258
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
The Hall Farm stone stands on the corner of a cart-track coinciding
with the alignment, and known locally as "Peddlers' Way". The true
Peddars Way lies some miles to the east of this spot, and is in no way
connected with it. The boulder has. moreover, a peculiar history—for
generations it has been the traditional "hiring-stone" for the farm, at
which labourers were engaged and on which their wages were paid.
From the Ingham crossroads stone an unbroken right-of-way leads due
north, by footpaths and grassy tracks, via Bodney Farm, Nevillehouse
and Bodney Heath. From the West Farm stone this line continues
towards Thetford by an unused "green road". Intensive search is
proceeding in this most promising sector.
The sum total of the evidence accumulated up to the present continues
to confirm the original deduction made more than five years ago, that this
extraordinary series of puddingstone boulders is an alignment of prehistoric
age. It is inevitable that a great number of the original stones should
be lost in the intervening years, and that many sections may never be
more than provisional approximations. For example, the exact route
between Magdalen Laver and Beauchamp Roding, and between Broomfield
and Fairstead, still remains obscure, and possible discoveries in the future
may justify minor amendments. Yet the clear evidence of the many
well-marked sections, such as the Chilterns, St. Albans, Epping Upland,
and the developing section in West Suffolk, all leading in one general
direction, give a most convincing impression of continuity in the whole.
Finally, in surveying the entire system in detail, it is possible to state
that much of the track exists in the real sense. For instance, the Essex
section begins in the west at Holyfield, and for the first five miles roughly
coincides with the disused road of Saxon origin passing through Gorham-
bury to Epping Church and on to Thornwood. Thence it follows a footpath
to Mill Lane, across which another footpath leads to Threshesbush, along
which three stones were located. This path ends opposite the Manor Farm,
Magdalen Laver, where a stone lies in the ditch within sight of the great
boulder in the home meadow and the church beyond. It is thus possible
to walk the entire distance from the River Lea to Magdalen Laver along
public paths.
APPENDIX
At the time of going to press, the following note has been received (10th
June, 1955) from Major the Hon. Sherman Stonor, of Stonor Park,
Henley-on-Thames. The alignment quoted has not been checked, but it
appears to add considerable further evidence to clear up the hitherto
obscure section leading towards the River Thames:—
"The Chapel at Stonor has a large puddingstone incorporated in the
foundations, and there is a stone circle a few yards away.
"Starting at Fingest Church and working south-west through Stonor,
I plotted a number of significant stones, some of which I have recently
discovered, and find that they are in a straight line for about seven
miles, the stones being found at at least six points and all of them on
ancient roads or tracks. There would also seem to be a branch track
to Henley, crossing the river just below the bridge at the narrowest
point."