Chapter I: Front Matter

THE EXETER ROAD

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

=THE BRIGHTON ROAD=: Old Times and New on a Classic Highway.

=THE PORTSMOUTH ROAD=, and its Tributaries, To-day and in Days of
Old.

=THE DOVER ROAD=: Annals of an Ancient Turnpike.

=THE BATH ROAD=: History, Fashion, and Frivolity on an Old Highway.

=THE GREAT NORTH ROAD=:

Vol. I. LONDON TO YORK. [_In the Press._
II. YORK TO EDINBURGH.

THE

EXETER ROAD

_THE STORY OF
THE WEST OF ENGLAND HIGHWAY_

BY CHARLES G. HARPER

AUTHOR OF ‘THE BRIGHTON ROAD,’ ‘THE PORTSMOUTH ROAD,’
‘THE DOVER ROAD,’ AND ‘THE BATH ROAD’

_Illustrated by the Author, and from Old-Time
Prints and Pictures_

LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED

1899

_All rights reserved_

_This, the fifth volume in a series of works purporting to tell the Story of the Great Roads, requires but few forewords; but occasion may be taken to say that perhaps greater care has been exercised than in preceding volumes to collect and put on record those anecdotes and floating traditions of the country, which, the gossip of yesterday, will be the history of to-morrow. These are precisely the things that are neglected by the County Historians at one end of the scale of writers, and the compilers of guide-books at the other; and it is just because this gossip and these local anecdotes are generally passed by and often lost that those which are gathered now will become more valuable as time goes on._

_For the inclusion of these hitherto unconsidered trifles much archæology and much purely guide-book description have been suppressed; nor for this would it seem necessary to appear apologetic, even although local patriotism is a militant force, and resents anything less than a detailed and favourable description of every village, interesting or not._

_How militant parochial patriots may be the writer already knows. You may criticise the British Empire and prophesy its downfall if you feel that way inclined, and welcome; but it is the Unpardonable Sin to say that Little Pedlington is anything less than the cleanest, the neatest, and the busiest for its size of all the Sweet Auburns in the land! Has not the writer been promised a bad quarter of an hour by the local press, should he revisit Crayford, after writing of that uncleanly place in the_ DOVER ROAD? _and have the good folks of Chard still kept the tar and feathers in readiness for him who, daring greatly, presumed to say the place was so quiet that when the stranger appeared in its streets every head was out of doors and windows?_

_Point of view is everything. The stranger finds a place charming because everything in it is old, and quiet reigns supreme. Quietude and antiquity, how eminently desirable and delightful when found, he thinks. Not so the dweller in such a spot. He would welcome as a benefactor any one who would rebuild his house in modern style, and would behold with satisfaction the traffic of Cheapside thronging the grass-grown market-place._

_No brief is held for such an one in these pages, nor is it likely that the professional antiquary will find in them anything not already known to him. The book, like all its predecessors, and like those that are to follow it, is intended for those who journey down the roads either in person or in imagination, and to their judgment it is left. In conclusion, let me acknowledge the valuable information with regard to Wiltshire afforded me by Cecil Simpson, Esq., than whom no one knows the county better._

CHARLES G. HARPER.

PETERSHAM, SURREY,

_October 1899_.

SEPARATE PLATES

PAGE

1. THE LIONESS ATTACKING THE EXETER MAIL, ‘WINTERSLOW HUT.’ (_After James Pollard_) Frontispiece.

2. THE ‘COMET’ 13

3. THE ‘REGULATOR’ ON HARTFORD BRIDGE FLATS 19

4. THE ‘QUICKSILVER’ MAIL:--‘STOP, COACHMAN, I HAVE LOST MY HAT AND WIG’ 23

5. THE WEST COUNTRY MAILS STARTING FROM THE GLOUCESTER COFFEE HOUSE, PICCADILLY. (_After James Pollard_) 35

6. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S STATUE 39

7. THE WELLINGTON ARCH AND HYDE PARK CORNER, 1851 41

8. ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL, AND THE ROAD TO PIMLICO, 1780 43

9. KNIGHTSBRIDGE TOLL-GATE, 1854 45

10. KNIGHTSBRIDGE BARRACKS TOLL-GATE 49

11. BRENTFORD 57

12. HOUNSLOW: THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 67

13. THE ‘WHITE HART,’ HOOK 111

14. THE RUINS OF BASING HOUSE 117

15. WHITCHURCH 129

16. ‘WINTERSLOW HUT’ 159

17. SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. (_After Constable, R.A._) 171

18. VIEW OF SALISBURY SPIRE FROM THE RAMPARTS OF OLD SARUM 189

19. OLD SARUM. (_After Constable, R.A._) 193

20. THE GREAT SNOWSTORM OF 1836; THE EXETER ‘TELEGRAPH,’ ASSISTED BY POST-HORSES, DRIVING THROUGH THE SNOW-DRIFTS AT AMESBURY. (_After James Pollard_) 197

21. STONEHENGE (_After Turner, R.A._) 201

22. SUNRISE AT STONEHENGE 207

23. ANCIENT AND MODERN: MOTOR CARS AT STONEHENGE, EASTER 1899 213

24. COOMBE BISSETT 235

25. THE EXETER ROAD, NEAR ‘WOODYATES INN’ 239

26. TARRANT HINTON 243

27. BLANDFORD 259

28. TOWN BRIDGE, BLANDFORD 263

29. THE ‘WHITE HART,’ DORCHESTER 269

30. DORCHESTER 277

31. WINTERBOURNE ABBAS 281

32. ‘TRAVELLER’S REST’ 287

33. ‘THE LONG REACHES OF THE EXETER ROAD’ 301

34. EXETER, FROM THE DUNSFORD ROAD 311

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT

PAGE

Vignette (_Title-page_)

Preface (Stonehenge) vii

List of Illustrations (Hartford Bridge Flats) xi

The Exeter Road 1

‘An Old Gentleman, a Cobbett-like Person’ 38

The Pikeman 47

The ‘New Police’ 51

Tommy Atkins, 1838 53

Old Kensington Church 54

The Beadle 56

The ‘Bell,’ Hounslow 65

The ‘Green Man,’ Hatton 72

The Highwayman’s Retreat, the ‘Green Man’ 73

East Bedfont 79

The Staines Stone 84

The ‘Bells of Ouseley’ 88

Bagshot 97

Roadside Scene. (_After Rowlandson_) 103

Roadside Scene. (_After Rowlandson_) 104

Roadside Scene. (_After Rowlandson_) 105

Roadside Scene. (_After Rowlandson_) 107

Funeral Garland, Abbot’s Ann 154

St. Anne’s Gate, Salisbury 182

Highway Robbery Monument at Imber 231

Where the Robber fell Dead 233

Judge Jeffreys’ Chair 273

Kingston Russell 284

Chilcombe Church 285

Chideock 293

Sign of the ‘Ship,’ Morecomblake 294

Interior of the ‘Queen’s Arms,’ Charmouth 295

‘Copper Castle’ 298

The Exeter City Sword-bearer 307

‘Matty the Miller’ 313

The End 314

THE ROAD TO EXETER

London (Hyde Park Corner) to--
MILES
Kensington--
St. Mary Abbots 1¼
Addison Road 2½

Hammersmith 3¼

Turnham Green 5

Brentford--
Star and Garter 6
Town Hall (cross River Brent and Grand
Junction Canal) 7

Isleworth (Railway Station) 8½

Hounslow (Trinity Church) 9¾
(Cross the Old River, a branch of the River Colne).

Baber Bridge (cross the New River, a branch of the
River Colne) 11¾

East Bedfont 13¼

Staines Bridge (cross River Thames) 16½

Egham 18

Virginia Water--
‘Wheatsheaf’ 20¾

Sunningdale--
Railway Station 22¾

Bagshot--
‘King’s Arms’ 26¼
‘Jolly Farmer’ 27¼

Camberley 29

York Town 29¾

Blackwater (cross River Blackwater) 30¾

Hartford Bridge 35½

Hartley Row 36½

Hook 40

Water End (for Nately Scures) 41¾

Mapledurwell Hatch (cross River Loddon) 43

Basingstoke--
Market Place 45¾

Worting 47¾

Clerken Green, and Oakley--
Railway Station 49¾

Dean 51¼

Overton 53½

Laverstoke, and Freefolk 55½

Whitchurch--
Market House 56¾

Hurstbourne Priors 58½

Andover--
Market Place (cross River Anton) 63½

Little Ann 65½

Little (or Middle) Wallop (cross River Wallop) 70½

Lobcombe Corner 73¾

‘Winterslow Hut’ (cross River Bourne) 75

Salisbury--
Council House 81½

West Harnham (cross River Avon) 82¼

Coombe Bissett (cross a branch of the River Avon) 84¼

‘Woodyates Inn’ 91¼

‘Cashmoor Inn’ 96¼

Tarrant Hinton (cross River Tarrant) 99

Pimperne 101½

Blandford--
Market Place (cross River Stour) 103¾

Winterbourne Whitchurch (cross River Winterbourne) 108¾

Milborne St. Andrews (cross River Milborne) 111½

Piddletown (cross River Piddle) 115

Troy Town (cross River Frome) 116¼

Dorchester-- Town Hall 120

Winterbourne Abbas (cross River Winterbourne) 124½

‘Traveller’s Rest’ 131¼

Bridport-- Market House (cross River Brit) 134½

Chideock 137¼

Morecomblake 138¾

Charmouth (cross River Char) 141½

‘Hunter’s Lodge Inn’ 145

Axminster--
Market Place (cross River Axe) 147
(Cross River Yart)

Kilmington 148¾

Wilmington (cross River Coly) 153

Honiton 156½

Fenny Bridges (cross River Otter) 159½

Fairmile 161½

Rockbeare 166

Honiton Clyst (cross River Clyst) 168¼

Heavitree 171

Exeter 172¾