What to See in England
By Gordon Home

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Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset

=How to get there.=–Train from Paddington Station. Great Western Railway. =Nearest Station.=–Dulverton. =Distance from London.=–180 miles to Dulverton. =Average Time.=–To Dulverton varies between 5 and 6-1/2 hours.

                     1st        2nd       3rd
=Fares.=–Single  30s.  9d.  19s. 3d.  15s. 4-1/2d.
          Return  53s. 10d.  33s. 9d.  30s. 9d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=–Dulverton–"Carnarvon Arms," “Lamb,” etc.

One of the very earliest forms of bridge in England is to be seen on the beautiful river Barle, about 7 miles above Dulverton. Torr Steps (the name is locally pronounced Tarr) are a distinct advance upon stepping-stones, for although the entire bridge is submerged in flood-time, there are, in ordinary conditions, seventeen spans raised clear above the level of the water. The great stones which form the piers support slabs averaging from 6 to 8 feet in length. In the centre these are about 3 feet 6 inches wide, and the piers are supported by sloping stones to resist the force of the current. At the ends of the bridge the slabs are narrower, and are placed in pairs side by side, thus giving the advantage of the greatest weight where the force of the stream is most strongly felt. No traces of cement can be found among the stones, so that the structure has preserved itself purely by the weight of its individual parts.

Although it is impossible to make any definite statement as to the date of Torr Steps, it is probable that they were built by the Celtish inhabitants of this part of the west country, the bridge having been on the beaten track between one or two important centres. The size of the stones does not raise any obstacle to this theory, for though of great weight, they are not so unwieldy as the majority of those forming Stonehenge, which is generally accepted as the work of an exceedingly early race of sun-worshipping men. The name “Torr” is possibly derived from the Celtic word “Tochar,” a causeway, modified to “Toher” and then to “Torr.” The lanes leading from Dulverton to the village of Hawkridge, about 1-1/2 miles from the steps, are exceedingly beautiful, and the whole course of the river Barle is remarkable for the striking charm of its woodland scenery, which is frequently contrasted with the wild moorland commons on the hillsides above.

[Illustration: TORR STEPS ON THE RIVER BARLE.

An early form of bridge, probably of Celtic origin.]

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Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

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What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
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