A MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION
RELATING TO THE ERA OF TURNPIKE TRUSTS IN DERBYSHIRE.
The
socio-economic effects on the population including references to the Duffield to
Wirksworth Turnpike Trust.
Introduction.
By the
mid eighteenth century, the state of parish highways were generally in a poor
state of repair which had limitations on the movement of people and goods. Seasonal
weather conditions and the topography within each parish were additional
limitations. Statutes dating from the reign of Elizabeth 1st were still in use
for the repair and upkeep of parish highways and in practice there were
differences between parishes on the state of their own roads. There was free
access for travelling on the Kings/ Queen’s highways, but the conditions for
travel and transportation of goods needed to be improved.
Why was
it important to improve the roads? The time taken to travel between cities, towns
and villages had not improved since Elizabethan times; people walked, some rode
on horseback and others by coach and goods were carried by packhorse, waggons
and carts.
The
progressive effects of the Industrial Revolution and the increasing need for
speedier transportation of manufactured products and farm produce were
restricted by the general poor condition of parish roads even when traffic was
light and local.
Nb;
highway and road will be interchangeable terms for a public way leading from
one place to another.
With the
introduction and development of Turnpike Trusts in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries the roads and road network improved which reduced
travelling times and costs to private and commercial users.
Turnpike Trusts.
This is
a vast subject and my miscellany is a random collection of information taken
from primary and secondary sources.
From the
start of the fourteenth century Wirksworth was an important market town and by
the mid-eighteenth century onwards the transport of raw/ finished goods was
being taken by packhorse, by waggon/ carts drawn horses/ oxen and canal. The
parish was unable to raise the revenue needed to improve road transport
and Turnpike Trusts were the solution for those improvements.
There
were petitioners against Turnpike roads; drovers, carriers, stage coach
proprietors, landowners and farmers.
The
Duffield to Wirksworth Turnpike Trust – 1756 -1851
Two
original Order Books 1756 -1811 are in DRO- D6/1/1 and DRO6/1/2- these books
record the quarterly meeting of the Trustees with attendance varying from three
to nine being present. Content- ordering various parishes to repair the roads
under The Statute of Labour legislation.
An early
meeting of the Trustees was held at the Crown Inn, Wirksworth on October 24th,
1756 and attendees included Richard Arkwright, John Toplis, Charles Hurt and
Philip Gell. Wealthy landowners and merchants with business interests who along with other local
entrepreneurs would receive financial gains from the tolls, better transport
for minerals/ stone and manufactured goods.
During
construction of the Turnpike compensation was paid - David Smith to receive
£2.12s.6 “for the damage and trespass in his crops called Bailey Croft for
carrying stone throughout for the use of the said Turnpike Road”
The Statute
of Labour applied to the repair of the Turnpike roads and in 1759 the Trust took
legal action for “application to made for a warrant to distrain on several
defaulters in the several Liberties ………… “
In1851
reduced revenues, and competition from the railways, the Trust ceased to
operate.
Turnpike
Trust Administration.
In 1726
the qualification to be a Trustee: a demand to have an estate yielding £100 pa
or be an heir to those with an estate of £300 pa.
Finance
and Mortgage Debt.
Generally,
did not issue shares but used a mortgage debt which in effect was a “single” loan;
individual mortgagee’s financial input represented a portion of the whole loan.
Interest was paid and showed that finances were being handled reasonably well.
Each mortgagee had equal rights against the tolls regardless of the date of the
mortgage. A distinct advantage of the Mortgage Debt was that it enabled the
Trust/ Trustees to borrow more money at any time without the need for creating
a second or third mortgage. Again, the debt itself is not grounds for assuming
a Trust is in an unsound financial position
Paying
interest on the debt could “how” that finances were being handled reasonably
well, however this does mean that a Trust was being well administrated; a
percentage of income was used to repair and maintain roads, but not the effectiveness
those repairs.
Making
repairs to toll roads.
Statute
law provided for the procurement of materials for the repair of toll roads. An
example the Trust’s surveyor had to sufficiently fence off any hole while that
hole remained to prevent accidents to persons or livestock.
Repairs
by parishes, although the Trustees of a turnpike road are prima facae liable to repair it, yet if it is out of repair, the
parish in which it is situated was liable by prescription to repair all roads
within it and may be indicted for the non-repair of it.
Toll
houses and gates.
The
local Act regulated where turnpike gates and toll houses were to be erected.
Styles of gates varied, and the width of a turnpike road was twenty in width.
The toll house was built/ designed to give the toll keeper, the ability to see oncoming
road users and each set an area not exceeding one eighth of a statute acre.
Toll keepers:
duties and benefits/ legal obligations.
The toll
collector/ gate keeper had to be literate and numerate and came from a variety
of backgrounds; cordwainer, rope maker, surveyor and tailor. They were provided
with rent free accommodation, a weekly wage, extra living space for his family
and a suitable garden.
By the
1840s their statutory duties under the local Act included –
to
collect tolls as “computed” from twelve o’clock at night to twelve o’clock of
the next succeeding night,
demand
such tolls or monies and taken before any horse, cattle, coach/cart is
permitted passage through the gate,
issuing
single or return tickets for the toll and a requirement for each ticket to
specify the name of the gate at which it was to be delivered,
measure
wheel breadth to determine toll fees, 3
weights of
loads carried by waggons and carts was determined by the season,
charge
extra toll for overweight loads and
weigh
machines were installed beside gates to determine load weight and operated by a
mechanic. [John Farey in 1817] No details to date how it was operated, there
was a weigh engine on Sturston Road, Ashbourne.
Payment
of the toll allowed the ticket holder clearance to pass through the gate or
another gate or gates as stated on the ticket without paying further tolls. It
was established practice to reduce tolls; carrying minerals and goods on behalf
of vested interests.
Legislation
over several years produced a list of exemptions from paying tolls.
Justice
of the Peace, and Parish Officer, with the practice of COUNTRY ATTORNIES in
Criminal Cases, etc. John Frederick Archbold, Esq. Shaw and Sons, London 1842.
Examples
of exemptions taken from this law book, pp 558-601.
No toll
shall be taken on any turnpike road for –
any
horse or carriage attending, or going to attend, or returning from having attended
His[Her] Majesty, or any of the royal family.
waggons
going to/ from on any day involved in road maintenance,
Royal
Mail coach and post rider,
loads
for used to take or bring farm produce and transport of dung and manure.
person going to and from church/ chapel or
funeral,
prisoners.
And for
any horses or carriages which shall only cross any turnpike road, or shall not
pass above one hundred yards thereon.
Conclusion.
The
introduction and development of Turnpike roads benefited Wirksworth’s
inhabitants across all social classes as travelling times were reduced within
the parish and beyond. These improvements occurred within the overall framework
of the Industrial Revolution; manufacturing in the town increased; new mills
and a variety of trades/ businesses provided jobs for the increased population.
The
entrepreneurs, factory owners and landowners gained financially from their investments.
The means for transporting people and goods improved; new designs of all types
of vehicles and improved breeds of horses. The horse remained paramount; for
the individual rider and as the draught animal. The inhabitants walked free of
charge and there were many exemptions to allow free movement along, and across,
turnpike roads. A better road surface underfoot and wheeled vehicles. The
decline and closure of Turnpike Trusts and the ending of tolls was inevitable
for a variety reasons, mainly the railways, but the legacy of the toll road
network remains visible in today’s landscape
David R
Rance
November
2017.
