Information for record number MWA4650:
Jurassic Way

Summary A Prehistoric trackway known as the Jurrassic Way. It runs through the area of Little Compton. The original route stretched from the Humber to the Mendips.
What Is It?  
Type: Trackway
Period: Early Neolithic - Medieval (4000 BC - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Little Compton
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 26 28
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Reference is made to a Prehistoric trackway known as the Jurrassic Way that follows the southern County boundary between Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. The original route stretched from the Humber to the Mendips along the junction of the Lias and Oolite marking the Jurassic scarp. The trackway was a corridor for traffic rather than a single track.
2 Mentioned.
3 Source
1 states that the trackway passed north of the Rollright Stones, south of Long Compton along the ridgeway that divides Warwickshire and Oxfordshire and therefore further to the north east than the current location suggests.
4 Continuity unlikely before Neolithic, use may have run on into the medieval period.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Aspects of Archaeology in Britain and Beyond
Author/originator: Grimes W F (ed)
Date: 1951
Page Number: 144-71
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: The Neolithic and Bronze Age in Warwickshire
Author/originator: Thornton M
Date: 1975
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Magnus Alexander
Author/originator: Magnus Alexander
Date: 2006
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Verbal communication
Author/originator: Savage A
Date: 2002
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
period Prehistoric About 500,000 BC to 42 AD

The Prehistoric period covers all the periods from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age.
This is a time when people did not write anything down so there is no documentary evidence for archaeologists to look at. Instead, the archaeologists look at the material culture belonging to the people and the places where they lived for clues about their way of life.

The Prehistoric period is divided into the Early Prehistoric and Later Prehistoric.
The Early Prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.
The Later Prehistoric period covers Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times.
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period Neolithic About 4000 BC to 2351 BC

The word ‘Neolithic’ means ‘New Stone Age’. Archaeologists split up the Neolithic period into three phases; early, middle and late. The Neolithic period comes after the Mesolithic period and before the Bronze Age.

People in the Neolithic period hunted and gathered food as their ancestors had but they were also began to farm. They kept animals and grew crops. This meant that they were able to settle more permanently in one location instead of constantly moving from place to place to look for food.
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period Bronze Age About 2500 BC to 700 BC

The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.

The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.

During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire.
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period Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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monument STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument COUNTY BOUNDARY * The limit line of a county. back
monument RIDGEWAY * A road or way along a ridge of downs or low range of hills. back
monument TRACKWAY * A pathway, not necessarily designed as such, beaten down by the feet of travellers. back
monument SCARP * A steep bank or slope. In fortifications, the bank or wall immediately in front of and below the rampart. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record