Historic Highways
Road Plan for Lancashire 1949
CHAPTER TWO
THE EVOLUTION OF THE PRESENT ROAD SYSTEM
Introduction - Roman Occupation - Dark and Middle Ages - 16th and 17th Centuries - Stagecoach and Turnpike Period - Industrial and Railways Period - Present Period.
To afford a better appreciation of the existing road system in Lancashire, it is proposed briefly to view its evolution towards its present state against the historical and legislative background of the past.
In Lancashire as in the rest of the Country, the present road system is predominantly the legacy of past centuries, its development having been largely fortuitous and lacking in continuity of purpose.
The stages of its evolution are not sharply defined but, for the purpose of a brief resume, they may be roughly divided chronologically as follows: (a) Roman Occupation; (b) Dark and Middle Ages; (c) 16th and 17th Centuries; (d) Stagecoach and Turnpike Period; (e) Industrial and Railways Period; (f) Present Period.
The network of military roads constructed in Lancashire during the four centuries of Roman occupation is shewn on Map No.2 entitled " Roman Roads of Lancashire," which is taken from " Roman Lancashire," by W. T. Watkin, published in 1883.* The Roman road running from north to south (following roughly the line of the proposed new motorway) and the system of roads radiating from Manchester, which was of local importance in pre-Roman times, are of interest. Although most of the roads indicated were entirely of Roman origin, some were built on ancient British tracks, notably that following the Ribble and Aire Gap to York. Portions of the Roman road (Watling Street) between Manchester and Ribchester are followed by the existing Class III road running from Blackburn to Edgworth and its continuation southwards of the junction with road A.676. Plate 1, opposite Page 8, shews a portion of this road. Otherwise, very little of the Roman road network is incorporated in the present road system.
Map No 2
The Dark Ages have been taken to date roughly from the Roman Occupation until the Norman Conquest, and the Middle Ages from then to the beginning of the 16th century.
During the Dark Ages, the Roman roads largely disappeared as a result of disuse and neglect. This was due to the reversion of the Country into a series of petty Kingdoms, and the consequent weakening of centralised national government, which reduced the necessity for national roads of strategic importance.
During the Middle Ages a system of primitive roads slowly emerged from the existing tracks. Responsibility for the repair and maintenance of these rested with the landowners, of whom the Church was one of the largest. This duty was defined in 1285 by the Statute of Winchester - the first recorded instance of English highway legislation.
The roads, which gradually came into being were, for, the most part, entirely haphazard and local in character, their alignment following that of previously existing tracks, or being dictated by local topographical considerations and by the avoidance of encroachment on private land enclosures.
*It should be noted that the complete authenticity of the system of Roman roads shewn is not vouched for. For example, recent antiquarian research has tended to disprove the Roman origin of the road leading from Kirkham to the mouth of the River Wyre.
(c) Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
By the Highway Act of 1530, in the reign of Henry VIII, County Justices of the Peace in Quarter Sessions were empowered to have damaged bridges repaired, and to levy taxes where no person was liable for the repair of roads. The Dissolution of the Monasteries administered a severe setback to the construction and repair of bridges and the maintenance of roads, as the religious Orders were foremost in this work.
The responsibility for maintenance of the main roads was placed on the parishes under the Highways Act of 1555. " Statute labour " on the roads became obligatory-the parish inhabitants being required to work on the roads annually without payment, for a stipulated period-and the appointment of unpaid Surveyors of the roads within the parishes was required. This marks an important step in the history of the development of highway administration.
By a further Highways Act in 1562, the period of compulsory statute labour was increased, and County Justices were empowered to enforce the existing legislation. Up to that time, wheeled vehicles were rare, and movement both of merchandise and travellers was generally performed on horseback.
From the early part of the 17th century onwards, there was a growing demand for
improved road communications. The numbers of wheeled vehicles began to increase so considerably that the use of four wheeled wagons of more than one ton weight was forbidden by a Proclamation of 1621. The growth of travel in Lancashire is indicated by the fact that the County Justices, together with those in Cheshire, secured special clauses in an Act empowering them to use public money not only to repair damaged bridges but to build new structures over
"many and sundry great and deep rivers which run cross and through the common and public highways and roads, which many times cannot be passed over without hazard and loss of the lives and goods of the inhabitants and travellers."
Again in 1677, the Justices decided that as it was
"prejudicial to the Commonwealth that free commerce and traffic is so much impeded and hindered by the narrowness and neglect of repairs of the highways in and thorrow the County "
they would " put the laws in that behalf in due execution.
“They ordered that within three months every highway in Lancashire be put in good repair, and that
" they be made so wide that coaches, carts and carriages may well meet in all places; that all cross ditches be soughed and covered over from one side of the lane to the other; that all ditches be well scoured; that all hedges be cut and the trees lopped; that all holes and hollows be levelled ; that causeways be repaired where necessary; that causeways be made the full breadth of one yard and a quarter of round stones, not flags and that where the causeways are of flags that there be new causeways made of round stones, well paved or else gravelled, fit and sufficient for horsemen to ride on."
That the County Justices in Lancashire continued to shew an active sense of their highway responsibility is also evidenced by the fact that Celia Fiennes in 1698 could, in her “Journal," write of Lancashire as having
" one good thing in most parts of this principality (or County Palatine it's rather called), that at all cross ways there are posts with hands pointing to each road with the names of the great town or market towns that it leads to, that strangers may not lose their road, and have it to go back
again."
Her comments indicate that the law in regard to highways was ignored in many parts of the Country, since sign-posting of main roads had been ordered by an Act in 1697.
(d) The Stagecoach and Turnpike Period
Although the first Turnpike Act was passed in 1663, it was not until 1726 that Turnpike Acts for Lancashire were passed, these being in respect of the following roads: Warrington to Wigan; Wigan to Preston and Liverpool to Prescot. The Turnpike Era flourished until the middle of the 19th century, and most of the present road system in Lancashire evolved during that period.
The turnpike roads were constructed, for the most part, by adapting previously existing roads, but in general their haphazard alignment was retained. About a hundred Turnpike Trusts were formed in Lancashire with powers to rebuild and maintain the principal highways in the County and, in return, to collect tolls from the users of the roads. The Trusts, however, had neither effective central control nor common policy. Throughout the 18th century the development of the stagecoach and private carriage for passenger transport was rapid. The conveyance of merchandise and goods by packhorse continued, however, and the use of wagons for this purpose was comparatively limited.
The widespread activity in canal construction during the latter part of the 18th century acted as a temporary deterrent to further road development, particularly in regard to the transport of heavy goods, which was cheaper by canal than by road. Throughout this period the responsibility for the repair and maintenance of all roads, other than turnpikes, continued to rest with the parishes in which the roads were situated.
A reflection on the condition of some of Lancashire's Turnpikes is made by Mr. Arthur Young, writing of a "Six months tour through the North of England” (1771). He describes the turnpikes to Preston, Wigan and Warrington as being in very bad condition, especially the one to Wigan on which he counsels travellers
"who may accidentally purpose to travel this terrible country to avoid it as they would the devil"
and adds that
"they will here meet with rutts which I actually measured four feet deep, and floating with mud only from a wet summer"
In this connection, by introducing reduced tool, legislation in 1773 and 1774 provided inducements for equipping wagons with wheels having tyres sixteen inches wide, in order to lessen the evils of rutting above mentioned.
A typical example of the main roads within the County prior to the construction of turnpikes is given in Plate 2, opposite Page 8. This shews the portion at Galgate of the ancient route from north to south, which was by-passed when the road from Lancaster to Preston (now Trunk Road A.6) was turnpiked in 1750.
The County Justices, however, continued to exercise their jurisdiction over roads and bridges, and an interesting indication of this, so far as Lancashire is concerned, is provided by an Order of Sessions in 1795 which states that
" as great inconveniences have arisen and many accidents have happened, both in the streets and highways, for want of proper regulations for the driving of carriageways, it is recommended to owners of carriages to give directions to observe the following rule in driving, viz. always to keep on the left side of the street or road."
They add that
"any certain fixed rule in driving would tend much to the safety and convenience of passengers and present delays upon the road."
(e) The Industrial and Railways Period
The advent of steam power, the existence of the important coalfields within the County and the many inventions in the cotton spinning and weaving industry, jointly contributed to the enormous industrial development which took place in Lancashire during the period generally known as the Industrial Revolution, which began in the latter part of the 18th century and overlapped the end of the Turnpike Era. The fairly extensive system of canals constructed within the County covered much of the industrial area then developed, and for a time partially met the requirements of transport for raw materials and finished products to and from mill or factory.
The development of the Turnpike Road system was stimulated, however, by the ever growing demands of commerce and industry for road communications, which afforded faster transport than by the canals, and also eliminated the necessity for transferring goods to and from road vehicles at each end of the journey, since comparatively few of the mills and factories were sited on the canal banks.
The revolutionary improvements in the methods of road construction introduced by Telford and McAdam during the early part of the 19th century gave promise of a revival of road construction on a national scale, but this was short-lived as a result of the advent of the Railway in 1825, which was followed by a period of intensive railway construction, commonly known as the "Age of the Railways."
It is interesting to note that McAdam, on behalf of the Postmaster-General, supported a Bill which was presented before Parliament in 1826, to enable the Turnpike Trustees to make a diversion or their roads in the Township of Blackrod, forming part of the route taken by the London-Manchester-Carlisle-Glasgow mail coaches. He stated that this route was "one of the great arteries of the Kingdom and of thrice the importance of any other.”The proposed diversion would have eliminated the steep gradient of I in 9 through Blackrod, "this hill being the only one of consequence in the Great Mail Coach Road between Manchester and Kendal." Opposition was such, however, that the Bill was dropped. It was not until a hundred years later that the present Blackrod By-pass was constructed.
Map No.3, entitled "Lancashire's Communications-1829," shews Turnpike Roads, Railways and Canals then in existence (superimposed on a present-day Ordnance Map), and is of considerable interest. The Turnpike Road system in the County, amounting to some five hundred miles in length, is shewn to be remarkably highly developed at that time, and testified to the industrial status and importance of Lancashire. The embryonic development of railway construction is indicated on the Map by the Manchester-Liverpool line (opened in 1830, and the first passenger service of appreciable length to be operated in the Country), and the branches there from to several of the important industrial centres.
The decline in the condition of roads, other than turnpikes, gave rise to the Highway Act of 1835, which marked the beginnings of present-day highway administration. Although it authorised the levying of highway rates, the appointment of highway surveyors, and abolished statute labour, the responsibility for the maintenance of highways was still vested in the Parish, or groups of parishes forming Highway Districts.
Between 1835 and 1878 much highway and public health legislation was passed, thus widening the responsibility of urban and rural districts in regard to road administration. The Highway Act of 1862 provided for large unions of parishes to be administered by Highway Boards. Meanwhile the continued growth of the railways, and the extent of travel and transport by rail, so crippled the development of road transport that many of the Turnpike Trusts became bankrupt and their turnpikes fell into a state of disrepair.
By the Highways and Locomotives Act of 1878, the Turnpike system was abolished. "Disturnpike" roads became "main roads," and County Justices were empowered to take over from the Highway Parishes and Boards and to " main " any road which they deemed to be of sufficient importance. The greatest advance of this period, however, occurred in 1888, when, under the Local Government Act, authority was given for the creation of County Councils and County Borough Councils in whom responsibility was vested for the maintenance of all "main" (i.e., disturnpiked) roads within their respective areas. The County Boroughs also became responsible for all county roads within their areas, and outside the urban areas the Highway Parishes and Boards were charged with the duty of maintaining all roads other than "main" roads.
By the Local Government Act of 1894, Rural District Councils became the Highway Authorities for all roads other than "main" roads within their areas, in place of the former Highway Parishes and Boards. In Lancashire, however, the Highway Boards continued in existence until 1899, when their duties were taken over by the newly created Urban and Rural District Councils.
Throughout this period the Telford and McAdam systems of road construction were almost universally adopted. By the end of the 19th century all "main" roads and almost all ordinary roads maintainable by the Highway Authorities in Lancashire were kept metalled, and in some cases they were surfaced with stone setts. Plates J and 19, opposite Pages 8 and 25 illustrate typical "main" roads within the County, in rural and urban areas respectively, both photographs dating from approximately 1900.
In 1896, the development of mechanically propelled road vehicles was given impetus by the abolition of the speed restriction of four miles per hour and the obligation for them to be preceded by a flagman.
This period has been taken to date from about the beginning of the present century, which marked the evolution of the internal combustion engine and the development of mechanically propelled road vehicles. From about 1907 onwards, t4e nature and volume of road traffic completely changed and remained no longer entirely local in character. 'Thereafter, the record of highway administration within the County is one of increasing expenditure and improvement in an endeavour to keep pace with the demands of a County where densely populated industrial areas have generated a very great volume of industrial and pleasure traffic.
In 1909, a national Road Board was created with powers to grant financial assistance to Highway Authorities for road improvement schemes. After the First World War, the development of motor cars and motor transport intensified, leading successively to the formation of the Roads Department of the Ministry of Transport, under the Ministry of Transport Act 1919 and the creation of a Road Fund under the Roads Act 1920. The former Act empowered the Minister to classify roads, and under the latter Act, the income from the taxation of mechanically propelled vehicles was to be entirely devoted to the maintenance and improvement of public highways.
Under the Public Health Act 1925, road widths of 60 ft. for Class I roads, and 50 ft. for Class II roads were prescribed. Improvement lines to these widths were laid down for some 200 miles of classified roads within the Administrative County. Almost all the improvements made to existing roads by the County Council conformed to the above standards, single 30 ft. carriageways being generally adopted. (The Preston-Blackpool road (A583), on which a 40 ft. single carriageway was provided, is an exception to this.) The improvements carried out under this Act embodied the requirements laid down under the Road Improvements Act of the same year. Two examples of roads constructed about this time are illustrated in Plates 5 and 7, opposite Page 11, shewing 30 ft. and 40 ft. single carriageway roads.
In 1929, under the Local Government Act, the County Council became responsible for the remainder of the classified roads within the Administrative County which it had not taken over previously (subject to Urban Authorities with a population of (over 20,800 claiming the right to maintain roads within their area), and also for all unclassified roads within the Rural Districts.
During the period 1932-39, when an extensive roadworks programme was in hand throughout the Country, many important schemes of major improvement to existing roads were carried out within the Administrative County, including the construction of diversions and by-passes. An outstanding achievement was the completion in 1934 of the Liverpool-East Lancashire Road (A.580), affording a direct means of communication between Liverpool and Manchester. This road, which is illustrated on Plate 48 opposite Page 78, is 120 ft. wide with a single carriageway of 40 ft. and covers a length within the Administrative County of 24 miles.
Under the provisions of Section 1 of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935, Highway Authorities were enabled to lay down standard widths, with powers of restriction of access and building development, on roads for which standard widths were adopted. Under Section 2 of the Act, development was restricted within 220 ft. of the centre of existing classified roads and on other roads brought within its control by resolution, subject to the approval of the Minister.
Within the Administrative County "standard widths" were approved by the Minister of Transport in respect of 127 miles of classified roads, and new "middle lines" in respect of 230 miles of classified roads, both under Section 1 of the Act. Under Section 2, the Minister also approved resolutions applying the restrictions to 86 miles of unclassified and proposed new roads. The length of classified roads, for which the County Council was the responsible authority under the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act, amounted to 777 miles. Unfortunately, by 1935 unrestricted ribbon development had become an established practice, with all its attendant evils alike to traffic and amenities. Some of the by-passes constructed under the 1925 Act to relieve existing roads passing through built-up areas, were themselves built-up by 1935. An illustration of this appears in Plate 6, opposite Page 11, shewing the Ormskirk By-pass.
In 1936, the Trunk Roads Act marked another step in the evolution of roads by the transference of responsibility for control and maintenance of certain classified roads from Highway Authorities to the Ministry of Transport, thus constituting a national system of routes for through traffic. Within the Administrative County some 147 miles of classified roads were raised to Trunk Road status.
Publication of "Memorandum on the Layout and Construction of Roads" (No.483, 1937) by the Ministry of Transport gave official guidance to Highway Authorities on suggested standards for the various aspects of road design and layout. Several major by-pass and diversion schemes which were completed prior to 1939 conform to these standards, and a typical example is shewn in Plate 8, opposite Page 16.
During the war years 1939-45 all major roadworks were suspended, and expenditure on maintenance was drastically curtailed. With few exceptions this policy has continued in the post-war years, and has included an enforced reduction in the numbers of workmen employed by Highway Authorities on road maintenance, to the detriment of the roads.
Under the 1946 Trunk Roads Act, the mileage of Trunk Roads within the Administrative County was increased to the present figure of some 266 miles. In the same year, a Class III system of roads was instituted by the Ministry of Transport, and included in their Road Classification Scheme. These Class III roads qualified for a 50% grant from the Ministry and at the same time the grants for Class I and II roads were increased from 60% and 50% to 75% and 60% respectively.
An important piece of recent legislation affecting highways, from a planning aspect, is the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 under which County Councils and County Borough Councils have become Planning Authorities. The Act repeals the parts of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Acts 1935 and 1943, which control development along classified roads (plus certain other roads or proposed roads), and such control is now administered by the local Planning Authorities. The preparation of a Development Plan of their areas, to be submitted to the Minister of Town and Country Planning before 30th June, 1951, is called for, and on this Plan will be shewn, among other proposals, the location of principal roads within the area. It is therefore obviously necessary that the pattern of the future road system for the Administrative County should be determined as early as possible.
The most recent road legislation is the Special Roads Bill presented to Parliament in November 1948, the main purpose of which is to provide the legal machinery for the construction of roads to be reserved for special classes of traffic, notably motorways, which are roads for the exclusive use of motor traffic. Proposals for certain motorways within the Administrative County are included in this Report and described in Chapter Seven. P1ate 10, opposite Page 16, gives an illustration of a similar type of motorway (the Autobahn), in Germany.