Uttoxeter Online Magazine

The parochial attitudes in villages and small towns were not enhanced by the lack of effective means of communication. Certainly well defined tracks existed between major towns and cities but these were more suited to infrequent travel and were adversely affected by inclement weather. Smaller villages were often isolated and remote and in the more desolate areas such as the Peak District it was common practice to employ guides to enable visitors to find such communities.

By tradition, the responsibility for roads lay with the Lords of the Manor, a system that proved to be totally impractical and ineffective. Attempts were made to improve matters in 1555 when the Statute of Labour placed the responsibility for the upkeep of roads on the shoulders of the parish. A surveyor was elected annually to supervise the maintenance of the roads, and he was empowered to employ each Parishioner for a period of six days each year to transport stones and gravel and to lay the road surface. Landowners whose land was valued at £50 or more had to provide one cart and one horse. The idea was sound in theory but weak in practice as the roads showed little sign of improvement. Doveridge faithfully elected its surveyor and maintained a set of accounts as requested.

The first sign of real improvement occurred in 1663 when the first turnpike act was passed. Further improvements were evident when "stoops", forerunners of the signposts, were erected in 1697 on all major cross-ways. By 1706 the turnpike system had benefited from the introduction of trustees, a controlling body of managers who ensured that the tolls were collected and the money used for the maintenance of roads.

It was not until 1791 that the Derby to Uttoxeter road became a turnpike. The tolls were collected locally at the toll gate situated on the east side of the river Dove close to the old stone bridge. The birth of the railways and the passing of the Highways Act in 1835 that provided paid labour for the upkeep of roads saw the gradual demise of the turnpikes. By 1895 all have been replaced.

The roads and tracks around Doveridge are far older than the turnpikes. Local fields abound with ancient rights of way. It is probable that a track ran from Babbs Lane down Bakers Lane and, crossing the village High Street, continued over the fields towards Lower Street. Skirting the ‘Old Hall' the track continued across the fields, finally reaching its destination at the corn mill. The Domesday Book records the mill in 1085 and if the route is feasible it would be at least 1,000 years old. Certainly the route would be easier than the rather steep road that passes by the Church.

The main road through the village itself would follow a course passing Yelt farm, continuing via Lower Street, Hall Lane and Cook Lane before dividing close to where The Cavendish Arms Inn now stands. To the left the road would continue towards Uttoxeter with the alternate route following Upwoods Road towards Eaton Dovedale and Abbotsholme. The track to Abbotsholme is now part of the Staffordshire way which in turn leads to the Pennine Way and to the North of England.
Of more recent origin is the footpath leading from the suspension bridge, over the fields towards the Uttoxeter road. The path is raised to give access when the river is in flood and was planned by the occupants of Doveridge Hall.

The original path followed a similar line on the other side of the river and was moved because the occupants wanted more privacy. The path joined the Uttoxeter road close to a small neglected pond by the road to Derby that had a sinister background. Could this be the pond where witches were subjected to horrific trails? Anyone suspected of witchcraft was taken to the pond and tied to the ducking stool. The suspect was then submerged in the water for several minutes. If drowning occurred the victim was considered normal and thus innocent. Those who survived were thought to have supernatural powers and subsequently put to death.

Who would be a witch?

( Extract from a book published locally by Alan Gibson - a revised, larger and more detailed version of which is due out in 2010.)

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