Dear List,

 

I think we've been down this route before!  As has been observed previously (ref Phil's Newman's comments), there is a wealth of evidence in books by respected archaeologists to the contrary of what is being argued below.  Perhaps we could get back to some reasonable discussion?!

 

Robert


 
> Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:29:24 +0000
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> Subject: FW: Causeways And Access To Minerals By Pack Animals
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> From: [log in to unmask]
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> Subject: Causeways And Access To Minerals By Pack Animals
> Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:27:18 +0000
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> Dear List,
> Causeways And Access To Minerals By Pack Animals . 
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> It has become increasingly obvious that Pack animals played an important part in the transportation of ores prior to the construction of the Canals, Railways and Turnpike Roads.
> The use of pack animals for transport of all other goods is well documented, but evidence for their use in the transportation of mining products is only trickling through.
> It is often assumed that long trains of pack animals created their own tracks by constant use. This is not the case. There is evidence of purpose built packhorse tracks all over Britain, Ireland and Europe. These purpose built track ways had a variety of names. Causeway, from the Old French causie, a paved or raised way. Causey a word used in Scotland for cobbled paths. In the North they were trods or Pannier Ways, from the large baskets carried by the pack animals. Gate , originally meant a track as in “Salter Rake Gate” a paved route originating in Saxon times for the carriage of salt from Cheshire.
> There are probably many other local names for these purpose built packhorse tracks that were never intended to take wheeled traffic. Waingate or wainsgate was a term used for a purpose built wagon road.
> Wherever the going was sufficiently hard and durable the packhorse trains used the natural surface, but peat was the great problem. Getting the tin ore off Dartmoor and onto the hard tracks would have been a problem for the tin workers whenever and wherever they were working. Building and maintaining of raised tracks would have been a necessity and not as has been suggested “a waste of time”.
> All resources require access, and sometimes creating access took great ingenuity, and investment. The Tavistock to Morwellham canal with its long tunnel was built to bring materials to and from the Quays at Morwellham, A branch canal went to Mill Hill to access the quarry. This was scrapped and replaced with a rail link, which in turn was itself scrapped. 
> The Granite quarries at Haytor had a purpose built granite tramway and the Stover canal for access. The Granite quarries of Princetown had a horse drawn tramway, then a steam railway for access. The developing china clay industry had a horse drawn tramway and several miles of pipeline to bring the clay to the nearest access point. Miles of leat were dug to access Dartmoor water. The effort and investment of all these project was enormous, but many of them were outmoded after a hundred or so years. The peat industry had tracks and tramways purpose built. Purpose built access routes can be found in many parts of Devon , Cornwall , Britain, Europe and the World. Some of these such as the tramways of Malta date from prehistoric times.
> If the miles of raised banks on Dartmoor were created to access the mineral wealth, then this is testimony to the ingenuity of the Bronze Age creators of the system. It may also be the longest used access system in history. If however they were created as pointless and ineffectual boundaries then we have to assume that their creators were either very stupid or very enigmatic. These banks make perfect sense as causeways, but defy all logic as boundaries.
> Roger B. Hutchins.
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