Near Roward Farm
The entrance to Roward Farm is about 150 metres from the Draycot crossroads towards Chippenham, along the Draycot Straight.
According to the Victoria County History, the farm dates back to around 1625, and the original farmhouse dated back to the early 1600s.
It was Lot 20 in the 1920 Draycot Auction; the farmer in the 1930s was called R Howard - almost the same as the farm itself.
The Draycot Straight and the 1773 Map
A map of Kington Langley, created in 1773 to show the land recently purchased in that parish by Sir James Tylney Long, shows the old route that villagers would have had to take to Avon Mill. This was one of three mills on the Draycot Estate at that time: Draycot, Kellaways and Avon. (Seagry Mill was added later). That track still exists today as a Public Right of Way, just to the south of Great House.
The map also shows the 'new' road - the road we call 'The Draycot Straight'. The road was created as part of the Chippenham Turnpike system in the late 1760s / early 1770s; in fact, the map shows that there were still no hedgerows along the roadsides in 1773. An old photograph, probably from the 1900s, describes the road as 'The Langley Road'.
It is still possible to walk the original 'old road' along Public Rights of Way from Kington Langley to Draycot Cerne.
Turnpikes
Draycot crossroads in the 1800s was a major junction of 'main roads'. The 'Pucklechurch to Christian Malford' turnpike was part of the main road from Bristol to Oxford; it followed the line of the B4122 from Stanton to Draycot, then through Sutton Benger and Christian Malford.
As can be seen from the 1808 turnpike map, the Draycot Straight was part of a network of Chippenham turnpikes, and connected Bath and Chippenham traffic with the road to Oxford. There was probably a turnpike gate just south of the crossroads, close to the lane leading to Roward Farm.
Note that the map still shows a 'road' to the west of Draycot, linking it with Kington St Michael.