The Development of Transportation in Modern England

William T. Jackman

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429614361
• Edition: 2
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Published in 1962: In offering this work as a modest contribution to our knowledge of the economic development of England from the standpoint of transportation, the author must say, in the first place that he has endeavoured to adhere rigidly to the subject in hand, withour making deviations into collateral fields

CHAPTER IV

ROADS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT, 1750–1830

IN an earlier chapter we have considered the condition of the roads and the legislation regarding them, up to the middle of the eighteenth century. From this time on, the roads received more attention than had been given them before this; but we must not suppose that there was any radical change for the better in these highways of trade and travel. The increased effort devoted to their improvement was rather an index of the greater need for such facilities, than of any great change in the quality of the roads themselves. In what ways was this greater need shown?

About this time, England was securing a strong foothold in foreign trade, through the establishment of her colonies and the expansion of her empire in different portions of the world. The introduction thence of raw materials, and the supplying of these markets and those of Continental Europe with English manufactured goods, reacted favourably on her domestic industry; and the manufacturers were extending their businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded them for increasing their wealth. The wide markets thus acquired were a preliminary to a further advance in manufacturing; for in order to supply them, goods had to be manufactured on a larger scale than by the old processes of the domestic system. Hence we find that even before 1750 some factories had been established, driven by animal or water power, so as to make the supply of these products more nearly commensurate with the demand¹. England was awakening to a new industrial era; and to meet the requirements of this new era, it was necessary to extend the facilities for the conveyance of the increasing quantity of raw materials and finished products. If this industrial advance were to continue, the cost of transportation must be reduced and the means of conveyance increased; and partly on account of this pressure, and partly as an accompaniment of it, there came the development of the roads and the construction of canals.

The change which we have noted in the commercial and industrial life of the nation was supplemented by a corresponding change in agriculture. From the middle of the century onward, the enclosure movement was proceeding rapidly, especially after 1760¹. The enclosures at this time were for the development of arable farming, as distinguished from pasture farming²; the new methods of farming were increasing the productivity of the agricultural lands³; this increasing productivity required better facilities for communication with markets⁴; and as a result attention was turned to the improvement of the highways of trade, both by land and water. Agriculture, under the old, slow, dangerous and expensive means of conveyance, was rather a means of subsistence to particular families, than a source of great wealth to the kingdom; but under the later régime the lands advanced in value, the products of the soil could be shared more equally by all in the kingdom because of the increased facility of reaching markets, and every product of husbandry thus supplied became an article of national value in the support of the large population that was pushing England to the front in industry and trade. In the words of Adam Smith, “Good roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of the country nearly on a level with those in the neighbourhood of a town: they are, upon that account, the greatest of all improvements.”

Notwithstanding all the local prejudices and interests which tended to keep people from taking the wider view, there was gradually growing up a sentiment in favour of freer and easier communication between the different parts of the country. The more enlightened were beginning to see that it was an essential part of the domestic economy of any people, to furnish the means for transporting both passengers and goods at low rates. Easy communication would lessen the time, as well as the cost, of transport; a saving of time would mean a saving of money, and this in its turn would permit the employment of a greater amount of capital. They were coming to realize that many places in the kingdom might be rendered much more valuable if access to them were made easier, for the lowering of the expense of carriage would permit the profitable application of additional labour and capital to all soil under cultivation; and soil that had not as yet been cultivated might be made to pay under tillage if there were easy access to markets. Such conceptions as these were slowly gaining recognition, and showing that a large amount of capital was annually sunk in the transport of marketable commodities, which was not only an unproductive outlay, and consequently loss, to the seller, but also a burden upon the buyer in increasing the cost of every article of daily consumption.

From about the middle of the eighteenth century, therefore, we notice an increased interest taken in the roads, and, consequently, we have many more suggestions than before for their improvement ¹. To mention them all would be to show the inventiveness of minds that were thinking along this line, but it would also show the impracticability of some schemes put forward as a solution of the difficulty. The promoter of each plan, of course, presented the matter from his standpoint alone, and we do not get a complete view of the situation regarding the roads without taking into account the proposals of many writers. One, in 1749, referring to the highways, said “that it has always been found by experience, that the many laws, which have been hitherto made concerning their repairs, have never met with the desired success; hence there must be some fundamental error in these laws......” He thought the fundamental error was in permitting parishes, towns, or other small subdivisions, to be presented or indicted for not repairing their roads; and besides doing away with such prosecutions, through a change in the law, he would modify the latter so as to compel the surveyors and the parishioners to do their statute duty¹. He did not think it just that the parish should be forced to bear the burden of such proceedings, when the default was due to the surveyor; and the whole system of indictments was erroneous, as shown by experience, for such legal action seldom, if ever, answered the end intended². The negligence shown in the performance of the statute labour was apparently one great reason why the roads were so unsatisfactory; for he says that “The six days work have hitherto in most parishes been so much neglected, and so slightly performed, that I believe, very few parishes can truly say, from their own experience, that the six days work, duly and properly attended to, and performed by all the parishioners, liable by law, to work in the amendment of the highways, with due care, and diligence, are not sufficient³.”

A writer in 1753 urged that the chief means that should be employed to improve the roads and then maintain them in good repair, was the use of broad wheels on the vehicles used for conveying heavy loads⁴. He did not impute any blame to the Commissioners of the turnpike roads, but it was his opinion that much larger sums than they had to spend on the roads would not be sufficient, without some further regulations. The narrow wheels, and the uncertain breadth or distance between the wheels, cut up the roads and rendered them impassable. He recommended that the wheels of the above-mentioned vehicles should be at least nine inches wide, a provision which was incorporated into the Act of that year⁵. He would have the ruts and holes in the roads filled up and levelled before putting this proposed law into effect, and when the roads had been put into good condition he was certain that the broad wheels would keep them so. His proposal that the roads should be widened to at least eighteen feet, so as to be wide enough for two carriages, while leaving room for foot-passengers, shows us that former Acts for widening the highways must have proved largely ineffectual¹. The Act of 1662 had provided that the roads should be widened to eight yards from ditch to ditch, but this reformer is more modest in his stipulations, and would prefer a somewhat narrower road, kept in good repair. Then, too, in his suggestion that a surveyorgeneral should be appointed in every county, to direct the repairs of all highways in the county, and that he should receive a yearly salary and his travelling expenses, we have a decided step in advance in the way of suggestions for improved administration of roads. Under the system in force up to that time, the surveyors were appointed for each parish, and according to the enterprise and executive ability of the surveyor, the roads of that parish were well or ill repaired. But there had been no one to take thought for the roads over a wider area, and consequently there had been great diversity in the quality of these roads. Had there been a surveyor-general for each county, who would receive a regular salary, together with travelling expenses, he could have spent all his time in the performance of this public duty, could have looked after this work for the public good without having to stand all the expenses himself (as was required of the parish surveyors), and thus the services of a competent man could have been commanded and the work satisfactorily done. This suggestion, however, was not put into effect, and as late as 1817 Edgeworth complains that “it is in vain that one parish repairs its roads, if its neighbours will not do the same².”

From about the middle of the eighteenth century, when attention began seriously to be turned toward improvement of the highways, the utility of statute labour for the purpose for which it was intended had been greatly questioned. It was a fact too well known to be disputed that those who were liable for statute duty were negligent in the performance of their obligation, and, as we have just seen, the surveyors were not always able or willing to enforce the law’s demands. The days for doing the work on the public highways had long been looked upon as holidays, as a kind of respite from accustomed labour, to be devoted to idleness³, and consequently the public was defrauded by such evasion of the law. Further, in the fulfilment of what work was done, the men of the parish were working at four or five different places, and therefore were not under the oversight of the surveyor, nor were they executing a well thought out plan. On account of these and other objectionable features of the system, many urged the abolition of statute duty entirely¹; and a committee of the House of Commons, appointed in 1763 to report on the general laws for amending the roads, reported that, in their judgment, it would be better to repair the roads by means of assessments than by the six days’ labour ². But notwithstanding the strong opposition to this method of repairing the roads, which had been the prevalent means for attaining that object during two centuries, it was destined to last for over three-quarters of a century longer before its abolition was brought about ³.

Since it is not our purpose to follow out all the proposals for improving the roads, in the early part of the period we are now considering ⁴, we turn to discuss the nature of the legislation that was actually in force to secure better roads. We have a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• PREFACE
• I INTRODUCTION
• II ROADS AND ROAD LEGISLATION, 1500–1750
• III RIVER NAVIGATION, 1500–1750
• IV ROADS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT, 1750–1830
• V INLAND NAVIGATION, 1750–1830
• VI STEAM NAVIGATION
• VII DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAYS
• VIII EFFECTS OF STEAM UPON ROAD TRANSPORTATION
• IX COMPETITION OF RAILWAYS AND CANALS
• APPENDICES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX