medieval and post-medieval times. Across the Lesnes Abbey Woods are also located several hollow style trackways, that are often formed by continuous use over a very long period of time, which in some places can be date from the Prehistoric, Roman or early medieval periods. In the woodlands several hollow trackways run down from the higher southern ancient heathland landscapes like Bostall Heath, Northumberland Heath and Bexleyheath towards the Lesnes Abbey promontory and marshland agricultural landscape along the Thames River Valley. The ancient Lesnes Abbey Woodland landscape can also be appreciated each year between March-May when carpets of wild bluebells, yellow daffodils and other wild flowers bust out in profusion. Cluster patterns of plants like bluebells can sometimes be used when trying to understand the antiquity of certain parts of the woodland. Another way to view the ancient character of Lesnes Abbey is to consider it in a wider woodland-forest landscape context, which spread out to the west, east and south of the site. Much of this early forest landscape is now gone, but part of its survival can still be seen from the remains of petrified tree stumps recorded to the east of Erith along the southern foreshore of the River Thames. Some archaeological evidence suggests that this forest environment was still being exploited during early Prehistoric times. By early medieval times c.1178 some historians suggest that once the abbey was founded, the only route down into it was along the western Pilgrim Path, which starts at its junction with Old Roman Watling Street along the southern side of Bexleyheath and then travelled across Bexleyheath and Bostall Heath, down Knee Hill where it curved round to the east and entered through the Western Gatehouse, part of which was found during our recent excavations in 2015. Recent research has suggested that like other trackways across this area, Knee Hill may have originally formed part of an early hollow trackway with raised tree lined sides. Although this route is now a fairly major road, it’s earlier trackway linked the Old Roman Watling Street to the Thames River Valley, and as such forms one of several early trackways down into Thames River Valley. This note is an extract from an article by Anthony B Thomas PRM Archaeology on the Surviving ancient Trackways, Paths and Roads across Bexley
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