There are several old roads in Little Saxham that are no longer visible to the motorist. To find them you'll need to park your vehicle somewhere and set out on foot...
The most obvious old roads are those around the Church. Back in 1856 the then Rector, Revd Hall, objected to all those horses and carts clanking past his Rectory, and managed to convince the authorities that the Bury to Barrow road should be diverted around the north side of the church. Until then it ran between the Church and the Rectory. At the same time, the road from Chevington to Risby was diverted from the west, to the east side of the Church.
This highly successful (to Mr Hall) diversion managed to create a tortuous double bend around the Church which exists to the current day. It also ensured that a substantial portion of the former village green became ensnared within a new garden wall that he built soon after. So now the village has no green, unless you care to peek over the garden wall at the former Rectory. Click here if you wish to view a transcript of the proposed diversion, published in December 1855.
Aside from these diversions there are other old roads within the parish. The Chevington Way, the Hargrave Way, Saxham Drive and the Marquis's Drive are all shown on old maps. Let's take them in turn.
The Chevington Way was the former route from Chevington and outlying villages beyond, into Bury St Edmunds. Cattle would have been driven along the road, or trackway, to market. This track runs alongside the River Linnet, the sometimes non-existent stream that is a tributary of the larger River Lark. The Linnet marks the boundary between Little Saxham and the parish of Horringer-cum-Ickworth.
In 1812, soon after the present Ickworth House had been completed, the then Marquis of Bristol decided that he did not like the common people walking across his land, let alone driving cattle across it. So he built a 20 foot high dam across the stream and caused a 16-acre lake to be created behind it. This was a highly effective barrier both to man and beast and the poor farmers were forced to make a massive detour. In 1820 a new road was built, joining Chevington and Little Saxham. It is still called 'New Road', at least the first section from Chevington to the junction with the road to Hargrave.
Later that century the dam broke and the flood waters caused minor chaos in the centre of Bury St Edmunds for a few days. The former trackway is still there and is used as a footpath. As it leaves the village on its way to Bury St Edmunds, by the cottage known as 'Mordaboys', the track passes on to private land and can no longer be accessed.
The Hargrave Way was an important trackway that joined up with the Chevington Way, about a quarter of a mile before the dam. This too was a way into town for people living in Hargrave and the surrounding villages. They too were prevented from using the direct route when the dam was constructed.
Another, currently unnamed, trackway led from Little Saxham down to the same point on the Chevington Way. There must have been a busy junction, with three roads converging. However, this track didn't lead into Bury St Edmunds; it faced the other way. People from Litle Saxham would have used the direct route into town along the road from Barrow. This road would only have been used by local people wishing to travel to Chevington, Hargrave, or beyond. Villagers in Little Saxham are currently attempting to have this trackway named 'the Saxham Parva Way', as a method of retaining the old name for the village.
Two other trackways were part of the route taken by previous lords of the Ickworth manor when travelling to the races at Newmarket. They would have exited their estate through Little Saxham, via Saxham Drive, and thence past the church and Honey Hill Farm, on to the Marquis's Drive, which led out on to the Newmarket Road. Despite the existence of all these old trackways, none is a public footpath or bridle way. The Chevington Way can only be walked because it falls within the open land owned and managed by the National Trust.
Maps and photographs of these old routes will follow soon...