Toll roads in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The history of toll roads in Great Britain
has several phases, with periods between when there were few (or no) toll roads.
grants, which had previously been made for paving the market place or streets of towns, began also to be used for maintaining some roads between towns. These grants were made by letters patent
, almost invariably for a limited term, presumably the time likely to be required to pay for the required works.
The Parliament of England
placed the upkeep of bridges to local settlements or the containing county under the Bridges Act 1530
and in 1555 the care of roads was similarly devolved to the parish
es as statute labour under the Highways Act 1555
. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four consecutive days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses. The work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the Surveyor of Highways.
It was not until 1654 that road rates were introduced. However, the improvements offered by paid labour were offset by the rise in the use of wheeled vehicles greatly increasing wear to the road surfaces. The government reaction to this was to use legislation to limit the use of wheeled vehicles and also to regulate their construction. A vain hope that wider rims would be less damaging briefly led to carts with sixteen inch wheels. They did not cause ruts but neither did they roll and flatten the road as was hoped.
, Bedfordshire
and Huntingdonshire
. The term turnpike refers the military practice of placing a pikestaff across a road to block and control passage, this would be "turned" to one side to allow travellers through. Most English gates were not built to this standard; of the first three gates, two were found to be easily avoided.
The early turnpikes were administered directly by the Justices of the Peace in Quarter Sessions
.
-Chester road in the hands of a group of trustees.
The trustees could erect gates as they saw fit, demand statute labour or a cash equivalent, and appoint surveyors and collectors, in return they repaired the road and put up mileposts. Initially trusts were established for limited periods of often twenty one years. The expectation was that the trust would borrow the money to repair the road and repay that debt over time with the road then reverting to the parishes. In reality the initial debt was rarely paid off and the trusts were renewed as needed.
railway almost instantly halved the tolls income of the Holyhead Road. The system was never properly reformed but from the 1870s Parliament stopped renewing the acts and roads began to revert to local authorities, the last trust vanishing in 1895. However, some bridges have continued to be subject to tolls.
The Local Government Act 1888
created county councils and gave them responsibility for maintaining the major roads. The abiding relic of the English toll roads is the number of houses with names like "Turnpike Cottage", the inclusion of "Bar" in place names and occasional road name: Turnpike Lane in northern London has given its name to an Underground station
.
s buying up the tolls and then declaring them county bridges. A recent example of this relates to the well known Cob at Porthmadog
, where tolls ceased in 2006, when it was nationalised by the Welsh Assembly
Tolls are similarly collected to finance the cost of building the Humber Bridge
and Severn Bridge
. In recent times, the concept of charging tolls to finance the building of roads has been revived, but so far the only new toll road is M6 Toll
.
, though none exist today. Shortly after the creation of Great Britain
in 1707, turnpike acts began to be passed by the British Parliament to encourage the construction of toll roads in Scotland in the same way they had been used successfully in England and Wales. The first turnpike act for a road scheme in Scotland was passed in 1713 for the construction of a road in Midlothian. All bridge road tolls were abolished in February 2008 .
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
has several phases, with periods between when there were few (or no) toll roads.
Medieval pavage
In the 14th century, pavagePavage
Pavage was a medieval toll for the maintenance or improvement of a road or street in England. The king by letters patent granted the right to collect it to an individual, or the corporation of a town, or to the "bailiffs and good men" of a neighbouring village....
grants, which had previously been made for paving the market place or streets of towns, began also to be used for maintaining some roads between towns. These grants were made by letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
, almost invariably for a limited term, presumably the time likely to be required to pay for the required works.
Highway repair
Responsibility for the upkeep of the roads seems to have rested with landowners, but was probably not easily enforced against them.The Parliament of England
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
placed the upkeep of bridges to local settlements or the containing county under the Bridges Act 1530
Bridges Act 1530
The Bridges Act 1530 , sometimes called the Statute of Bridges, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1531...
and in 1555 the care of roads was similarly devolved to the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es as statute labour under the Highways Act 1555
Highways Act 1555
The Highways Act 1555 , sometimes the First Statute of Highways, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1555...
. Every adult inhabitant of the parish was obliged to work four consecutive days a year on the roads, providing their own tools, carts and horses. The work was overseen by an unpaid local appointee, the Surveyor of Highways.
It was not until 1654 that road rates were introduced. However, the improvements offered by paid labour were offset by the rise in the use of wheeled vehicles greatly increasing wear to the road surfaces. The government reaction to this was to use legislation to limit the use of wheeled vehicles and also to regulate their construction. A vain hope that wider rims would be less damaging briefly led to carts with sixteen inch wheels. They did not cause ruts but neither did they roll and flatten the road as was hoped.
Early turnpikes
The first turnpike road, whereby travellers paid tolls to be used for road upkeep, was authorised in 1663 for a section of the Great North Road in HertfordshireHertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
and Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
. The term turnpike refers the military practice of placing a pikestaff across a road to block and control passage, this would be "turned" to one side to allow travellers through. Most English gates were not built to this standard; of the first three gates, two were found to be easily avoided.
The early turnpikes were administered directly by the Justices of the Peace in Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
.
Turnpike trusts
The first trusts were established by Parliament through an Act of Parliament in 1706, placing a section of the London-CoventryCoventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
-Chester road in the hands of a group of trustees.
The trustees could erect gates as they saw fit, demand statute labour or a cash equivalent, and appoint surveyors and collectors, in return they repaired the road and put up mileposts. Initially trusts were established for limited periods of often twenty one years. The expectation was that the trust would borrow the money to repair the road and repay that debt over time with the road then reverting to the parishes. In reality the initial debt was rarely paid off and the trusts were renewed as needed.
The end of the trusts
The rise of railway transport largely halted the improving schemes of the turnpike trusts. The London-BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
railway almost instantly halved the tolls income of the Holyhead Road. The system was never properly reformed but from the 1870s Parliament stopped renewing the acts and roads began to revert to local authorities, the last trust vanishing in 1895. However, some bridges have continued to be subject to tolls.
The Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
created county councils and gave them responsibility for maintaining the major roads. The abiding relic of the English toll roads is the number of houses with names like "Turnpike Cottage", the inclusion of "Bar" in place names and occasional road name: Turnpike Lane in northern London has given its name to an Underground station
Turnpike Lane tube station
Turnpike Lane tube station is a station at Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, between Manor House and Wood Green stations, and in Travelcard Zone 3.It is located within the London Borough of Haringey...
.
Recent developments
Following the abolition of turnpikes a few private roads and toll bridges have remained. Some bridges of the turnpike era were built by companies (rather than trusts) and have continued to charge tolls. Tolls on some bridges were abolished by county councilCounty council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
s buying up the tolls and then declaring them county bridges. A recent example of this relates to the well known Cob at Porthmadog
Porthmadog
Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
, where tolls ceased in 2006, when it was nationalised by the Welsh Assembly
Tolls are similarly collected to finance the cost of building the Humber Bridge
Humber Bridge
The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
and Severn Bridge
Severn Bridge
The Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
. In recent times, the concept of charging tolls to finance the building of roads has been revived, but so far the only new toll road is M6 Toll
M6 Toll
The M6 Toll , connects M6 Junction 4 at the NEC to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with of six-lane motorway. The weekday cash cost is £5.30 for a car and £10.60 for a HGV...
.
Scotland
Toll roads used to exist in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, though none exist today. Shortly after the creation of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1707, turnpike acts began to be passed by the British Parliament to encourage the construction of toll roads in Scotland in the same way they had been used successfully in England and Wales. The first turnpike act for a road scheme in Scotland was passed in 1713 for the construction of a road in Midlothian. All bridge road tolls were abolished in February 2008 .