The stone pavement has generally, in the several towns of England,
been composed of whatever material the quarries or rocks of the
neighbourhood supplied, limestone being often thus used. In some
places, where there were no quarries available, the stones of a river
or rivulet-side were used, but these were rounded and slippery,
and often formed but a rugged pathway. For London pavement, the
neighbourhood not being rich in stone quarries, granite has usually
been brought by water from Scotland, and a small quantity from Guernsey
for the pavement of the streets. The stone pavement is made by the
placing of the granite stones, hewn and shaped ready for the purpose,
side by side, with a foundation of concrete. The concrete now used for
the London street-pavement is Thames ballast, composed of shingles, or
small stones, and mixed with lime, &c.
Macadamization was not introduced into the _streets_ of London until
about 25 years ago. Before that, it had been carried to what was
accounted a great degree of perfection on many of the principal mail
and coach roads. Some 50 miles on the Great North Road, or that between
London and Carlisle, were often pointed out as an admirable specimen of
road-making on Mac Adam’s principles. This road was well known in the
old coaching days as Leming-lane, running from Boroughbridge to Greta
Bridge, in Yorkshire.
The first thoroughfare in London which was macadamized, a word adapted
from the name of Sir W. Mac Adam, the originator or great improver of
the system, was St. James’s-square; after that, some of the smaller
streets in the aristocratic parishes of St. James and St. George were
thus paved, and then, but not without great opposition, Piccadilly. The
opposition to the macadamizing of the latter thoroughfare assumed many
forms. Independently of the conflicting statements as to extravagance
and economy, it was urged by the opponents, that the dust and dirt
of the new style of paving would cause the street to be deserted by
the aristocracy--that the noiselessness of the traffic would cause
the deaths of the deaf and infirm--that the aristocracy promoted
this new-fangled street-making, that they might the better “sleep o’
nights,” regardless of all else. One writer especially regretted that
the Duke of Queensberry, popularly known as “Old Q.,” who resided at
the western end of Piccadilly, had not lived to enjoy, undisturbed
by vulgar noises, his bed of down, until it was his hour to rise and
take his bath of perfumed milk! In short, there was all the fuss and
absurdity which so often characterise local contests.
The macadamized street is made by a layer of stones, broken small
and regular in size, and spread evenly over the road, so that the
pressure and friction of the traffic will knead, grind, crush, and
knit them into one compact surface. Until road-making became better
understood, or until the early part of the present century, the
roads even in the suburbs immediately connected with London, such as
Islington, Kingsland, Stoke Newington, and Hackney, were “repaired
when they wanted it.” If there were a “rut,” or a hole, it was filled
up or covered over with stones, and as the drivers usually avoided
such parts, for the sake of their horses’ feet, another rut was
speedily formed alongside of the original one. Under the old system,
road-mending was patch-work; defects were sought to be remedied, but
there was little or no knowledge of constructing or of reconstructing
the surface as a whole.
The wood pavement came last, and was not established, even partially,
until eleven or twelve years ago. One of the earliest places so paved
was the Old Bailey, in order that the noise of the street-traffic might
be deadened in the Criminal Courts. The same plan was adopted alongside
some of the churches, and other public buildings, where external
quietude, or, at any rate, diminished noise, was desired. At the first,
there were great complaints made, and frequent expostulations addressed
to the editors of the newspapers, as to the slipperiness of the wooden
ways. The wood pavement is formed of blocks of wood, generally deal,
fitted to one another by grooves, by joints, or by shape, for close
adjustment. They are placed on the road over a body of concrete, in the
same way as granite.
“In constructing roads, or rather streets, through towns or cities,
where the amount of traffic is considerable, it will be found
desirable,” says Mr. Law, in his ‘Treatise on the Constructing
and Repairing of Roads,’ “to pave their surface. The advantages
belonging to pavements in such situations over macadamized roads are
considerable; where the latter are exposed to an incessant and heavy
traffic, their surface becomes rapidly worn, rendering constant repairs
requisite, which are not only attended with very heavy expense, but
also render the road very unpleasant for being travelled upon while
being done; they also require much more attention in the way of
scraping or sweeping, and in raking in ruts. And some difficulty would
be experienced in towns to find places in which the materials, which
would be constantly wanted for repairing the road, could be deposited.
In dry weather the macadamized road would always be dusty, and in wet
weather it would be covered with mud. The only advantage which such a
road really possesses over a pavement is the less noise produced by
carriages in passing over it; but this advantage is very small when the
pavement is properly laid.”
Concerning wood pavements the same gentleman says, “Of late years
wood has been introduced as a material for paving streets, and has
been rather extensively employed both in Russia and America. It has
been tried in various parts of London, and generally with small
success, the cause of its failure being identical with the cause of
the enormous sums being spent annually in the repairs of the streets
generally, namely, the want of a proper foundation; a want which was
sooner felt with wood than with granite, in consequence of the less
weight and inertia of the wood. The comfort resulting from the use
of wooden pavement, both to those who travelled, and those who lived
in the streets, from the diminished jolting and noise, was so great,
that it is just matter of surprise that so little care was taken in
forming that which a very little consideration would have shown to be
indispensable to its success, namely, a good foundation. Slipperiness
of its surface, in particular states of the weather, was also found
to be a disadvantage belonging to wooden pavement; but means might be
devised which would render its surface at all times safe, and afford
a secure footing for horses. As regards durability, it has scarcely
been used for a sufficient period to allow a comparison being made with
other materials, but from the result of some observations communicated
by Mr. Hope to the Scottish Society of Arts, it appears that wooden
blocks when placed with the end of the grain exposed, wear _less than
granite_. At first sight, this result might appear questionable,
but it is a well-ascertained fact that, where wood and iron move in
contact in machinery, the iron generally wears more rapidly than the
wood, the reason appearing to be, that the surface of the wood soon
becomes covered with particles of dust and grit, which become partially
embedded in it, and, while they serve to protect the wood, convert its
surface into a species of file, which rapidly wears away whatever it
rubs against.”
Such then are the different modes of constructing the London roads
or streets. I shall now endeavour to show the relative length,
and relative cost of the streets thus severally prepared for the
commercial, professional, and pleasurable transit of the metropolis.
The comparative extent of the macadamized, of the stone, and of the
wood pavement of the streets of the metropolis has not as yet been
ascertained, for no general account has appeared condensing the
reports, returns, accounts, &c., of the several specific bodies of
management into one grand total.
It is, however, possible to arrive at an approximation as to
the comparative extent I have spoken of; and in this attempt at
approximation, in the absence of all means of a definite statistical
computation, I have had the assistance of an experienced and practical
surveyor, familiar with the subject.