180 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
churchyard in Buckinghamshire (42/957016), and even farther
south-west a very typical markstone stands at the corner of the
junction of the Marlow-Henley-Nettlebed roads (41/761831).
From here a well-defined track aligned on Streatley, on the
River Thames, passes through the site of a moated mound, and
we have strong presumptive evidence that the conglomerate track
will eventually lead to the Salisbury Plain area.
We set out to establish the evidence for a trackway of pre-
historic origin in the county of Essex. In an attempt to find a
meaning for this track we have been led far afield into many
adjacent counties, and draw from our discoveries the conclusion
that it is a track of considerable antiquity. There is no doubt in
our minds that the series of markstones, moated mounds, and
sunken roadways is the work of human hands and not an acci-
dental arrangement of natural features.
As to the track itself, we can only hazard a guess concerning
either its function or its age. Among the many puzzling properties
are its sudden change of direction at Marks Tey after so many
miles in a due easterly course, and the incidence here and there
along it of the compact tumulus-like mounds. The occurrence of
some of its stones in the walls of ancient churches emphasises its
antiquity, for it is on record that among the exhortations of the
Church of Rome in its earliest days was that of Pope Gregory of
a.d. 600 to his missionaries, directing the incorporation of pagan
stones into the fabric of the primitive churches.
The greatest single factor which has contributed to the sur-
vival of so many of the markstones is the inaccessibility of their
positions. Most of them are situated far from inhabited places,
and the trackway consistently avoids passing through towns or
villages. Moreover, it rarely coincides with a modern road, and
never with a Roman road, and in all these observations lies the
most convincing claim to extreme antiquity. It is well recognised
that many so-called Roman roads follow the line of the older
Iron Age and Bronze Age tracks, and it is also accepted that our
village system is built upon Saxon and Norman settlements.
These considerations, coupled with the aspect of the track in
the field, e.g., its ridgeway character, give the impression that it is
Neolithic in age. At many points there is evidence of cross-
tracks branching off at right angles, for instance at Epping
Upland, Magdalen Laver, Pepper's Green and Whitestreet Green.
In every case these branches are marked out by alignments of
sarsen stones. In the limited time at our disposal we have made
only a brief survey of these auxiliary tracks, but we have received
the impression that the conglomerate track is the main trade route
in a wide and complex system of trackways linking the settlements
of East Anglia.