Discovering Herefordshire’s Forgotten Drovers’ Roads: Why These Ancient Trails Deserve Protection

Herefordshire has a crucial piece of our rural heritage hidden from view. It can be felt all around, buried in the soil, in the curve of a hedge-bank, and in the wide green lanes that cross the county. Around Bromyard the clues are everywhere. They can be found on the ridges and commons, between old farms, tucked away beside woodland edges - all quietly waiting to tell the story of a time when Britain moved at walking pace.

These are the drovers' roads, and they deserve far more of our attention.

The tradition is centuries old, from the middle ages through to the arrival of the railways, drovers walked huge herds of livestock, including huge flocks of geese, to markets in London, the Midlands and nearby industrial towns. Geese were once the staple of a Christmas dinner - now largely replaced by turkey. These drives were far from small scale affairs. Some herds were said to number between 200 and 400 animals - all travelling hundreds of miles to market.

The routes were carefully chosen. Drovers avoided the expense of tollgates and the challenges of busy settlements. They prefered high ground and ancient ridgeways, threading their way through places like the Bromyard Downs and Bringsty Common. These quiet uplands are to be found all over Herefordshire. What they left behind is one of the most extensive, and least protected, historic networks in the country.

Spotting drover's roads is not particularly difficult once you know what you are looking for. The routes were often wider than normal routes, sometimes stretching 40 to 50 feet wide. They were often flanked by broad verges that allowed the livestock to graze and rest without blocking highways. Sometimes they can be found in deep, sunken tracks worn down by centuries of hooves - these "Holloways" still cut through parts of the Herefordshire landscape. Drovers and travellers navigated by means of features in the landscape such as dog-leg bends that offered shelter from the harsh elements, evergreen stands of trees such as pine or holly intended to guide travellers to water sources, crossroads, or safe overnight stops.

Place names help us to unlock these secretive routes. Hamlets like Little London mark where Welsh drovers stopped on their long journey to England's capital. Fields or greens named Halfpenny hint at places where herds once grazed overnight for a small fee. The biggest giveaway are road names like Ox Lane, Drift Lane and Welshman's Road. They speak directly to the livestock and people who once made their living passing along them.

The droving trade was vital economically and a highly organised business. Long distance drives typically covered 15 to 20 miles per day - all carefully planned around grazing and water stops. The drovers favoured common land in order to avoid tolls, with Bromyard Downs acting as an ideal free overnight stop. Inns would often be found nearby, with names like the Black Ox and the Drovers Arms. The inns functioned as information centres, places for rest, as well as places to trade. Some can still be found today, their architecture shaped by centuries of rural traffic.

The animals themselves travelled with practical protection. Cattle wore iron ‘cues’ nailed to their hooves. Geese had their feet coated in tar and sand. Pigs trotted along in knitted socks with leather soles. Every detail was designed to help them endure the long and often punishing journey. 

The financial scale of droving was such that it helped create early banking systems. The Welsh Black Ox Bank, founded to move money safely between London and the Welsh borders, eventually became part of Lloyds Bank. In a very real sense, Britain’s modern financial institutions still carry echoes of those muddy, well-worn tracks.

Yet despite their historical significance, many drovers’ roads around Bromyard and across Herefordshire sit in a precarious position. Unlike listed buildings or scheduled monuments, these linear landscape features do not benefit from strong protections. Many survive only as green lanes, bridleways or unclassified county roads. Changes in agricultural practice, hedgerow removal, road upgrading or simple neglect can erase centuries of history in a matter of hours.

This vulnerability raises a pressing question: should drovers’ roads be formally recognised and protected as heritage assets?

Campaigners argue that the answer must be yes. Formal recognition would safeguard surviving routes by making them a material consideration in planning decisions. It would also align the UK with international standards, such as the ICOMOS Charter for Cultural Routes, which encourages countries to protect route-based heritage, not just built structures. Recognition would also open the door to something exciting: a long-distance national trail network following the surviving drovers’ routes from Wales into Herefordshire and beyond.

The potential benefits are significant. Walkers and heritage enthusiasts would gain a richly layered network of trails connecting ridgeways, commons and historic market towns. Rural communities could see a boost in sustainable tourism. And the county could preserve not just paths, but the stories held within them – stories of livestock, landscape, livelihood and movement.

Herefordshire’s character has always been shaped by the way people and animals travel through it. The drovers' roads are part of that deep rural memory. Without proper recognition, these routes risk being lost to the pressures of modern land use. And once gone, they cannot be recreated.

For walkers, historians and anyone who loves the countryside, protecting these routes is about more than preserving access. It is about safeguarding a living, breathing link to Britain’s rural past.

Because when a drovers’ road disappears, we don’t just lose a footpath.
We lose a chapter of who we are.