Editing Icknield Way (section)

==Background==
It is generally said to be, within [[Great Britain]], one of the oldest roads the route of which can still be traced, being one of the few long-distance trackways to have existed before the [[Roman Britain|Romans]] occupied the country. However, this has been disputed, and the evidence for its being a prehistoric route has been questioned.<ref name="Har"/><ref name="Mat"/><ref name="Bra"/><ref name="Rhi"/>

The name is Celto-British in derivation, and may be named after the [[Iceni tribe]]. They may have established this route to permit trade with other parts of the country from their base in [[East Anglia]]. It has also been suggested that the road has older prehistoric origins. The name is also said to have been initially used for the part to the west and south (i.e. south of the [[River Thames]]) but now refers usually to the track or traces north of the Thames.

From ancient times, at least as early as the [[Iron Age]] period (before the Roman invasion of 43 AD) and through early medieval times, it stretched from [[Berkshire]] through [[Oxfordshire]] and crossed the [[River Thames]] at [[Cholsey]], near [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]].