The Malmesbury Turnpike - Brook Cottages
From Sutton Benger Village Hall walk along Bell Lane, carefully cross the main road, and continue walking carefully up Seagry Road. Pause for a while on the left after the bridge, at the sign to Brook Cottages. This was a small farmstead in the 1800s. There is often confusion between these 'Brook Cottages' and the Brookside Cottage' in Seagry Hill, which you will pass on the return leg after leaving Seagry.
You are walking along a road that used to be a main road - a Turnpike - created in 1810 by an Act of Parliament to improve the roads to and from Malmesbury.
The original (pre-M4) route from Sutton Benger went through Seagry Hill, rejoining today's road about 200 yards north of the M4. From there the Turnpike continued through Seagry Parish, along the road to Somerford between Upper Seagry and Lower Seagry. There was a Toll Gate in Sutton Benger, near the Old School House, and one in Somerford.
After reading about Brook Cottages, the Bridges and the Milestones, carry on walking carefully up Seagry Road, until you reach the entrance to the farm track on the left, and stop beside the gate.
The Bridges over the Brooks
The Turnpike system ended in the late 1800s, and the responsibility for repair of all the roads and bridges transferred to the County. A Survey was carried out in order to identify and record all the bridges, as part of the mammoth task of setting up the Victorian equivalent of the Highways Department. A Report was presented to County by The County Bridges Committee in 1877; by modern standards it seems quite amateurish, but the sudden transfer of responsibility possibly took them by surprise.
The bridge over the brook to the north of Sutton Benger was known at that time as 'Bond's Bridge' because Church Farm was then known as Bond's Farm, after several generations of farmers called Bond.
The old road originally passed through the present-day Seagry Hill, and the bridge over the (different) brook there was known as 'Judy Pearce Bridge'. Judith Pearce was a lady who was murdered in Brookside Cottage, Seagry Hill, in November 1820; a man called Edward Buckland was found guilty of her murder at a trial in Salisbury.
Brook Cottages
Two hundred years ago the houses at Brook Cottages used to be a farmhouse. The photo shows the Perris family in front of their house at Brook Cottages in 1905, shortly before Albert (second from left) emigrated to New Zealand.
With thanks to Jill Clarke for a copy of the photograph.
Milestones
Just beyond the bridge, hidden in the undergrowth on the left side of the road, is an old Turnpike milestone which shows 7 miles to Malmesbury. This milestone was originally on the right side of the road, but was probably relocated when the road layout changed with the arrival of the M4.
Although we do not go past it on this walk, there is another milestone a mile further along the road, a few hundred yards before you get to the track to Seagry Mill. That milestone is in much better condition and is English Heritage Grade II Listed.