In the earliest days of our history, and for many generations later,
navigable rivers exercised a most important, if not a paramount, influence
on the settlement of tribes, the location of towns, the development of
trade and the social life of the people. They were natural highways, open
to all who possessed the means of using them, at a time when men had
otherwise still to make roads for themselves; and in a land covered to so
great an extent with forest and fen such natural highways were of
exceptional value. They offered a ready means of reaching points in the
interior of the country which would otherwise have been more or less
inaccessible. They allowed of the transport, in craft however primitive, of
commodities too heavy or too bulky for conveyance by packhorse along the
narrow paths trodden out on the hill-sides, winding through woods, or
picked out across bog, plain, or morass.
Rivers further helped to develop that civilisation which is directly
encouraged by facility of communication between groups of people who would
otherwise assuredly remain backward in social progress. It will even be
found that down to the turnpike, if not, indeed, to the railway, era in
this country, communities dwelling on the banks of navigable rivers, and
thus possessing a ready means of communication at all times with others
having a like advantage, attained to a higher degree of culture, refinement
and social standing than people in localities where, remote from any river
or passable highway, they were shut off by bad roads from all intercourse
with their fellow-men for, at least, the whole of the winter months.
In C. H. Pearson's "Historical Maps of England During the first Thirteen
Centuries" there is abundant evidence of the way in which towns and trading
centres in Britain grew up {109}along the course of navigable rivers, while
the country at any distance therefrom remained unoccupied, however
important the places that may be found there to-day. On the map of Saxon
England, for instance, mention is made of Gleaweceaster (Gloucester;
spelling from "Saxon Chronicle"), Teodekesberie (Tewkesbury; "Domesday"),
Brycgnorth (Bridgnorth; "Saxon Chronicle"), and Scrobbesbyrig (Shrewsbury;
"Saxon Chronicle"), but no one can doubt that these places attained to
their early importance mainly because of their situation on the river
Severn. Other typical inland cities or towns include London and Oxford on
the Thames; Ware on the Lea; Rochester on the Medway; Peterborough on the
Nen; Lincoln on the Witham; York on the Ouse; Doncaster on the Don;
Cambridge on the Cam; Norwich on the Yare; Colchester on the Colne; Ludlow
on the Terne; Exeter on the Exe; Winchester on the Ouse (Sussex); Hereford
on the Wye; Chester on the Dee; Caerleon (Isca) on the Usk; and so on with
many other places, the location of which alongside a river must doubtless
have been due, in part, it may be, to the convenience of water supply, and
in part, also, to the greater fertility of the river valley, but more
especially to the facility offered by the water highway for transport when
other highways were either lacking or far less convenient.
Adam Smith, in his "Wealth of Nations" (Book I., chapter xi., pages 20-1),
compares the cost of sending goods by road from London to Edinburgh with
that of forwarding them by sea, and adds:--
"Since such are the advantages of water carriage it is natural that the
first improvements of art and industry should be made where that
conveniency opens the whole world for a market to the produce of every sort
of labour, and that they should always be much later in extending
themselves into the inland parts of the country. The inland parts of the
country can for a long time have no other market for the greater part of
their goods but the country which lies round about them, and separates them
from the sea coast and the great navigable rivers. The extent of their
market, therefore, must for a long time be in proportion to the riches and
populousness of that country, and consequently their improvement must
always be posterior to the improvement of that country. In our {110}North
American colonies the plantations have constantly followed either the sea
coast or the banks of the navigable rivers, and have scarce anywhere
extended themselves to any considerable distance from both."
On the Continent of Europe the location of the chief inland centres of
trade, commerce, and industry was no less decided by the convenience of
transport afforded by the great navigable rivers, as shown (to give two
examples only) by Augsburg on the Danube and Cologne on the Rhine.
In Britain there were found to be advantages in having a port, not at the
mouth of a river, but as far inland as the vessels employed could go. One
of these advantages lay in the fact that, the further inland the
river-port, the greater was the protection against the Danish or Norwegian
pirates who, at one time, infested the seas around our shores; but the main
reasons for the preference are somewhat quaintly expressed by "R. S.," in a
pamphlet, published in 1675, entitled "Avona; or a Transient View of the
Benefit of making Rivers of this Kingdom Available. Occasioned by observing
the Scituation of the City of Salisbury, upon the Avon, and the Consequence
of opening that River to that City." The writer says:--
"There is more advantage to those places, which, being seated far within
the Land (as this[19] is), do enjoy the benefit of Commerce by Sea, by some
Navigable River, than to those Port-Towns which are seated in some Creeke
or Bay only, and are (as I may call it) Land-lock'd, having no passage up
into the Land but by Carriages, as we see in Poole and Lynn, in Dorset, and
in a number of other Port-Towns of like Scituation in other places quite
round the Island: For such places, though the Sea brings in commodities to
them, yet they can neither without great charge convey those commodities
higher up into the Land, nor, without the like charge, receive the Innland
commodities to export again: Whereas, Cities seated upon navigable Rivers
far within the Land look like some Noble Exchange of Nature's own
designing; where the Native and the Forreigner may immediately meet, and
put off to each other the particular commodities of the growth of their own
Countreys; the Native (as a Merchant) receiving the Forreign Goods at first
hand, and exchanging his own for them at the {111}very place where they are
made, or grow; or, at most, going no further to it, than to his ordinary
Market."
Thus the ideal river-ports were those that were situated, not only a good
distance inland, but in close connection with a Roman or other road along
which commerce could be readily brought or distributed, the land journey
being reduced to the smallest and most convenient proportions. The
advantage was still greater where the small sea-going vessels could be
carried by a tidal stream right up to the town to which their cargo was
consigned.
As against these advantages, however, there was the disadvantage that, the
further inland the river-port, the greater was the risk that access to it
might become impracticable either through the formation of shallows in the
river-bed or because the larger build of vessels in later years could not
pass where the smaller and more primitive type of ship of earlier days had
gone without difficulty.
From one or other of these causes many English rivers on which considerable
traffic formerly passed have dwindled in importance, even if they have not
ceased to be navigable at all; and many inland places that once flourished
as river, or even as "sea"-ports, would to-day hardly be regarded in that
light at all, as shown, for example, by the fate of Lewes on the Sussex
Ouse, Deeping on the Welland, Cambridge on the Cam, Ely on the Ouse, West
Dean on the Cuckmere, and Bawtry on the Idle. York and Doncaster, though
situated so far inland, once considered themselves seaports because of
their river connection with the coast, so that, as told by the Rev. W.
Denton, in "England in the Fifteenth Century," they claimed and exercised
the right of sharing in "wrecks at sea" as though they stood on the
seaboard instead of high up the course of the Ouse or the Don.
The Romans not only supplemented their road transport by river transport
but they sought to improve the latter by the construction of river
embankments. In the case of the Trent and the Witham they even cut a
canal--the Fossdyke--in order to establish direct communication between
them. Just, however, as road-making became a lost art here on their
departure from Britain, so did an interval of a thousand years elapse
before there was any material attempt to follow their example in effecting
improvements in river navigation. The {112}initial advantage, therefore,
lay with towns located on rivers which were naturally navigable and
remained navigable both for a considerable extent and for a considerable
period, without need of amendment; though river navigation, as a whole, did
not attain to its highest development until, as will be shown in the
chapter that follows, much had been done, especially in connection with
streams not naturally navigable, to overcome the various impediments or
difficulties to effective transport.
All the same, the part that English navigable rivers, great or small, have
played in the social and economic progress of the country has been one of
undeniable magnitude and importance, and offers many points of general
interest.
These considerations more especially apply to the river Severn, which, in
conjunction with such of its tributaries as the Wye and the Warwickshire
Avon, was once the great highway for the trade and traffic, not only of the
western counties, but of, also, a considerable area in Wales and the
midland and northern counties, enabling the districts it more directly
served to attain an early development long before others which were then
still struggling with the disadvantages of bad roads, however much they may
since have outstripped them in the race for industrial advancement.
The Severn itself was naturally navigable from Welshpool, Montgomeryshire,
a distance of 155 miles by a very winding stream to where the river empties
itself into the Bristol Channel. This was the greatest length of
navigation, unaided by artificial means, of any river in the kingdom. The
early Britons passed along it in their coracles, and, as these were
supplemented by vessels of an improved type, trade was developed, towns and
cities--each a storehouse or an entrepôt for a more or less considerable
area--began to arise on the banks, while Bristol attained to the dignity of
a great national port when Liverpool was still only an insignificant
fishing village.
It was in connection with the Severn that the question arose as to the
right of the community to regard a navigable river as a public highway, the
same as if it were a road dedicated to general use.
The writer of the article on "Rivers" in the "Penny Cyclopædia" (1841)
observes that: "In rivers which are {113}navigable, and in which the public
have a common right to passage, the King is said to have 'an interest in
jurisdiction,' whether the rivers were the King's property or private
property. These rivers were called 'fluvii regales,' 'haut streames le
roy,' or 'royal streams,' because of their being dedicated to public use,
all things of public safety and convenience being under his care and
protection." Navigable rivers being thus, the writer continues, the King's
highway by water, many of the incidents belonging to a highway on land
attached to such rivers, and any nuisances or obstruction upon them, even
though occurring on the private land of any person, might be made the
subject of indictment.
In regard to the Severn and the right of access thereto, it was found
necessary, in 1430-1, following on complaints which had been made to
Parliament, to pass an Act (9 Hen. VI., c. 5) for the protection of boatmen
in the Severn estuary against "many Welshmen and ill-disposed persons" who
"were used to assemble in manner of war and stop trows, boats and floats or
drags on their way with Merchandise to Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester, and
other places, hewing these craft in pieces, and beating the sailors with
intent to force them to hire boats from the said Welshmen, for great sums
of money, an evil example and great impoverishment of a King's liege
people, if remedy were not hastily provided."
Under this Act the Severn was declared a free river for all the King's
subjects to carry on within the stream of the river. The Act made no
mention, however, of any right on the part of the boatmen to use the land
alongside the river for the purpose of towing their vessels; and in regard
to this point the writer in the "Penny Cyclopædia" says: "Though a river is
a public navigable river, there is not, therefore, any right at common law
for parties to use the banks of it as a towing path."
By an Act passed in 1504 riparian owners along the Severn were authorised,
notwithstanding the earlier enactment of the freedom of the river itself,
to take "reasonable recompense and satisfaction" from every person going
upon their land to draw a boat. There is no evidence that the landowners
availed themselves of this authority; but in a later Act, passed in 1532,
it was stated that although, "time out of mind," people had used, without
any imposition or toll, a path {114}one foot and a half broad on each side
of the river for drawing their boats, "of late certain covetous persons"
had "interrupted" those so using the said paths, "taking of them fines and
bottles of wine," and the Act imposed a penalty of forty shillings on
anyone attempting to enforce such tolls, except as regards the reasonable
recompense which the riparian owners could claim. This enactment seems to
have been due to the action of local officials in Worcester, Gloucester and
other places on the river in seeking, as told in Nash's "History and
Antiquities of Worcestershire" (1781), to raise revenue for their cities or
towns by taxing traders who used the Severn for the transport of their
commodities.
The importance of the Severn, from the point of view of trade and commerce,
in the middle of the sixteenth century, is suggested by what William
Harrison wrote of it in his "Description of the Sauerne" (1577): "As the
said stream, in length of course, bountie of water, and depth of chanell
commeth farre behind the Thames, so for other commodities, as trade of
merchandize, plentie of cariage ... it is nothing at all inferiour to or
second to the same."
One reason for the early commercial prosperity of the Severn towns was the
important trade in flannels which they carried on with Wales; though the
industry was, also, considerably developed in the Severn counties
themselves. Made mostly in the farm-houses and cottages of Montgomeryshire,
Merionethshire and Denbighshire, before the days of factories, the flannels
and webs were taken by the makers to the fortnightly market at Welshpool.
This was a convenient centre for the drapers from Shrewsbury, who,
journeying thither along the Severn, would, at one time, buy up the entire
stock; though later on they had competitors in the traders from Wrexham and
other places. Although carried on only as a domestic industry, the making
of these Welsh flannels underwent considerable expansion, Archdeacon Joseph
Plymley saying, in his "General View of the Agriculture of Salop,"
published in 1803, "The manufacture in Wales by means of jennies introduced
into farm-houses and other private houses is four times as great, I am
told, as it was twenty years ago."
At Shrewsbury the wares thus brought down the Severn from Wales were
purchased mostly by merchants from London who either sent them to
Continental markets or else consigned {115}them to South America or the
West Indies, for conversion there into clothing for the slaves.
As the demand increased, flannels and webs were more and more produced in
and around Shrewsbury itself and other parts of Shropshire. Shrewsbury also
developed a large manufacture of coarse linens, linen threads, and other
textiles, and eventually attained to such prosperity that Defoe says of it,
in his "Tour":--
"This is indeed a beautiful, large, pleasant, populous and rich Town; full
of Gentry, and yet full of Trade too; for here, too, is a great
Manufacture, as well of Flannel, as also of white Broadcloth, which
enriches all the Country round it.... This is really a Town of Mirth and
Gallantry, something like Bury in Suffolk, or Durham in the North, but much
bigger than either of them, or indeed than both together.... Here is the
greatest Market, the greatest Plenty of good Provisions, and the cheapest
that is to be met with in all the Western Part of England; the Severn
supplies them here with excellent Salmon, but 'tis also brought in great
Plenty from the River Dee, which is not far off, and which abounds with a
very good Kind.... There is no doubt but the Cheapness of Provisions,
joined with the Pleasantness and Healthiness of the Place, draws a great
many Families thither, who love to live within the Compass of their
Estates."
Archdeacon Plymley speaks of Shrewsbury as having been, "chiefly from the
advantage of the river, for several centuries past, a sort of metropolis
for North Wales."
Bewdley, which had obtained its charter from Edward IV., was another Severn
town which developed an extensive trade in the exportation not only of
Welsh flannels but of timber, wool, leather, combs and sailors' caps. All
these were sent down the river to Bristol, whence the Bewdley dealers
received, in return, imported groceries and other commodities for
distribution throughout Wales and Lancashire. Bridgnorth also attained to
considerable importance as a convenient point for the transport to Bristol,
via the Severn, of goods brought by road from a Hinterland extending to
Lancashire and Cheshire.
There was, again, much traffic to and from towns situate on the
Warwickshire Avon, which enters the Severn at Tewkesbury after passing
through Stratford, Evesham, {116}Pershore and other towns. Defoe says of
this affluent of the Severn: "The Navigation of this River Avon is an
exceeding advantage to all this part of the Country and also to the
Commerce of the City of Bristol. For by this River they derive a very great
trade for sugar, oil, wine, tobacco, iron, lead, and in a word all heavy
goods which are carried by water almost as far as Warwick; and return the
corn, and especially the cheese is brought back from Gloucestershire and
Warwickshire to Bristol."
The Wye, which enters the estuary of the Severn below Chepstow, after
passing through or along the borders of the counties of Montgomery, Radnor,
Brecknock, Hereford, Monmouth and Gloucester, was, with its own tributary,
the Lug, not made navigable until 1661, when an Act (14 Car. II.) was
passed, the preamble of which set forth that--
"Whereas the making Navigable, or otherwise passable for Barges, Boats,
Leighters, and other Vessels the Rivers Wye and Lugg and other Rivulets and
Brooks falling into the said Rivers in the County of Hereford and other
adjacent Counties, and so navigable into the River of Seaverne, may (with
God's blessing) be of great advantage, and very convenient and necessary
not onely to the said Counties, But also to the Publick, By import and
export of Corn and encrease of Commerce and Trade, and improving the yearly
value of lands in the parts near adjoyning thereunto, besides the great and
extraordinary preservation of the High-ways, and most profitable and
necessary to and for the City of Hereford for conveyance thereby of Coles,
fuel and other necessaries to the said City, whereof there is now great
scarcity and want, and far greater hereafter like to grow, if some Help
therefore be not made and provided. Be it therefore," etc.
That the merchants of Bristol derived great advantage from river as well as
from sea transport is well shown by Defoe. Not only, he tells us, did they
carry on a great trade, but they did so with less dependence on London than
the merchants of any other town in Britain. He says:--
"The shopkeepers in Bristol who, in general, are all Wholesale Men, have so
great an Inland trade among all the Western Counties that they maintain
Carriers just as the London Tradesmen do, to all the principal Countries
and Towns, from Southampton in the south to the Banks of the Trent,
{117}north, and though they have no navigable river that way yet they drive
a very great trade through all those counties."
The "two great rivers," the Severn and the Wye, enabled them, also, to
"have the whole trade of South Wales, as it were, to themselves," together
with the greater part of that of North Wales,[20] while the sea gave them
access to Ireland, where they were carrying on a trade which, says Defoe,
was not only great in itself but had "prodigiously increased" in the last
thirty years, notwithstanding the greater competition of the Liverpool
merchants.
The transport facilities offered by the Severn were a further material
factor both in the local development of great coal, iron and other
industries, at a time when like industries were still in their infancy in
the north, and in the increase of the general wealth of the western
counties. In regard to Shropshire, Archdeacon Plymley writes that the
inhabitants of the county, having such ready communication both with the
interior of the country and with the sea, had opened mines of iron, stone,
lead, lime, etc., and had, also, established very extensive iron
manufactures. As the result of all this enterprise, much capital had been
drawn into the district; a great market had been opened for the
agricultural produce of the country; the ready conveyance of fuel and
manure had enabled the cultivation of the soil to be carried on even beyond
the demands of the increasing consumption; and all had so operated together
as to increase the wealth and well-being of Shropshire in general.
Some interesting facts as to the conditions under which the navigation of
the Severn was conducted in 1758 are given in a communication published in
the "Gentleman's Magazine" for that year (pages 277-8) from G. Perry, of
Coalbrookdale, under the heading, "A Description of the Severn." The
following passages may be quoted:--
"This river, being justly esteemed the second in Britain, is of great
importance on account of its trade, being navigated by vessels of large
burden more than 160 miles from the sea, without the assistance of any
lock. Upwards of 100,000 tons of coals are annually shipped from the
collieries about Madeley {118}and Broseley to the towns and cities on its
banks, and from thence into the adjacent countries; also great quantities
of grain, pig and bar iron, iron manufactures and earthen wares, as well as
wool, hops, cyder, and provisions are constantly exported to Bristol and
other places, from whence merchants' goods, &c., are brought in return. The
freight from Shrewsbury to Bristol is about 10s. per ton, and from Bristol
to Shrewsbury 15s., the rates to the intermediate towns being in
proportion.
"This traffic is carried on with vessels of two sorts; the lesser kind are
called barges and frigates, being from 40 to 60 feet in length, have a
single mast, square sail, and carry from 20 to 40 tons; the trows, or
larger vessels, are from 40 to 80 tons burthen; these have a main and top
mast, about 80 feet high, with square sails, and some have mizen masts;
they are generally from 16 to 20 feet wide and 60 in length, being, when
new, and completely rigged worth about 300l."
Their number having greatly increased, he had "an exact list" taken of all
the barges and trows on the Severn in May, 1756, and this list he gives.
The total number of owners was then 210, and the total number of vessels
was 376. Among the places mentioned are the following:--
TOWN. OWNERS. VESSELS.
Shrewsbury 10 19
Madeley Wood 21 39
Broseley 55 87
Bridgnorth 47 75
Bewdley 18 47
Worcester 6 21
Tewkesbury 8 18
Evesham-upon-Avon 1 2
Gloucester 4 7
Of the disadvantages that attended navigation on the Severn I shall speak
in chapter xv, in connection with the decline of river transport in
general.
What the Severn group of rivers, with Bristol as the headquarters of their
navigation, were on the west coast, the Wash group and the port of Lynn
were on the east coast.
The Wash group comprised: (1) the Bedford Ouse and its tributaries, with a
main outlet at Lynn; (2) the Welland, {119}with Spalding for its inland
port; and (3) the Witham, which passes through the Fens and into the Wash
by way of Boston. There is abundant testimony available as to the former
great importance of these rivers.
Defoe says of Lynn: "There is the greatest extent of Inland Navigation
here, of any Port in England, London excepted. The Reason whereof is this,
that there are more Navigable Rivers empty themselves here into the Sea,
including the Washes, which are branches of the same Port, than at any one
Mouth of Waters in England, except the Thames and the Humber."
Nathaniel Kinderley, in his work on "The Ancient and Present State of the
Navigation of the Towns of Lynn, Wisbeach, Spalding and Boston" (2nd
edition, 1751), speaks of the Bedford Ouse as having five rivers emptying
themselves into it from eight several counties; and he says that it "does
therefore afford a great Advantage to Trade and Commerce, since hereby two
Cities and several great Towns are therein served, as Peterborough, Ely,
Stamford, Bedford, St. Ives, Huntington, St. Neots, Northampton, Cambridge,
Bury St. Edmunds, Thetford, &c., with all Sorts of heavy commodities from
Lyn; as Coals and Salt (from Newcastle), Deals, Fir-Timber, Iron, Pitch and
Tar (from Sweden and Norway), and Wine (from Lisbon and Oporto) thither
imported, and from these Parts great Quantities of Wheat, Rye, Cole-Seed,
Oats, Barley, &c., are brought down these Rivers, whereby a great foreign
and inland Trade is carried on and the Breed of Seamen is increased. The
Port of Lyn supplies Six Counties wholly, and three in Part."
Another writer of the same period, Thomas Badeslade, who published in 1766
a "History of the Ancient and Present State of the Navigation of the Port
of King's Lyn and of Cambridge and the rest of the trading Towns in those
Parts," took up the argument that the number of inhabitants, the value of
land, the trade, the riches and the strength of every free State were great
in proportion to their possession of navigable rivers; and he went on to
declare that "Of all the Navigable Rivers in England the River of the Great
Ouse is one of the chief, and Lyn sits at the door of this river, as it
were the turnkey of it."
The various large and populous towns (as already mentioned) {120}which
stood either upon the Ouse itself or upon one of the other rivers
connecting with it were, he proceeded, all dependent on its navigation, and
all of them were supplied by the merchants of Lynn with what he described
as "maritime commodities." "Their Exports and Imports," he declared,
"enrich and Furnish the Country; and raise a great Revenue to the
Government, and in all National advantages the Port of Lyn is equalled by
few Ports of this Kingdom." But, owing to neglect of the Ouse, there was
the risk that the river would "in a very short time" be "lost to
navigation," and all, he continued, agreed that "If something be not done
this Country will be rendered uninhabitable, and the Navigation of the Port
of Lynn will be lost, and the University of Cambridge, and all the great
Towns situate on the Rivers for the benefit of Navigation must with it
decay and become impoverished; and the Customs and Duties of the State be
in Consequence thereof greatly lessened."
Happily our national well-being has not depended on navigable rivers, as
Badeslade thought it did, and, though the condition of the Bedford Ouse has
got far worse than it was when he wrote, the University of Cambridge and
the various towns in question still, happily, survive. But even in
Badeslade's time the Ouse was beginning to get, as he says, "choaked up,"
and he recalls the year 1649 when "keels could sail with Forty Tun freight
36 miles from Lynn towards Cambridge at ordinary Neip-Tides, and as far as
Huntingdon with Fifteen Tun Freight. And Barges with Ten Chaldron of coals
could sail up Brandon River to Thetford; and as far in proportion up the
Rivers Mildenhall, &c., &c. By all which Rivers the Port of Lynn was
capable of the most extensive Inland navigation of any Port of England."
How Lynn served as the port for the great quantities of foreign produce
and, also, for the hops and other commodities sent from London and the
south-western counties for the Sturbridge fair at Cambridge has already
been told (see page 24). It was, also, through Lynn and Boston that a large
proportion of our commerce with Normandy, Flanders and the Rhine country
was conducted; and Lynn, especially, grew in wealth and importance, and
further developed, as Defoe found, into a town having considerable social
attractions.
Concerning the Witham, Joseph Priestley says, in his {121}"Historical
Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain"
(1831), it has been thought that previous to the Norman Conquest the river
was a tideway navigation for ships to Lincoln. That it was navigable at a
very early period he thinks may be inferred from the fact that the Fossdike
Canal, "an ancient 'Roman Work,'" was scoured out by Henry I. in the year
1121 for the purpose of opening a navigable communication between the Trent
and the Witham at the city of Lincoln in order that that place, which was
then in a very flourishing condition and enjoying an extensive foreign
trade, might reap all the advantages of a more ready communication with the
interior.
Another most important group of rivers, from the point of view of inland
navigation, was the series which have their outlet in the Humber. This
group includes the Yorkshire Ouse and the Trent, both naturally navigable.
The Ouse (York) is formed by the confluence of the Ure and the Swale sixty
miles above the Trent Falls, where, after passing through York, Selby, and
Goole, it joins the Trent and forms the Humber estuary. Under a charter
granted by Edward IV., in the year 1462, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of
York were to "oversee and be conservators" of this river, as well as of the
Aire, the Wharfe, the Derwent, the Don, and the Humber, all of which are
connected with it. Of the city of York, as he found it in or about the year
1723, Defoe says:--
"No City in England is better furnished with Provision of every Kind, nor
any so cheap, in proportion to the goodness of Things; the River being so
navigable and so near the Sea, the Merchants here trade directly to what
port of the world they will; for Ships of any Burthen come up within thirty
Mile of the City, and small Craft from sixty or eighty Ton, and under, come
up to the very City."
The navigable Trent was for many centuries the chief means of communication
between south and north, and Nottingham, as the capital of the Trent
district, became a place of great importance. It was along the Trent that
the King's messengers passed on their way to York, in preference to braving
the dangers of the road through Sherwood Forest. The burgesses of
Nottingham were required to take charge of them as soon as they came to the
river and conduct them safely to {122}Torksey, whose burgesses, in turn,
had to take them to the Humber, and so on up the tidal Ouse to York.
To the town of Burton-on-Trent by packhorse or waggon, down the Trent by
barge to Hull, and thence by sailing vessel along the east coast and up the
Thames, was once a favoured route for the consignment of cheese from
Cheshire to the London market. In Defoe's time the quantity of Cheshire
cheese thus passing along the Trent, either for London or for east coast
towns, was 4000 tons a year. Owing to the state of the roads the Trent
route was the only practicable alternative the Cheshire cheese makers had
to what they called the "Long sea" route to London, "a terribly long, and
sometimes dangerous Voyage" (says Defoe) by way of the Mersey, Land's End,
the English Channel and the Thames. In describing the conditions of
navigation on the Trent he tells us that, "The Trent is Navigable by Ships
of good Burthen as high as Gainsbrough, which is near forty Miles from the
Humber by the River. The Barges without the Help of Locks or Stops go as
high as Nottingham, and further by the Help of Art to Burton-upon-Trent in
Staffordshire. The Stream is full, the Channel deep and safe, and the Tide
flows up a great Way between Gainsborough and Newark. This, and the
Navigation lately, reaching up to Burton and up the Derwent to Derby, is a
great Support to and Encrease of the Trade of those counties which border
upon it."
In speaking more fully of Nottingham Defoe says: "The Trent is Navigable
here for Vessels or Barges of great Burthen, by which all their heavy and
bulky Goods are brought from the Humber and even from Hull; such as Iron,
Block-tin, Salt, Hops, Grocery, Dyers Wares, Wine, Oyl, Tar, Hemp, Flax,
&c., and the same vessels carry down Coal, Wood, Corn; as also Cheese in
great Quantities from Warwickshire and Staffordshire."
From an article "On Inland Navigations and Public Roads," by William
Jessop, published in the Georgical Essays, Vol. IV. (1804), I gather that
merchandise was carried on the Trent at a cost of eight shillings a ton for
a distance of seventy miles, and that "in point of expedition" vessels
frequently made the journey of seventy miles and back in a week, including
the time for loading and unloading--a degree of despatch which Jessop
evidently regarded as very creditable, since he adds, {123}"This has been
done by the same vessel for ten weeks successively, and would often be done
if they were not obliged to wait for their lading."
One of the affluents of the Trent, the little river known as the Idle,
joins it at Stockwith, 21 miles from the junction of the Trent with the
Humber; and seven miles up the Idle is the once-famous "port" of Bawtry.
This particular place fulfilled all the conditions of what I have already
described as the ideal port of olden days. Not only was it far inland,
bringing a considerable district into communication with the sea, but it
was situated--eight miles south-east of Doncaster--on the Great North Road,
at the point where this road enters the county of York. Until the
navigation of the Don was improved, under an Act passed in 1727, the Hull,
Trent, Idle and Bawtry route was preferred to the Hull, Ouse, Aire, Don,
and Doncaster route alike for foreign imports into Yorkshire and for
Yorkshire products consigned to London or to places abroad; and Bawtry,
known to-day, to those who know it at all, as only a small market town in
Yorkshire, was at one time of considerable importance.
In the reigns of Edward III. and Edward IV., as told by the Rev. Joseph
Hunter, in "The History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster" (1828),
the lords of the manor of Bawtry were "of the prime of English nobility,"
while the market established there dated from the beginning of the
thirteenth century. When the sovereign or any members of the Royal Family
travelled in state to the north, they were usually met at Bawtry by the
sheriff of the county and a train of attendants.
More to our present purpose, however, is the fact that, down to the opening
of the second quarter of the eighteenth century this inland port of Bawtry
was the route by which most of the products of Sheffield, of Hallamshire,
and of the country round about, destined for London, for the eastern
counties, or for the Continent, passed to their destination. From Sheffield
to Bawtry was a land journey of twenty miles, and thus far, at least,
packhorses or waggons had to be utilised over such roads as there then
were. The Idle is described by Defoe as "a full and quick, though not rapid
and unsafe Stream, with a deep Channel, which carries Hoys, {124}Lighters,
Barges or flat-bottomed Vessels out of its Channel into the Trent." In fair
weather these vessels, taking on their cargo at Bawtry, could continue the
journey from Stockwith, where the Trent was entered, to Hull; but otherwise
the cargo was transhipped at Stockwith into vessels of up to 200-ton
burthen, which were able to pass from the Humber along the Trent as far as
Stockwith whether laden or empty. By means of this navigation, to quote
again from Defoe:--
"The Town of Bautry becomes the Center of all the Exportation of this Part
of the Country, especially for heavy Goods, which they bring down hither
from all the adjacent Countries, such as Lead, from the Lead Mines and
Smelting-Houses in Derbyshire, wrought Iron and Edge-Tools, of all Sorts,
from the Forges at Sheffield, and from the Country call'd Hallamshire,
being adjacent to the Towns of Sheffield and Rotheram, where an innumerable
Number of People are employed. Also Millstones and Grindstones, in very
great Quantities, are brought down and shipped off here, and so carry'd by
Sea to Hull, and to London, and even to Holland also. This makes Bautry
Wharf be famous all over the South Part of the West Riding of Yorkshire,
for it is the Place whither all their heavy Goods are carried, to be
embarked and shipped off."
One can thus well credit Hunter's statement that there appear to have been
several persons residing at Bawtry in the Middle Ages who had been enriched
by the commerce of "the port," as the place was, in fact, described in the
Hundred Rolls; but when one thinks of the great extent of the industries of
the Sheffield district as carried on at the present day, it is certainly
interesting to learn of the conditions under which they were developed, and
the circuitous route by which their products once reached London and the
markets of the world.
The industries grew, however, in spite of all the difficulties in
transport. The iron trade had existed in Hallamshire since the reign of
Henry II. (1154-1189). Sheffield cutlery was well known in the Middle Ages.
It was in high repute in Queen Elizabeth's time. In the early part of the
eighteenth century the industries of the district were increasing at a
greater rate than ever. In 1721 the weight of Hallamshire manufactures sent
in the direction of the Humber was 13,000 tons; and the greater proportion
of this quantity must have {125}passed through the port of Bawtry and
thence along the river Trent.
The Thames, England's greatest river, does not, so far as it serves the
port of London and facilitates the immense trade there carried on, enter so
much into consideration from the point of view of strictly "internal
communication" as some of the lesser rivers already mentioned, the position
alike of London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton, etc., relating to
ports, docks, harbours and commerce in general rather than to the
particular forms of inland transport here under review. One must not
forget, however, that, above the port of London itself the navigation of
the Thames was, from very early times, of the greatest advantage to a
considerable extent of country, and that the value of these services was
further increased by various tributaries of the Thames.
The fact that settlement originally followed the course of rivers is
abundantly shown by the number of cities, towns, monasteries, abbeys and
conventual establishments set up of old in the Thames valley. The
convenience, also, of water transport must have had much to do with the
locating of a University at Oxford, on the Thames, just as it did with the
establishment of a University at Cambridge, on the Cam, each being thus
rendered accessible to scholars from Scotland and elsewhere who would have
found it impracticable to make so long a journey under the early conditions
of road travel. The Thames became, further, the main highway for the
various counties through which it flowed, included therein being some of
the most fertile districts in the land; and, though London may owe its
pre-eminence mainly to foreign trade, passing between the port of London
and the sea, the facilities for communication offered above the port of
London by the Thames for the full extent of its navigable length were, in
the pre-railway days more especially, of incalculable advantage both to the
districts served thereby and to the Metropolis itself.
This advantage becomes still more striking when we take into account the
rivers that form important tributaries of the Thames.
The Lea was described in a statute of 1424 as "one of the great rivers,
which extendeth from the town of Ware till the water of the Thames, in the
counties of Hertford, Essex and {126}Middlesex"; and along this river there
was carried at one time a very considerable quantity of produce and
merchandise. The history of Ware goes back to, at least, the ninth century,
when the Danes took their ships up to the town but were outmanoeuvred by
King Alfred, who diverted the stream, and left the vessels stranded. Not
only was the founding of Ware on the spot where it stands due to the
convenience of water communication, but Ware itself was one of the ideal
ports of the time, inasmuch as it was so far inland, and was in convenient
reach of several counties.
The navigation, as far as Godalming, of the Wey, which falls into the
Thames at Weybridge, opened up a great part of Surrey and the adjoining
counties to water communication with London. In recording his visit to
Guildford, Defoe says of the Wey that a very great quantity of timber was
carried along it, such timber being not only brought from the neighbourhood
of that town, but conveyed by road from "the woody parts of Sussex and
Hampshire above 30 miles from it"; though he significantly adds that this
was done "in the Summer," the Sussex roads being, as I have already shown,
probably unequalled for badness, and especially in the winter, by those of
any other county in England. Defoe further says in regard to the Wey that
it was "a mighty support" to the "great corn-market" at Farnham. Meal-men
(as he calls them) and other dealers obtained corn at Farnham, and brought
much of it by road to the mills on the Wey, a distance of about seven
miles. In these mills it was ground and dressed, and it was then sent in
barges to London, "as is practiced," Defoe adds, "on the other side of the
Thames for above fifty miles distance from London."
The Medway was another means of communication between a considerable extent
of country and the Thames. It was utilised, not alone for sending timber
from the woods of Sussex and Kent to the port of London or elsewhere, but,
also, for the distribution of general produce. Defoe says of Maidstone, the
chief town on the Medway, that "from this Town and the Neighbouring Parts
London is supplied with more particulars than from any single market Town
in England."
In addition to these great groups of rivers, many single and minor rivers
led to the opening up of inland ports which served in their day a most
useful purpose.
{127}The Exe allowed of Exeter carrying on a considerable foreign trade.
Defoe tells of the "vast quantities" of woollen manufactures sent from
Exeter direct to Holland, as well as to Portugal, Spain and Italy. The
Dutch, especially, gave large commissions for the buying of Devonshire
serges, which were made not only in Exeter but at Crediton, Honiton,
Tiverton and in all the north part of the county, giving abundant
employment to the people. Defoe speaks of the serge-market at Exeter as,
next to that at Leeds, "the greatest in England." He had been assured, he
says, that in this market from £60,000 to £100,000 worth of serges had been
sold in a week.
In the neighbouring county of Somerset, Taunton was the inland port to
which coal conveyed in sea-going vessels from Swansea to Bridgwater was
taken in barges along the navigable Parrett. Heavy goods and merchandise
from Bristol--such as iron, lead, flax, pitch, tar, dye-stuffs, oil, wine,
and groceries of all kinds--were received there in the same way. From
Taunton these commodities were distributed, by packhorse or waggon,
throughout the county.
Whatever the original capacity of rivers naturally navigable, there came a
time when, by reason either of their inherent defects or of the use of
larger vessels, they required a certain amount of regulation; and there
came a time, also, when it was deemed expedient to render navigable by art
many rivers that were not already adapted thereto by nature. In this way
the necessity arose for much river legislation, together with much
enterprise in respect to river improvement, in the days when the only
alternatives to river transport were the deplorably defective roads.
{128}CHAPTER XIV