In 1555, Parliament Passed a Law, Which Said That the Men of Each Parish Had to Work For

Changes to the Roads

In 1555, Parliament passed a law, which said that the men of each parish had to work for six days a year on repairing the roads in their area. People tried to get around this law by putting the local unemployed to work on these roads in return for dole money from the parish poor fund. The parishes with the hardest job were those, which happened to have busy roads like the Great North Road (A1) passing through them.

The main problem with Britain’s roads was that nobody had thought about how to build a road that could take the weight of heavy traffic. The main way in which roads were built at this time was by digging a ditch either side and throwing the soil into the middle in the hope that the traffic would flatten it. In fact, the road surface broke up into ruts and became a sticky muddy mess that carts used to get stuck in. People often drowned in some of the deeper holes or ruts that filled with water. It was difficult and very dangerous to travel along these roads in wintertime.

The government did little to improve the roads. At that time people in government did not agree with idea of getting involved in local affairs. This was part of a belief called Laissez - Faire. In 1745, the government finally realised how bad the roads were when Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to march from Scotland to within almost 100 miles of London. The British Army was unable to stop him they were bogged down along with their supplies on the English roads.

In 1750, the government decided to pass a new law through Parliament, which set up Turnpike Trusts. These Turnpike Trusts allowed local businessmen and farmers to take over a stretch of road and charge people a toll to use the road. These tolls went towards the cost of repairing the road.

Activities: Changes to the Roads

1. Why did the government decide to improve roads after 1745?

2. What was a Turnpike Trust?

3. Look at Sources D and E. In what ways were the new Turnpike roads better than

the old roads?

4. Look at Source C. Why did people pay more toll if they had narrow wheels or

more than one horse?

5. Copy and label source E into your book.

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