Local historian, David Mitchell will be giving a lecture about the 3,000-year-old North Wessex Way at Historic England's Archive in Swindon on Friday 30 January.
David Mitchell will share his fascinating research into the North Wessex Way, a road that held strategic importance for nearly three millennia.
David Robertson Mitchell is a local historian living near Malmesbury, Wiltshire. He is an ‘accidental’ historian, having been drawn into researching the North Wessex Way when he was gifted the John Ogilby’s 1675 map of the Oxford to Bristol route. He now regularly gives talks on the subject, has developed a website and started a North Wessex Way YouTube channel. By profession he is a brand consultant working in the motorsport industry.
Mitchell believes the 68-mile route connecting Oxford and Bristol is more than 3,000 years old, and was used by traders, travellers and armies from the Iron Age until the English Civil War. But by the early 19th century, the route fell out of use and the road faded from memory.
Mitchell will explain how this ancient highway functioned through time, how it earned its reputation as the 'Forgotten Road', and reveal the detective work behind its rediscovery.
The event will include a short introduction to the Archive itself and a number of items from the archives will be on display. The event with limited in-person spaces will also be live-streamed.
To book your place to attend the event in-person or online, go to Talks and Events | North Wessex Way’.
Attending the event in person is £12, streaming is free.
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