Chapter II: Part 2

The only proper method of breaking stones, both for effect and economy, is by persons _sitting_; the stones are to be placed in small heaps, and women, boys, or old men past hard labour, must sit down with small hammers and break them, so as none shall exceed six ounces in weight.

_The Tools to be used are,—_

Strong picks, but short from the handle to the point, for lifting the road.

Small hammers of about one pound weight in the head, the face the size of a new shilling, well steeled, with a short handle.

Rakes with wooden heads, ten inches in length, and iron teeth about two and a half inches in length, very strong for raking out the large stones when the road is broken up, and for keeping the road smooth after being relaid, and while it is consolidating.

Very light broad-mouthed shovels, to spread the broken stone and to form the road.

Every road is to be made of broken stone without mixture of earth, clay, chalk, or any other matter that will imbibe water, and be affected with frost; nothing is to be laid on the clean stone on pretence of _binding_; broken stone will combine by its own angles into a smooth solid surface that cannot be affected by vicissitudes of weather, or displaced by the action of wheels, which will pass over it without a jolt, and consequently without injury.

PRICES.

The price of lifting a rough road, breaking the stones, forming the road, smoothing the surface, cleaning out the watercourses, and replacing the stone, leaving the road in a finished state, has been found in practice to be from one penny to two-pence per superficial yard, lifted four inches deep; the variation of price depends on the greater or lesser quantity of stone to be broken.

At two-pence per yard, a road of six yards wide will cost, therefore, one shilling per running yard, or 88l. per mile.

Any rough road may be rendered smooth and solid at this price, unless it be weak and require an addition of stone, or require some very material alteration of shape.

Breaking stone has been reduced in price by the use of more proper hammers, and the sitting posture.

The Commissioners at Bristol used to pay fifteen pence per ton for limestone from Durdham Down, for the use of their roads, and broken to a size above twenty ounces.—Stone is now procured from the same place, broken so as none exceed six ounces for ten-pence per ton! and the workmen are very desirous of contracts at that rate, because the heavy work is done by the men, the light work with small hammers by the wives and children, so that whole families are employed.

In Sussex, the proportion is greater between former and present prices; the breaking of flint cost at one time two shillings per ton, and is now done, by introducing a better method and fitter tools at one shilling per ton.

By a more judicious preparation and application of materials the quantity of stone consumed in roads is decreased, by which a great saving of expence is made, and with this great advantage, that the saving is in horse labour of cartage, while the labour price is given to men, and in such a manner as includes boys from the age of ten upwards, women and old men past the age of being able to labour hard. The proportion of men and horse labour in the Bristol district, under the former management, was

One-fourth to men’s labour,
Three-fourths to horse labour.

Under a better system of management the proportion has been exactly reversed: during half a year that an exact account was kept, there was paid.

For men’s, women and children’s labour, £3088.
For horses’ labour 1035.

This immense advantage is presented in every part of the country, as roads are confined to no particular place, and are universally in want of repair: ample funds are already provided for every useful and proper purpose, although at present misapplied in almost every part of the kingdom, while the labourers are in want of that employment which it ought to afford them.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE PRESIDENT,
AND
THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Having communicated to your Honourable Board, some observations on making and repairing roads, in February, 1819, I beg leave to add the following, which have arisen from increased experience on the subject, and also from a desire of calling your attention to the effects of the late severe winter on the roads of the country, and the confirmation afforded to the opinions I have endeavoured to introduce on the construction of roads.

During the late winter, and particularly in the month of January, 1820, when the frost was succeeded by a sudden thaw, accompanied by the melting of snow, the roads of the kingdom broke up in a very alarming manner, and to an extent that created great loss and inconvenience by the interruption of communication, and the delay of the mails, and also occasioned a very heavy extra expenditure by the Post-office.

The obvious cause of this defect of the roads, was the admission of water from the loose and unskilful method of their construction. Previous to the severe frost, the roads were filled with water, which had penetrated through the ill-prepared and unskilfully laid materials: this caused an immediate expansion of the whole mass during the frost, and upon a sudden thaw, the roads became quite loose, and the wheels of carriages penetrated to the original soil, which was also saturated with water, from the open state of the road. By this means, many roads became altogether impassable, while the whole were rendered deep and inconvenient to be travelled upon.

In particular, it was observed, that _all_ the roads of which chalk was a component part, became, generally, impassable; and even, that the roads made over chalk soils gave way in most places. This evidently proceeded from the absorbent quality of chalk, which renders it so tenacious of water, that I consider its use to be one of the most dangerous errors in road making. I was induced on former occasions to recommend particular care in making roads over chalk soils, and to advise a discontinuance of the practice of mixing chalk, clay, or any other matter that holds water, with the materials of a road. The experience of last winter has confirmed this opinion, and has shewn the ruinous effects of the former method.

Of all the roads which have been thoroughly re-made, according to the directions which I had the honour to submit to your Honourable Board last spring, not one has given way, nor has any delay taken place through the severity of the late season.

As every winter has, in some degree, presented such inconveniences, and as it has been observed that very severe winters occur in England every six or seven years, it is of great consequence to consider of the means of constructing the roads of the kingdom in such a manner as shall prevent their being in future affected by any change of weather or season.

The roads can never be rendered thus perfectly secure, until the following principles be fully understood, admitted, and acted upon: namely, that it is the native soil which really supports the weight of traffic: that while it is preserved in a dry state, it will carry any weight without sinking, and that it does in fact carry the road and the carriages also; that this native soil must previously be made quite dry, and a covering impenetrable to rain, must then be placed over it, to preserve it in that dry state; that the thickness of a road should only be regulated by the quantity of material necessary to form such impervious covering, and never by any reference to its _own_ power of carrying weight.

The erroneous opinion so long acted upon, and so tenaciously adhered to, that by placing a large quantity of stone under the roads, a remedy will be found for the sinking into wet clay, or other soft soils, or in other words, that a road may be made sufficiently strong, _artificially_, to carry heavy carriages, though the sub-soil be in a wet state, and by such means to avert the inconveniences of the natural soil receiving water from rain, or other causes, has produced most of the defects of the roads of Great Britain.

At one time I had formed the opinion that this practice was only a useless expence, but experience has convinced me that it is likewise positively injurious.

It is well known to every skilful and observant road-maker, that if strata of stone of various sizes be placed as a road, the largest stones will constantly work up by the shaking and pressure of the traffic, and that the only mode of keeping the stones of a road from motion, is to use materials of a uniform size from the bottom. In roads made upon large stones as a foundation, the perpetual motion, or change of the position of the materials, keeps open many apertures through which the water passes.

It has also been found, that roads placed upon a hard bottom, wear away more quickly than those which are placed upon a soft soil. This has been apparent upon roads where motives of economy, or other causes, have prevented the road being lifted to the bottom at once; the wear has always been found to diminish, as soon as it was possible to remove the hard foundation. It is a known fact, that a road lasts much longer over a morass than when made over rock. The evidence produced before the Committee of the House of Commons, shewed the comparison on the road between Bristol and Bridgwater, to be as five to seven in favour of the wearing on the morass, where the road is laid on the naked surface of the soil, against a part of the same road made over rocky ground.

The practice common in England, and universal in Scotland, on the formation of a new road, is, to dig a trench below the surface of the ground adjoining, and in this trench to deposit a quantity of large stones; after this, a second quantity of stone, broken smaller, generally to about seven or eight pounds weight; these previous beds of stone are called the bottoming of the road, and are of various thickness, according to the caprice of the maker, and generally in proportion to the sum of money placed at his disposal. On some new roads, made in Scotland, in the summer of 1819, the thickness exceeded three feet.

That which is properly called the road, is then placed on the bottoming, by putting large quantities of broken stone or gravel, generally a foot or eighteen inches thick, at once upon it.

Were the materials of which the road itself is composed, properly selected, prepared, and laid, some of the inconveniences of this system might be avoided; but in the careless way in which this service is generally performed, the road is as open as a sieve to receive water; which penetrates through the whole mass, is received and retained in the trench, whence the road is liable to give way in all changes of weather.

A road formed on such principles has never effectually answered the purpose which the road-maker should constantly have in view; namely, to make a secure, level flooring, over which carriages may pass with safety, and equal expedition, at all seasons of the year.

If it be admitted, as I believe it is now very generally, that in this kingdom an artificial road is only required to obviate the inconvenience of a very unsettled climate; and that water with alternate frost and thaw, are the evils to be guarded against, it must be obvious that nothing can be more erroneous than providing a reservoir for water under the road and giving facility to the water to pass through the road into this trench, where it is acted upon by frost to the destruction of the road.

As no artificial road can ever be made so good, and so useful as the natural soil in a _dry state_, it is only necessary to procure, and preserve this dry state of so much ground as is intended to be occupied by a road.

The first operation in making a road should be the reverse of digging a trench. The road should not be sunk below, but rather raised above, the ordinary level of the adjacent ground, care should at any rate be taken, that there be a sufficient fall to take off the water, so that it should always be some inches below the level of the ground upon which the road is intended to be placed: this must be done, either by making drains to lower ground, or if that be not practicable, from the nature of the country, then the soil upon which the road is proposed to be laid, must be raised by addition, so as to be some inches above the level of the water.

Having secured the soil from under water, the road-maker is next to secure it from rain water, by a solid road, made of clean, dry stone, or flint, so selected, prepared, and laid, as to be perfectly impervious to water: and this cannot be effected, unless the greatest care be taken, that no earth, clay, chalk, or other matter, that will hold or conduct water, be mixed with the broken stone; which must be so prepared and laid, as to unite by its own angles into a firm, compact, impenetrable body.

The thickness of such road is immaterial, as to its strength for carrying weight; this object is already obtained by providing a dry surface, over which the road is to be placed as a covering, or roof, to preserve it in that state: experience having shewn, that if water passes through a road, and fill the native soil, the road, whatever may be its thickness, loses its support, and goes to pieces.

In consequence of an alteration in the line of the turnpike road, near Rownham Ferry, in the parish of Ashton, near Bristol, it has been necessary to remove the old road. This road was lifted and relaid very skilfully in 1816; since which time it has been in contemplation to change the line, and consequently, it has been suffered to wear very thin. At present it is not above three inches thick in most places, and in none more than four: yet on removing the road it was found, that no water had penetrated, nor had the frost affected it during all the late winter; and the natural earth beneath the road was found perfectly dry.

Several new roads have been constructed an this principle within the last three years. Part of the great north road from London by Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire—two pieces of road on Durdham Down, and at Rownham Ferry, near Bristol—with several private roads, in the eastern part of Sussex.

None of those roads exceed six inches in thickness, and although that on the great north road is subjected to a very heavy traffic, (being only fifteen miles distant from London) it has not given way, nor was it affected by the late severe winter; when the roads between that and London became impassable, by breaking up to the bottom, and the mails and other coaches were obliged to reach London by circuitous routes. It is worthy of observation, that these bad roads cost more money per mile for their annual repair, than the original making of this useful new road.

Improvement of roads, upon the principle I have endeavoured to explain, has been rapidly extended during the last four years. It has been carried into effect, on various roads, and with every variety of material, in seventeen different counties. These roads being so constructed as to exclude water, consequently none of them broke up during the late severe winter; there was no interruption to travelling, nor any additional expense by the Post-office in conveying the mails over them, to the extent of upwards of one thousand miles of road.

Many new roads, and to a considerable extent, are projected for the ensuing season. Some of them are to be assisted by grants or loans from government, and it will be a great saving of property, and enable government to extend their assistance more effectually, if these roads be made in the most approved and economical manner.

The unnecessary expense attending the making of new roads in the manner hitherto practised, is one great cause of the present heavy debt upon the road trusts of the kingdom. The principal part of the large sums originally borrowed, have been sunk in the useless, and in my opinion, mischievous preparation, of a foundation. This debt presses heavily on the funds of all the roads in England, and, in many cases, absorbs almost their whole revenue in payment of interest. In Scotland this pressure is still more heavily felt: indeed it is not of uncommon occurrence in that country, for creditors to lose both principal and interest of their loans to roads.

This causes not only a great and unnecessary loss in the first instance, and a deficiency of means for ordinary repair, and maintenance of the roads, but it also discourages the formation of new roads. Were a better and more economical system generally adopted and acted upon, many great additions and improvements of the communications of the country would take place, from which, at present, the landholders are deterred, by fear of the extent of the expense, and the difficulty of obtaining loans of money.

The measure of substituting pavements, for convenient and useful roads, is a kind of desperate remedy, to which ignorance has had recourse. The badness, or scarcity of materials, cannot be considered a reasonable excuse; because the same quantity of stone required for paving, is fully sufficient to make an excellent road any where: and it must be evident, that road materials of the best quality may be procured at less cost than paving stone.

The very bad quality of the gravel round London, combined with want of skill and exertion, either to obviate its defects, or to procure a better material, has induced several of the small trusts, leading from that city, to have recourse to the plan of paving their roads, as far as their means will admit. Instead of applying their ample funds to obtain good materials for the roads, they have imported stone from Scotland, and have paved their roads, at an expense ten times greater than that of the excellent roads lately made on some of the adjoining trusts. Very few of these pavements have been so laid as to keep in good order for any length of time; so that a very heavy expense has been incurred without any beneficial result, and it is to be lamented that this wasteful and ineffectual mode is upon the increase in the neighbourhood of London.

This practice has also been adopted in places where the same motive cannot be adduced: in Lancashire, almost all the roads are paved at an enormous cost, and are, in consequence, proverbially bad. At Edinburgh, where they have the best and cheapest materials in the kingdom, the want of science to construct good roads, has led the trustees to adopt the expedient of pavements, to a considerable extent; and at an expense hardly credible, when compared with what would have been the cost of roads on the best principles.

The advantages of good roads, when compared with pavements, are universally acknowledged; the extension of pavement is therefore to be deprecated as an actual evil, besides the greatness of the expence. Pavements are particularly inconvenient and dangerous on steep ascents, such as the ascent to bridges, &c. A very striking example of this may be observed on the London end of Blackfriars Bridge, where heavy loads are drawn up with great difficulty, and where more horses fall and receive injury, than in any other place in the kingdom. The pavement in such places should be lifted, and converted into a good road; which may be done with the same stone, at an expense not exceeding ten-pence per square yard. This road would be more lasting than the pavement, and, when out of order, may be repaired at less than one-tenth of the expense which relaying the pavement would require.

This measure has been adopted with great success, and considerable saving of expense, in the suburbs of Bristol, where the pavements were taken up, and converted into good roads, about three years ago.

The advantages of the system recommended is so obvious to common observation in the repair of old roads, and has been practised to an extent so considerable, during the last four years, that the minds of most people have become reconciled to it; and objections, founded on old prejudice and suspicion, have given way to experience, but the application of the same principles to the construction of new roads, has necessarily been much more limited. It will, therefore, require more liberality and confidence on the part of country gentlemen, and also more patient investigation of the principles on which the system is founded, before they will allow of its adoption on new lines of road. It is to be hoped, however, that the importance of the subject will recommend it to general consideration.

REPORT
FROM THE
SELECT COMMITTEE
ON THE
HIGHWAYS OF THE KINGDOM:
TOGETHER WITH THE
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
TAKEN BEFORE THEM.

REPORT.

The Select Committee appointed to take into consideration the Acts now
in force regarding the TURNPIKE ROADS and HIGHWAYS in ENGLAND and
WALES, and the expediency of additional Regulations for their better
repair and preservation, and to report their Observations thereupon
from time to time to the House; and to whom the Petitions of Joseph
D. Bassett, John Richards Reed, and John Martin; and of several
Trustees of Turnpike Roads in the Counties of Middlesex, Kent,
Surrey, and Sussex, were referred;—HAVE, pursuant to the Orders of
the House, examined the matters to them referred, and have agreed
upon the following REPORT:

Your Committee considered it their indispensable duty to direct their first attention to the Reports of former Committees, appointed to investigate the same important subject; in these Reports, as well as in the documents subjoined to them, are to be found much scientific information, and many valuable suggestions, which have doubtless tended to aid the progress of improvement in the art of making and preserving roads. Still the object of amending the laws which relate to them has been unattained, the bills introduced with a partial view to that purpose having been lost in their progress through Parliament, and the suggestions for more general improvements having been allowed to remain without further notice.

If your Committee may be permitted to assign the probable reasons of this discouraging result of the labours of their predecessors, they would venture to suggest, that too wide a field of inquiry was taken to lead to immediate practical benefit: that some of the systems most confidently recommended were of a novel and speculative nature; that the regulations which it was proposed to found on them too strongly affected the interests of vested property; and that even the most valuable information communicated to the House rested upon ingenious theories, which had then been very partially, if at all, reduced to practice, or submitted to fair experiment.

As the considerations which influenced the appointment of the present Committee, avowedly sprang from the successful trial of an improved system of making roads, your Committee have judged it right to institute a particular examination into all the circumstances of that experiment, and the various instances in which the example has been followed.

Mr. John Loudon MᶜAdam having for many years directed his attention, as a magistrate and a commissioner, to the improvement of roads, was induced to accept the situation of general surveyor of an extensive trust round the city of Bristol.

The admirable state of repair into which the roads under his direction were brought, attracted very general attention; and induced the commissioners of various districts to apply for his assistance or advice.

The general testimony borne to his complete success wherever he has been employed, and the proof that his improvements have been attended with an actual reduction of expense, while they have afforded the most useful employment to the poor, induce your Committee to attach a high degree of importance to that which he has already accomplished. The imitation of his plans is rendered easy by their simplicity, and by the candour with which he has explained them, though ability in the surveyor to judge of their application must be understood as an essential requisite.

Your Committee have dwelt on this improved system of making roads, as a preliminary consideration to any alteration of the laws, being persuaded that it is of essential importance to adapt the law to new circumstances; that the first step requisite is to take effectual measures for ensuring the _formation_ of good roads; and that their preservation afterwards, if proper principles for their repair be once adopted, will require fewer legislative regulations than former inquirers have deemed necessary.

For a full elucidation of the methods pursued by Mr. MᶜAdam your Committee beg leave to refer to his evidence in the Appendix annexed, as well as to that of his son, and of different Commissioners who had witnessed the success of his plans.

But though your Committee have limited their first inquiries to the actual state of the turnpike roads, and the results of recent plans for their improvement, they have by no means confined their researches to the operations or the opinions of one individual. In the evidence which they subjoin will be found, in the first place, a description of the present general defects of the turnpike roads, given by those whose employments and interest render them best acquainted with the nature and extent of the evil; and this exposition is followed not only by the detail of Mr. MᶜAdam’s system, already alluded to, but by the evidence of other eminent surveyors and civil engineers, under whose superintendence the latest and most perfect improvements have been effected.

Your Committee consider that high praise is due to the superior science exhibited by Mr. Telford, in tracing and forming the new roads in North Wales; but they contented themselves with a general inquiry into his plans, aware that their merits would be particularly brought under the eye of the House in the Reports of the Committee on the Holyhead Roads.

The concurrent testimony of all the witnesses examined by your Committee establishes the fact that the general state of the turnpike roads in England and Wales is extremely defective, but at the same time proves that proper management is alone wanted to effect the most desirable reformation. It is not the least interesting result of the researches of your Committee, that the most improved system is demonstrated to be the most economical; that even the first effectual repair of a bad road may be accomplished with little, if any, increase of expenditure; and that its future preservation in good order will, under judicious management, be attended with a considerable annual saving to the public.

There is no point upon which a more decided coincidence of opinion exists amongst all those who profess what may now be called the science of road-making, than that the first effectual step towards general improvement must be the employment of persons of superior ability and experience as superintending surveyors.

Your Committee, fully concurring in this opinion, have anxiously considered in what manner this object can be attained with the least expense to the country, and the least injurious or offensive interference with existing customs and authorities.

Various are the plans which have been brought under their consideration for altering the general constitution of the laws affecting the management of Turnpike Roads, proposing either to annex the superintendence and patronage to some of the existing departments of Government, or to constitute a new Board of Commissioners expressly for this object.

Your Committee forbear to detail the reasons which induce them to withhold their recommendation from any of these plans, whatever advantages they might afford in unity or vigour of management.

They are of opinion, that many important reasons exist for leaving generally the direction of the affairs of the different turnpike trusts in the hands of their respective Commissioners, whose experience, character and interest, afford the best pledges of ability, attention and economy. If your Committee think it necessary to propose, in one respect, an interference with their appointments, it by no means proceeds from any distrust of their judgment or integrity.

The duties of a head surveyor demand suitable education and talents. These qualifications must be fairly remunerated; and it is evident, that the limited extent of the funds of Turnpike Trusts, in general, do not afford the means of paying to such an officer an adequate salary. The difficulty might in many instances be obviated by voluntary associations, but where the system is wished to be universal, it ought not to be left to so precarious a dependence.

The plan to which your Committee, after full consideration, are disposed to give the preference, is that of empowering the magistrates of every county, assembled in quarter sessions, to appoint one or more surveyors general, who shall have the superintendence and management of the turnpike roads within the county, under the authority and direction of the Commissioners of the different trusts. It is not necessary at present to enter on the detailed regulations by which the executive duties of such an officer should be prescribed, so as to keep them under the deliberative control of the Commissioners, whose meetings he should attend, and to whom he should uniformly report on the improvements and alterations he may wish to recommend within their trusts.

Your Committee are of opinion, that the most eligible mode of paying the salary of this officer would be by an uniform rate per mile upon all the roads within the county; to be fixed by the magistrates at quarter sessions, and paid from the funds of the respective trusts.

The success of this plan of appointing general county surveyors will, in a great degree, depend upon the firmness evinced by the magistrates, in laying aside every consideration of personal favour, and impartially looking to integrity, talents, and energy of character, as the recommendations for office; some skill in the science of an engineer should also be regarded as a valuable qualification.

Your Committee have manifested their general disinclination to any interference with the honourable and gratuitous discharge of the functions of the Commissioners of Turnpike Trusts; in one instance, however, they are disposed to depart from the principle which they have recommended. A full consideration of the evidence relative to the defective state, and injudicious management of the roads round the Metropolis, and of the advantages which would accrue from a consolidation of the numerous small Trusts into which they are most inconveniently divided, induce your Committee to express to the House their strong recommendation, that a special Act of Parliament may be passed for uniting all the Trusts within a distance of about ten miles round London under one set of Commissioners. It is to these roads that the heaviest complaints made by the coachmasters, and the surveyor of mail coaches under the post-office, principally apply; and whether an improvement is to be effected by the importation of flint, and other common materials, or by laying granite pavement in the centre or sides of the roads, it is evident that, “the measure to be performed in an economical and efficient manner, must be done upon an extended scale it must become one interest, directed by one select body of men, of weight, ability, and character.”

It is the object of the recommendation of your Committee to render the roads round the Metropolis a pattern for the kingdom, by the introduction of the most judicious system of formation and repair, which will thus be brought under general inspection; and the spirit of improvement, radiating from this centre, may be expected to spread with rapidity throughout the country, and to diffuse “those incalculable public and private advantages,” which a former Committee anticipated from the accomplishment of this great national object.

Your Committee are deeply sensible of the consideration due to the persons whose property is invested in the funds of these Trusts, as well as to those who now act as Commissioners. They are perfectly aware of the jealousy with which the House may view any proposition for the creation of new offices of patronage and profit; and they do not disguise their conviction, that it will be found expedient to remunerate those efficient Commissioners who are expected to devote their time to the performance of active duties.

Your Committee however anticipate, that if the House shall approve the formation of a Board of Commissioners for this object, they will deem it proper to place at its head some persons of eminent station and character, as a security for the independence and respectability of its proceedings.

All these considerations certainly require cautious deliberation, and delicacy in arranging the plan; but your Committee feel confident that the wisdom and judgment of the House will find the means of surmounting the difficulties, without injustice, or hazardous innovation.

It is obvious, that the formation of this distinct central authority will be best effected by the introduction of a separate Bill, while the plan of empowering the magistrates to appoint county surveyors would naturally form part of a general Bill for amending the laws relating to Turnpike Roads.

Your Committee have weighed, with much attention, the comparative advantages of an attempt to amend these laws by supplemental enactments, and of the comprehensive plan of endeavouring to embody in one Act of Parliament all that is valuable in the old laws, with the addition of such new regulations as are acknowledged to be desirable.

The Committee of 1811 were impressed with the expedience of “combining the old and new regulations into one general code, divided into two branches, one regarding the Highways, and the other regarding Turnpike Roads,” though they considered that “it would require more time and labour than those who have not had some experience in the drawing up of such laws can be at all aware of.”

“Your Committee do not hesitate to avow their opinion, that unless this task, however arduous be accomplished, the laws relating to roads must remain in an incomplete, uncertain, and inconvenient state. They cannot doubt that the House will agree with them that the promotion of such a measure is deserving of legal assistance on the part of his Majesty’s government, to those who are disposed to apply their time and attention to the undertaking; and they indulge the hope, that if the House shall think fit to reappoint a Committee for the same object in the next session of Parliament, much may be found done for the preparation of such a bill.”

Your Committee themselves have not been inattentive to many of the amendments which they think it ought to embrace, some of which they proceed to particularize for the consideration of those members whose attention may be drawn to the subject of this Report.

There is no object which appears more deserving of regulation than the expense attending the passing and renewing of Turnpike Acts. This might be lessened by comprising in a general Act such customary clauses as are applicable to all trusts, and by dispensing with the attendance of witnesses in London to prove the notices required by the orders of the House; but a still greater advantage would be gained by extending the period of the duration of these Acts, and providing for their renewal without the payment of fees.

A general commutation for statute labour appears to be required, both for public advantage and private convenience. The amount of composition might be levied as a rate; and it will become a subject of consideration, whether some better principle may not be laid down for apportioning the money thus collected between the highways and turnpike roads.

The advantage of authorizing parish officers to contract with the commissioners for the repair of the roads passing through the parish by labourers belonging to it, has been strongly pressed on the attention of your Committee, but though they are disposed to admit that such a system may often afford desirable relief to the parishes, they are not equally satisfied that it will have a tendency to promote the improvement of the roads. They think it right to bring the proposition under the consideration of the House, though they are too diffident of its utility to venture to add to it their recommendation.

It seems generally admitted, that the present exemptions from toll granted to broad-wheeled waggons require to be revised, as the enormous weights which they carry render them more destructive to the materials of the roads than their supposed advantage in consolidating them can compensate. Without entering into the yet unsettled controversy respecting the superior utility of conical, barrelled, or cylindrical wheels, for the purpose of draught, it is perfectly evident, that the narrow part of the surface upon which wheels of the two first descriptions meet the ground, cannot give them the advantage of the roller. As soon as impolitic exemptions shall be abolished, and the tolls be regulated upon all carts and waggons, with wheels of a moderate width, in proportion either to the weight carried, or the number of horses, there will no longer be the same temptation to carry excessive loads; and it is probable that a new practice, regulated by private interest, may render it unnecessary to limit the weight allowed to be taken.

Some regulations appear to be absolutely required in respect to the conduct of tollkeepers, and the liability of renters, for the penalties imposed on their servants.

Your Committee have thus noticed a few of those objects of amendment which have presented themselves to their consideration. To reduce these and other proposed improvements into proper form—to digest the various provisions of former Acts—to expunge what is useless or injurious,—to reconcile what is contradictory—to re-model and arrange what is sound and useful, will require the assistance of the best legal judgment. Your Committee however, after having thus availed themselves of the power granted by the house, of reporting the partial result of their investigations, will continue to make such inquiries, and to collect such materials, as may pave the way for the accomplishment of that important undertaking.

It will at once be seen, that they have confined themselves to one branch of the work committed to them, having conceived it to be more judicious not to distract their own attention and that of the House by too many subjects of inquiry, but to pursue that which they first undertook to a practical result.

Should the House adopt their recommendation of renewing the Committee in another session, the subject of the Highways will naturally engage their attention as soon as they shall have fully matured the plan for amending the laws relating to the Turnpike Roads.

25th _June_, 1819.

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.

WITNESSES:

Martis, 2º die Martii, 1819:

_Charles Johnson, Esq._ p. 81
_Mr. William Waterhouse_ 84
_Mr. William Horne_ 88
_Mr. John Eames_ 92

Veneris, 21º die Maij:

_Mr. George Botham_ 94

Jovis, 4º die Martij:

_John Loudon MᶜAdam, Esq._ 96

Martis, 9º die Martij:

_John Loudon MᶜAdam, Esq._ 117

Jovis, 11º die Martij:

_John Loudon MᶜAdam, Esq._ 134
_James McAdam, Esq._ 136
_Col. Charles Brown_ 144
_Ezekiel Harman, Esq._ 145
_Thomas Bridgeman, Esq._ 146
_John Martin Cripps, Esq._ _ibid._
_W. Dowdeswell, Esq._ 148

Martis, 23º die Martij:

_Mr. Benjamin Farey_ 150
_John Farey, Esq._ 154

Jovis, 25º die Martij:

_John Farey, Esq._ 157
_James Walker, Esq._ 165

Jovis, 1º die Aprilis:

_Mr. James Dean_ 182

Jovis, 6º die Maij:

_Thomas Telford, Esq._ 187

Martis, 11º die Maij:

_Mr. Robert Perry_ 195

Abstract of Return of Turnpike Roads round London 196

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.

_Martis, 2º die Martij, 1819._
EDWARD PROTHEROE, ESQUIRE,
In the Chair.

_Charles Johnson_, Esquire, called in; and Examined.

You are surveyor and superintendent of mail coaches under the Post Master General?—Yes.

How long have you held that office?—Not twelve months yet.

Has your attention been directed, in the execution of the duties of that office, to the state of the turnpike roads throughout the kingdom?—I have given a general attention to the subject, and I have had occasion, of course, to give particular attention to it, when complaints have been made of loss of time.

In what state of repair do you consider the turnpike roads to be, generally throughout the kingdom?—I certainly (as far as I have had an opportunity of inspecting them) consider, that almost all the roads might be improved; but there are very few instances in which I should have thought it necessary to advise the Post Master General to interfere, except in the more immediate neighbourhood of London.

It is not the practice of the Post-office to interfere in the mode you mention, by indictment, unless the evil has arisen to a very great pitch?—Not until it has arisen to a very considerable evil.

Do you consider that the general defective state of the road arises from any local disadvantages, or from mismanagement in regard to the funds, or the application of materials?—That question involves so many considerations, that I hardly know how to give an answer to it; but I think, that in general one may observe a great want of that skill in forming the road and keeping it in repair, which is very obvious in some parts of the country.

Do you consider that the defects you have mentioned in the neighbourhood of London, arise from any local disadvantages, or from the roads been worse managed?—It is generally understood that in the neighbourhood of London they have not so good materials to repair the roads with, being chiefly gravel; but I think I may say, that there is certainly a want of attention and of care.

Have you known instances in the neighbourhood of London where better roads have been obtained by superior management?—In the early part of the winter we were under such great difficulties with respect to the Exeter mail coach, that I was under the necessity of applying to the Egham trust. It was at that time reported to me, that the whole town of Egham had been covered with gravel unsifted, eight or nine inches deep from side to side; the consequence of that was, that the mail coach lost ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes every night. We were given afterwards to understand that the commissioners had put that particular road under the care of Mr. MᶜAdam, and at this time I have no sort of occasion whatever to complain of it.

Generally speaking, do you consider that the mails are detained more by the bad state of the roads in the neighbourhood of London than elsewhere?—They certainly have more difficulty in passing to and from London for the first fifty or sixty miles, than in almost any other part of the country. It is in the nights we have the heaviest weights, and therefore it is very desirable that the roads near town should be rather better, than worse than others.

Has your attention been particularly directed to the state of the roads in other parts of the kingdom lately?—I travelled a considerable distance last autumn in the north of England. Certainly I considered the roads that I passed over there, to be very superior in general to what they are in the first hundred miles from the metropolis. Subsequently to that, I have had occasion to travel throughout North Wales, and I gave particular attention to the Holyhead line of road.

By what road?—By Coventry. The roads which are found in North Wales are remarkably good, and in my humble opinion, show great science in the formation of them. The new roads I mean. The materials in that country are of course very good. On this side of Birmingham, which is also the road to Liverpool, there is great occasion to complain, particularly from Dunchurch to Daventry. At this time that road is in a very neglected state, very heavy, narrow, and blocked up by banks of drift. I have had occasion to apply to that trust, but I do not learn that any thing has been done.

Have you found the system of indictment afford any effectual remedy for the evils which you have had cause to observe in that way?—I think we have. But there have been very few indictments preferred for some years past; the postmaster general not thinking it right to press upon the districts during the season of agricultural distress. I should say, we do not consider that any reason, at present, for abstaining.

Have you experienced from the commissioners, a disposition, generally, to attend to such complaints as you have found occasion to make?—Such applications as I have had occasion to make appear to have been very well received; but I cannot say, that in many instances the roads have been much improved. I will add to this answer, that I lately passed over the road from Oxford through Henley to London; and although that is one of the roads complained much of, it is certainly, at this time, in a very improper state.

In such cases do you not follow up your measures by stronger proceedings, by indictment?—I think that in this case it would be necessary to renew our applications, and perhaps to proceed by indictment; but I have considered it prudent not to interfere, chiefly in contemplation of the proceedings of this Committee.

From what you have seen of the new roads in Wales, do you not conceive that nearly all the turnpike roads in England are capable of very considerable improvement, by an application of equal skill in the disposition of the materials employed upon them?—I certainly do.

Mr. _William Waterhouse_, called in; and Examined.

You keep the Swan-with-two-Necks in Lad-lane?—I belong to the premises; I don’t keep the house; I am the coachmaster.

You are the proprietor of many mail and other coaches?—I am.

As the proprietor of mail and stage coaches, has your attention been directed to the state of the roads over which they travel?—Yes, it has.

Inform the Committee whether you think the roads are in such a state of repair as they might be, under proper management, with the advantages they possess?—Taking them generally, I think they are not.

Do you consider that the amount of the tolls at present received would be sufficient to place them in a state of good repair, under proper management?—From what information I have been able to obtain of the sums which the gates are let for upon several trusts, it is my opinion that the money so received is quite sufficient to put them in a very good state. For instance, there is one trust, which is called the Daventry trust, leading from Old Stratford to Dunchurch; their tolls, I understand, produce more than 100_l._ a mile per annum. Very little improvement has been made in that trust; and the roads are very unsafe, and in a bad condition altogether.

Do you consider that that arises from want of proper materials, or want of proper skill in making use of them?—From both. The materials that they have in that neighbourhood, in my opinion, are not good; and the people that they employ upon the roads are not equal to the task, and therefore they are very much neglected. The surveyors and the men that work under them are insufficient.

Do you know of any instances where similar disadvantages have been surmounted by proper skill and ingenuity?—I believe I can state that upon one particular trust that has been the case. I believe they call it the Hockliffe trust. It is but a short distance, but very great improvements have been made upon it. The great improvements that have been made there, I am informed by several of the commissioners, have been done through their skilful and attentive surveyors. They have improved that trust very much indeed. I believe I can mention another road out of London that has been much improved, I mean the Essex road, (their surveyor being a clever man, and competent to understand his business,) between Whitechapel church and Brentwood.

Are there any particular defects in the management of the roads generally, which you think might be remedied, that you can point out to the Committee?—In the first place, there may be great improvements by the proper formation of the roads. I know, in some places, particularly from here down to Colney, where there is a clayey bottom, and upon that line of road there are a great many land springs; those springs frequently work up through the gravel, and injure the road very materially. When that is the case I consider that they should under-drain the road, and take away these land springs, which would be the means of having the roads firm and hard, much harder than they are now.

Is it not a common defect to place the gravel on the road without being sufficiently sifted or washed?—Very much so.

Do you not consider it as a bad system, likewise, to place the gravel so much in the centre of the road, thereby rendering it of too great convexity?—Yes, certainly. I think it is laid generally too thick and too high in the middle. There is no necessity for the roads being rounded so much.

Have you known any accidents to have arisen from the steepness of the road?—Yes; several accidents with my coaches, as well as those of other people, in consequence of the road being laid so very high in the middle.

Is not that shape of the road likewise attended with a disadvantage in the draft of the carriage?—I consider it so, inasmuch as it flings the weight too much on one side.

Is not a great loss sustained by the proprietors of stage coaches, in consequence of the badness of the roads, in the wearing out of their horses?—Yes; particularly so the first fifty or sixty miles from London.

With regard to the performance of time by the mail coaches, do you find that you labour under greater difficulty on the roads near London, than on those at a greater distance from town?—I am certain we do. It requires a greater quantity of horses to perform the duty, and, in my opinion, it requires ten horses to perform the same number of miles for the first fifty out of London, that might be done by eight, with the same speed, beyond that distance.

Is there any difference in the value of the horses used near town and at a distance from it?—I can buy horses at 15_l._ a piece that will perform the duty, at a distance from London, equal to those that we are obliged to give 30_l._ a piece for, on the average, for the work near town.

Are you in the habit of working coaches to a greater than fifty miles from London?—Not at this time; I have worked coaches as far as one hundred miles distance from London, and I always found there that eight horses would perform as many miles as ten, the first fifty miles out of London.

Have not the tolls very much increased of late years under new acts of parliament?—It is my opinion that the tolls generally have doubled within these last fifteen years.

Have the roads improved in any degree in the same proportion?—No, they have not.

Have you calculated the average rate per mile which a coach with four horses pays for toll?—I have: It is my opinion that the average amount throughout the kingdom is 3½_d._ per mile; it was above 3_d._ when I took them above twelve months ago.

Do you find that the horses wear out in a much shorter space of time, in working coaches within the first fifty miles from London, than they do lower down?—Yes they do very much. We calculate that our stock of horses, employed in working the first fifty miles out of London, will not last more than four years; in the country, at a greater distance, I believe they calculate that their stock, on an average, will last six years.

Are you not frequently obliged to put six horses to your coaches, on the roads from London?—Sometimes that is the case; we do work with six horses where the roads are bad and heavy. I may say, from the knowledge I have of one particular road, namely, from London to Birmingham, it requires twelve horses to perform the same number of miles as eight horses will do between Birmingham and Holyhead.

How many coach-horses do you keep?—About four hundred.

Are you acquainted with the new roads in North Wales, made by Mr. Telford?—Yes, I am.

Do you think that three of your horses would draw the Holyhead mail as easily on those roads as four of them do the same coach on any part of the road from London to Dunchurch?—I have no doubt about it.

Does that arise from the construction of the road, or nature of the materials, or both?—Both. The construction of the new road is extraordinarily good, and the materials also are very good.