Icknield Way - The "Four Highways" of Medieval England

The "Four Highways" of Medieval England

The Icknield Way was one of four highways that appear in the literature of the 1130s. Henry of Huntingdon wrote that the Ermine Street, Fosse Way, Watling Street and Icknield Way had been constructed by royal authority. The Leges Edwardi Confessoris gave royal protection to travellers on these roads, and the Icknield Way was said to extend across the width of the kingdom. Geoffrey of Monmouth elaborated the story by saying that Belinus had improved the four roads so that it was clear that they were the protected highways.

Around 1250, the Four Highways were shown by Matthew Paris on a diagramatic map of Britain called Scema Britannie. The Icknield Way is depicted by a straight line from Salisbury to Bury St Edmunds which intersects the other three roads near Dunstable.

In the 14th century, Ranulf Higdon described a different route for the Icknield Way: from Winchester to Tynemouth by way of Birmingham, Lichfield, Derby, Chesterfield and York. This route includes the Roman road running from Bourton-on-the-Water to Templeborough near Rotherham, which is now called Icknield Street (or Ryknild Street) to distinguish it from the Icknield Way.