Bird Henge Trail No 8 Bridge to Bird Henge

440 yards Continue along path beside and above the river on north side.Along the path are remnants of iron fencing installed in 1789 when the  land in Heytesbury and Knook was enclosed. The land had been common with a complicated patchwork of individual rights. The map below  was drawn up in 1774 showing the enclosed and common land.- a patchwork of tiny strips. Enclosure and rationalization was  hugely involved. In 1783 an Act of Parliament to enclose the land of Heytesbury refers to "the said open and common fields, downs common meadows lie intermixed and dispersed and inconveniently situated with respect to the houses and inclosed lands of the owners and proprietors thereof." The commissioners in charge took solemn oaths to be impartial  Land had to be swapped in order that that those with rights ended up with something equivalent to what they had before. In the transition period the  commissioners laid down what should be planted  where and when so that on acquiring new land one would find the same crop as one had had previously.And    
                                         there had to be new paths such as this one.                      

The maps below show Heytesbury army camp in World War 1  which extended both sides of the A36 road with parts of it in what is now the property of Bunters, site of Bird Henge. The present camp      
                                     north of the A36 is now known as Knook Camp.