Routes and Connections
Routes and Connections
How 18th Century Road Guides Connected England
How 18th Century Road Guides Connected England
The 18th Century was a huge time of change across Britain. The onset of the Industrial Revolution lead to the invention and standardisation of many connections and networks we use today - including the humble road. The Leeds Library was founded at the heart of this change, in the centre of Leeds in 1768. Our vast book collection still contains many of the books we bought during the period - including a good number of road guides! To celebrate Heritage Open Day 2024 and its ‘Routes, Networks, and Connections’ theme, we’ll be diving into these volumes. Join us and explore how traveling changed during the time of our foundation!
Anybody Have A Map?
The influx of new, higher quality roads throughout the 18th Century naturally resulted in more people using them. It also resulted in some of those people getting lost. The Leeds Library’s collection of 18th Century road guides are a wonderful example of a human constant - the need for a map.
These books mostly date between 1780 and 1800, indicating the influence of both the quickening Industrial Revolution and new road-building methods. Many of them have lovely detailed pull-out maps which we’ll be showing throughout the exhibition.
Map of roads across Britain (1781)
Mud and Puddles
Before the mid-17th Century, the conditions of roads varied wildly. Responsibility for their upkeep was given to the parishes they ran through. This usually meant that shorter roads used by locals were well cared-for. Longer roads that crossed parishes (like those to London), however, were often left to the weather - muddy or frozen solid. Travel by them was difficult and time-consuming - as evidenced by the stage-coach, which completed long journeys by stopping daily at a planned route of inns for passengers and horses alike to sleep. This was also a problem for the post. Letters were slow to arrive, and their deliverers were often targets for highwaymen.
These road conditions meant that Canals were favoured for transporting goods. As the 17th century progressed, though, the Industrial Revolution had picked up enough speed to prompt governmental investment in longer, cross-country roads.
Map of roads, parks, and rivers in Oxfordshire and Rutlandshire (1792)
Turnpike Tolls
This culminated in the 1663 Turnpike Act, when Parliament enabled magistrates to charge travelers a fee to use a road. Their payments were (ostensibly) set aside for the upkeep of that road. And, indeed, road quality did improve; but not all collected money was used for that purpose. In 1706, ‘Turnpike Trusts’ were formed to manage this system. The Trusts were companies that took toll from travelers, arranged road upkeep - and split profits between shareholders.
Unsurprisingly, the introduction of tolls to previously-free roads was unpopular with the public. Trusts were typically responsible for about 23 kilometers (20 miles) of road - so travelers on long journeys would end up paying a hefty combined fee to multiple trusts. Gate jumpers were frequent phenomena, and Parliament even passed a law criminalising the destruction of turnpike gates.
Map of Turnpike Roads in Yorkshire (1782)
Sticks and Stones
Despite the unpopularity of the new charges, however, the influx of funds and interest in improving road quality did result in innovation. John McAdam, a Scottish trustee of Ayshire Turnpike who became a Commissioner for Paving in 1806, was particularly instrumental. He designed the prototype for modern roads by developing the ‘macadam’ method - using a layer of small stones as a crust on top of already-present soil. He was so influential that when engineers began to add tar to macadam roads in the 1840s, they called it ‘tarmac’.
Men laying a macadam road (1823)
Though an often overlooked of Britain’s wider industrial history, the development of good quality roads made travel hugely more accessible. These 18th Century roads formed the foundations for the networks that still connect Britain today. The Leeds Library’s collection of road guides provides a wonderful insight into these networks - and the connections they made nationwide.
To explore more of the Library’s Heritage Open Day offerings and digital exhibitions, click the button below!
With Thanks To:
Exhibition: Niimi Day Gough and Jane Riley
Digital: Niimi Day Gough
Bibliography:
Images:
J R Howard Roberts, Walter H Godfrey, ‘Survey of London: Volume 21' (1949), Carl Rakeman, ‘1823 - First American Macadam Road’ (Accessed: 2024). All other images courtesy of The Leeds Library.
Information:
Ben Johnson, ‘The Stagecoach’ (Online: Historic UK, 2015), Baron F. Duckman, ‘The Transport Revolution 1750-1830' (Online: Historic Association), ‘Roads 1750 to 1900’ (Online: HistoryLearning.com, 2024), Dan Bogart, ‘The Turnpike Roads of England and Wales’ (Online: Cambridge University, 2014).
