_A New Vehicle Compelling us to Make New Roads: Arterial Roads for the
New Traffic: The Five Necessities of these Roads: Ways and Means: A
National Fund: Taxation according to Fuel Used: The Question of the
Land Contiguous to the New Roads._
i
We have come to the point where some great initiative is imperatively
needed for the re-establishment of communications corresponding to
modern needs.
But while all feel this, no one as yet has, I believe, thought out the
main elements of the scheme. We cannot remake all the ways of England,
nor even change the main part of them to suit the new kind of traffic.
We have been “taken aback,” as they say in sailing, and “caught all
standing.” Our charming, narrow, hedged, tortuous lanes, our haphazard
county communications, even our main ways, have suddenly proved
grossly inapt to the new traffic; and our towns, unaffected by the
great Continental movement (which I have heard called the “boulevard”
movement) of the middle nineteenth century, are in the same case. If we
cannot--and obviously we cannot--remodel the whole thing, what _can_ we
do?
So far as I can see, we can proceed upon certain main principles, with
which I propose to conclude.
I distinguish between the problem of the street traffic in the towns,
with which I am not concerned, and that of the main road. As it seems
to me, what we need is, and that immediately, a certain number--quite
a large number--of great arterial roads very broad and straight with a
special surface, confined to motor traffic alone.
These, including circular ways round the towns to avoid the present
unnecessary and congested passage through the towns, would act as
ditches act in a fen. They would gather towards them the main streams
of traffic, as such ditches gather towards them and drain the moisture
of a fen. That having been done, the remaining difficulties upon the
by-roads would be cut down to a quarter or less of their present evil.
I will develop this.
ii
It is clear that our new vehicle, the internal combustion engine, will
compel us to new roads, just as the vehicular traffic for passengers
at the beginning of the seventeenth century compelled the creation of
the turnpike. Far-seeing men grasped this the moment that the internal
combustion engine appeared in our lives. I have myself heard the
details of an idea which very nearly materialized and which was on the
point of becoming law--an experimental road to be driven from one great
centre to another, to be reserved entirely to the new traffic and to
be made specially for these new necessities. Private interest defeated
the scheme, and in my opinion that defeat was a very bad thing for
the general development of the country. But though the first attempt
failed, the very fruitful and sensible idea underlying it is worth
describing.
A very few great arterial roads joining up the main centres of
population would have far more effect upon our present difficulties
than their mere mileage would seem to warrant. There could be no
question of stopping the new form of traffic upon the ordinary roads
remaining, which in length might be twenty or fifty times those of the
new roads. But it would be of such advantage for long-distance travel
to use the great arteries that at the expenditure of greater mileage
_you would find the new traffic seeking them at the nearest point upon
one side and clinging to them for as long as possible_.
Suppose, for the sake of hypothesis, a simple case. Suppose a great
arterial road to be built joining the heart of London and the heart
of Birmingham in a straight line: it would pass just by Tring and
Buckingham and then on through the gap between Leamington and Warwick.
A man living at Windsor and desiring to reach Coventry, and using the
new method of fast travel, would seek this main road at its nearest
point and leave it again at the nearest point to his terminus. It would
be a less picturesque, but a much safer and quicker way of doing his
business. It would add a dozen miles to his total trajectory, but it
would save a much more than corresponding amount of strain and expense
of energy in following the series of narrow and winding roads most
nearly connecting the two points. The same would be true of any other
trajectory not directly served by the new roads. The advantage of safe
and rapid travel on a first-class surface of very broad gauge, free of
horses and pedestrians, would make people take a “Z” to include as much
as possible of such a road rather than cling to the shorter line.
The final effect would be the relief of congestion upon the typically
narrow winding roads which cover the surface of England. They would
be relieved, in the case we have quoted, not only of the great mass
of urban traffic between London and Birmingham; they would be also
relieved of the very considerable local traffic--not entirely relieved,
of course, but relieved in a proportion large enough to make a very
sensible difference to modern communications.
Though the thing still remains pure theory and though the political and
social obstacles to it are very serious indeed (any trajectory you name
in this crowded island would destroy much which all our people--let
alone the owners--love to preserve), yet it is worth while to analyse
the conditions of such roads, because only thus can we establish the
main rules which, under whatever modification, must ultimately govern
the change that should come.
iii
We need five things:
(1) A very strong foundation, upon which depends--
(2) A permanently good surface;
(3) The avoidance of sudden curves (in which is included the avoidance
of obstacles hiding the approaches to any curve);
(4) Great width;
(5) A fifth point, almost as important as these first four, the
necessity for the providing of crossings. The great arterial road
reserved to the internal combustion engine would be, for people who
had to cross it, an obstacle a great deal worse than a railway. Our
forefathers protected in all sorts of fashions the road crossing the
railway at a level crossing--by insisting on gates and an attendant,
by compelling the road, if possible, to pass above the railway upon a
bridge, and so on. More attention was paid to this point in England
than in any Continental country, and we benefit by the results of
that care to-day. But the arterial road would be far more dangerous.
It would have a continual stream of very rapid vehicles in both
directions, and the scheme had better not be envisaged at all if the
cost of providing for cross traffic is not faced. The problem is by
no means an easy one. It means, necessarily, embankments for bridges,
or tunnelling, at _every_ crossing, and these will have to be more
numerous than the road crossings: they will have to serve rights of
way and private approaches as well. I think it will be found, when
the scheme is first attempted, that this obstacle will prove the most
serious of all.
It is for experts in the science (of which I know nothing, and allusion
to which I have therefore kept carefully out of this essay) to decide
what these details of surface, width, foundation, etc., mean in
practice: their expense and character.
They know from experiments made what materials and foundation may be
best, what minimum width suggests itself (I have occasionally heard
the minimum width of 100 feet suggested); but whatever the detailed
practice, when the experts set to work on the new motor roads it must
be with these five main provisions before them. There are minor
considerations. You have, with the new traffic, to consider a gradient
somewhere between the old road gradient and the railway gradient.
There, again, it is for experts to determine what the maximum useful
gradient should be. The trouble in our present road system is that in
any trajectory you will have one or two places where the new traffic
is perilous. There are even exceptional points in England where it is
almost prohibited by excessive gradients.
Another point in connection with such great arterial roads is the
capital one of exit from the great urban centres. It is of little
use to relieve traffic, to diminish the strain and expense of energy
connected with it, and the peril, and all the rest of it, between two
urban centres if the exit and entry from and into each are blocked.
Now, the trouble here is a purely economic trouble. Urban sites have
a special value, even in the outskirts. They are not, as a rule,
sites to which anyone is attached, but the cost of buying them up
has made reformers hesitate to drive the arterial ways which are so
urgently needed. Once your great road has reached the inner ring of a
large town its traffic disperses and there is no need for continuing
its dimensions. But the new system can be of no real service if, on
the approach to a great town, we retain the narrows and guts which
disfigure, for example, the western road out of London. It might even
be said that from the political standpoint it would be better to begin
with the assurance of good exits and entrances than with the planning
of the Road as a whole.
At present we have, in the particular case of London, one, and only
one, good entry. That is the entry from the north-west. All the others
are hopelessly congested.
iv
There will occur in connection with all this discussion of the
necessity for a modern change in the Road the point of ways and means.
Somebody must pay. How shall the payment be made? It has already become
a matter of politics. Pretty well all that can be said upon it has
been said, but as yet there is no agreement. I would maintain (very
tentatively, hardly as more than a suggestion) that we shall never get
a satisfactory settlement until we found ourselves upon three main
principles:
(1) The making of a few great arteries, coupled with the making of
proper exits from the great towns and of by-ways round the urban
centres, is a national concern. You cannot, in the present state of
society, regard it as local, nor even as chiefly concerning the direct
users of the Road, for even these, who are apparently the people upon
whom the burden should most justly fall, develop by their travel the
district through which they pass.
I suggest, therefore, that you must start in this case with the
fundamental principle of a national fund, and a national fund not
proceeding from ear-marked receipts alone, but also drawn from general
taxes.
(2) The second principle which I should suggest is that in so far as
you tax travel for the purposes of this fund you should tax it not
by any complicated combination of weight, power, fuel, and so forth,
but through some one factor alone, otherwise you will be perpetually
remodelling your scheme and as perpetually causing a grievance.
Now, the most obvious factor is fuel. One way and another, the fuel a
man uses for his machine is the nearest test to the use he makes of
the Road. A heavy weight needs more fuel, great speed and consequently
greater wear and tear needs more fuel, and greater horse-power needs
more fuel. The curves are, of course, not parallel. You can get equal
speeds between heavy and light for nearly the same consumption of fuel.
One type of machine will do more harm to the road surface for every
gallon of fuel than another, and so on. But if you want to have easy
revenue simplicity in taxation is vital: surely the taxation of fuel
is the simplest and most direct method. It is easily collected. It
does away with all chance of confusion. It can be imposed at source
and in bulk, and it has that invaluable quality which has been often
lost sight of in the last two generations: that it is paid gradually
and at will and yet paid inevitably. So long, of course, as a false
distinction is maintained between the commercial and the private use of
vehicles you will have gross anomalies and injustice. To draw the line
between economic waste in the use of the modern internal combustion
engine and what is part of the general and normal life of the community
is impossible. It would be better were the distinction to be wholly
removed. We do not ask a man who takes a ticket from Birmingham to
London whether he is going for fun or folly, for business or necessity.
Men pay the same price for the ticket whatever the motive of their
journey. It is an absurd anomaly as things now stand that the man who
travels in a little Ford car from one town to another with, say, two
members of his family--and travels therefore much more cheaply than
he could upon the railway--should pay the rent of a house for the
privilege of having his car, while the heavy vehicle of a tradesman
who is distributing advertising matter--sheer economic loss to the
community--should tear up the road for nothing.
(3) The grant for the new roads should include the purchase, if not
of a continuous belt along each side, at least of blocks of land,
especially in the neighbourhood of existing communications, near
railway stations, near villages or other centres now established, etc.
The price to be determined by arbitration upon the old price basis
before the scheme of the Road was developed. If this were done the
great difficulty for _certain_ purposes (not residential, but other) of
using these sites would accrue to the public purse and would gradually
relieve the cost of construction.
This project touches, of course, upon one of those political theories
which have been debated, as have all political theories in our time,
with too much violence and with too much generality. If it be contended
that we here introduce the principle of the “single tax” and of the
nationalization of land, I can only say that nothing is further either
from my thoughts in this essay or from my general politics--as any
number of my public pronouncements suffice to prove. But we have here
a very special case. These new roads, if we drive them (as we ought to
drive them soon) between the main points of the island, will, unless
some such scheme is adopted, make a direct and immediate present of
millions to the chance owners of land upon their trajectory. It would
be a gross case of actual endowment at the expense of the community.
Conversely, the reservation of land on either side of the way for
the purpose of helping to pay for the new scheme would be of direct
advantage to the community and of disadvantage to no one.
At any rate, just as we must soon have a reform of the road system or
suffer decline in our communications and therefore in our national
life, so we must soon settle a reform in the matter of road maintenance
and road taxation. For the new main arteries that should be built we
must depend upon the general resources of the community, while for
special taxes upon traffic we must establish as soon as possible a
simple and universal system.
I need not add, for it is obvious, that such a scheme of new roads
would involve a certain amount of individual hardship. It is impossible
to avoid that, but it is in the temper of this nation to compromise
closely and in detail upon all such things. Nor need it be added that
the scheme would have to proceed by trial and error, and could only be,
at first, tentative and applied experimentally to one or two chosen
trajectories. But I think that it is upon these lines that the problem
can be solved.
INDEX
ABBEVILLE, bridge at and road convergence, 25
ACT OF UNION (Pitt’s) and effect on the Holyhead Road, 187
ADUR, RIVER, crossing of at Bramber, 130
ALEXANDRIA, 70
ALFOLDEAN BRIDGE, 76, 153;
effect of breakdown of, 166;
and Stane Street, 167
ALPS, the, passes of, 44;
Roman roads in, 138
ANGEVINS, the, and Sussex, 132
ANTWERP, 31
ANTIOCH, 70
APENNINES, the, Roman roads in, 138
AQUILEA, 103
ARDENNES, the, Roman roads in, 138
ARMIES, necessity of road for, 74-6
ARTERIAL ROADS confined to motor traffic, need for, 195
ARTERIAL ROAD, example of a typical, from London to Birmingham, and
how used, 196-7
ARTERIAL ROADS, five essentials of, 198-200;
problem of exit from dense urban centres, 200-01;
suggested finance of, and legislation regarding, 201-5
ARUN, RIVER, effect of marshes of, 17-18;
lowest bridge over, at Arundel, 97;
crossed by the southern track, 130;
crossing of at Houghton, 130;
at Burgh Hill, 139;
at Romans Wood, 153, 166;
at Pulborough, 166
ARUNDEL, road from Pulborough to, 17, 18;
crossing of Arun at, 97, 99, 130
ARUNDEL HILL, 169
ASHURST, Roman road on sand at, 156
ATHENS, 70
AULUS PLAUTIUS, 104
AUTUN, 70
AVON, Bristol, the, and British trackways, 129
BALHAM and Stane Street, 167
BALKAN PENINSULA, the, political chaos due to decay of Roman trunk
roads, 76-7
BARI, road planning in, 58
BATH and the Fosse Way, 39
BEECH, woods, and chalk, 119
BELFORT, 44, 45, 46
BELGIUM, Roman road building in, 136
BERKSHIRE DOWNS, the trackway on, 120
BIGNOR and Stane Street, 138, 169
BILLINGSHURST and Stane Street, 169
BLACK DEATH, the, a date in English road history, 81-2
BLACKPOOL, a “reserve” town, 68
BOARD OF WORKS and macadam, 190
BORDEAUX, 31
BOROUGH, the, and Stane Street, 167
BOSHAM during the Dark Ages, 165
“BOULEVARD” movement, 194
BOULOGNE, harbour of, 73
BOUNDARY, road as a, 77;
instanced, 77-8
BRAMBER, causeway at, 18;
crossing of Adur at, 99, 130
BRANCASTER, Roman station at, and Peddars Way, 176
BREYDON WATER, change from estuary to a broad, 176
BRIDGE, the, and road development, 12;
building of at different periods, 22-3;
significance of term in some languages, 22-3;
cost of and effect, 22-3;
architecture of, 23;
function in making inland ports, 30-31;
marshes created by disrepair of, 65, 158-9;
at Cologne, 75;
lowest on river, effect of, on sea traffic, 96-7;
normal origin of, 20;
instanced at London, Cologne, Rouen, Isle of Paris, 21;
of piles, 21;
of boats, 21;
object of, 21-2;
high gradients of some, 23-4;
effect of change from pile to stone, 24;
convergence of roads towards, 25;
military importance of, 25;
payments of toll at, 26;
creation of a _nodal_ point at, 26-31;
on English roads, 89
BRIDGE HEAD, the term, 25
BRIGHTON, a “reserve” town, 68
BRINDISI, 70, 77
BRITAIN, its place in the Roman Empire, 113
BURFORD BRIDGE and Stane Street, 170
BURGH HILL, 139
BURGHLEY PARK, near Stamford, 154
BURY, 169
CAEN, bridge at, and road convergence, 25
CANTERBURY and Christianity, 70;
lowest bridge over Stour at, 97;
and Richborough, 98;
and Colchester, 103;
and the early trackways, 120, 121, 122;
as nucleus of Channel ports, 163
CHALK, road courses over, 34-5;
characteristics of, 119;
distribution in England, 119-20;
and the early trackways, 119-20, 130, 131
CHALONS, disuse of Roman road from Rheims to, 157
CHANNEL, English (_see_ English Channel)
CHESHIRE PLAIN, the, 128
CHESTER, terminal of north-west road, 70, 121;
Roman garrison town, 71;
road from to Penkridge, 72, 148, 161, 173;
bridge at, 97;
and early trackways, 129
CHICHESTER and Stane Street, 132, 139-40, 160, 166;
harbours and Stane Street, 132
CHILTERNS, the, early trackway on, 120
CHRISTIAN RELIGION, spread of, along Roman roads, 70;
in West Sussex, 153
CLAPHAM COMMON and Stane Street, 173
CLAY, effect of weather on, 11-12;
road courses over, 33;
Roman road-building on, 54;
in the Weald, effect of on communications, 131-2, 165;
and on West Sussex during Dark Ages, 153
CLIFTON GORGE, 129
CLIMATE, dampness of English, 105
COAST ROADS, features of on south coast of England, 98-9
COLCHESTER, 103;
trackway from London to, 122
COLOGNE, bridge at, 21, 29, 75;
Roman road from Paris to, 140
CONSTANTINOPLE, 77
COST, factor of in influencing number, size, and course of
roads, 56-60;
and the “strangling of communication,” 57
COTSWOLDS, the early trackway on, 120, 126
CRETE, 93
CYPRUS, 93
DAMASCUS, 70
DANES, the, in Sussex, 76
DARENTH, RIVER, 19
DARK AGES, the, use of Roman roads in, 147-8;
disappearance of sections of road during, 148-50;
breakdown of Roman river crossings during, 150-55;
Roman roads on Continent during, 156-7;
formation of disrepair of roads during, 158-9;
pirates’ raids during, 162-3;
disuse of Peddars Way in, 175;
and the growth of a local road system, 177
DEE, RIVER, bridge over, at Chester, 97
DEVON, roads along south coast of, 98, 138;
and the Fosse Way, 127;
and traffic during Dark Ages, 132
DORCHESTER (Oxon), bridge over Thames at, 102;
a wheat-growing centre, 128
DORKING and Stane Street, 166, 169-70
DORSET, trackway from Salisbury Plain to, 119;
derivation of name, 119;
and the Fosse Way, 127, 138;
and traffic during Dark Ages, 132
DOVER, Roman road to Richborough from, 98;
port for Roman troops, 103;
and London, 108;
early trackway through Canterbury to, 122;
Straits of (_see_ Straits of Dover)
DOWN BARN, near Andover, loop in road at, 138
DOWNS, Sussex, Wiltshire, &c., (_see_ under these names)
DUNCTON HILL and Stane Street, 167
DUNWICH and coastal erosion, 176
DURAZZO, road from Constantinople to, 77
DURHAM, 125
EARTHAM and Stane Street, 51, 167
EAST ANGLIA, Roman campaigns in, 102;
wheat growing in, 128;
and Peddars Way, 174-5
EDGWARE ROAD, site of trackway, 121
EGYPT, Roman trunk road from to Northumberland, 70
“ENCLOSURE,” effect of on roads, 90
ENGLAND, north and south, tendency of division into, 127-8
ENGLISH CHANNEL, the, and the Chalk ridges, 35, 126
ENGLISH ROADS on south coast, 62;
phases in the history of, 81-4;
characteristics of, 84-91;
and the French road compared, 84-6;
the, effect of political history on, 89-90;
and the Industrial Revolution, 90, 91;
the, “blindness” of, 92;
diversion and interruption of by waterways, 93-9;
effect of absence of strategy on, 99-105;
the, and dampness of climate, 105;
and diversity of soil, 105-6;
and increasing density of population, 106;
and legislation, 106;
the, effect of “potential” in its development, 107-9;
its five stages of development, 109-15;
British pre-Roman trackways, 110, 116-32;
the, and the Roman road system, 133-46;
during the Dark Ages, 147-77;
during the Mediaeval period, 177-8;
the, turnpike system of, 183-5;
1810 a pivotal date of, 185-6;
and Telford, 186-9;
improvement of surface of, by Macadam, 189-91;
effect of railroads upon, 192-3;
the, present need for new arterial roads (_q.v._), 194-5
EPHESUS, 70
EPSOM and Stane Street, 170
EPSOM DOWNS, 170
EPSOM RACE-COURSE, gap in Roman road between Merton and, 103, 149
ERITH, 121
EXE RIVER, importance of bridge at Exeter, 97-8;
trackway from to Humber, 117, 126, 129
EXETER and the Exe, 97-8
FAL, RIVER, 97
FARNHAM, road to in Wey Valley, 34;
to Guildford, 35;
and the Pilgrims’ Way, 131
FENS, the, former absence of main roads in, 53-4;
and trackway to the north, 125
FERRIES, use of by Romans, 102
FERRY, the, rather than ford precedes bridges, 20-21
FLEET, RIVER, 122
FLINT, use of in road construction, 55;
disadvantages to motor traffic, 55
FORD, and the bridge, 12, 20;
etymology of term, 19;
significance of as particle with “stone” and “street” in
place-names, 154
FOREST, influence of on course of road, 47-51;
of Mormal, 49;
in the tropics, 49;
and the railroad, 50;
and the Roman road, 50-51
FOSSE WAY, the, gradients of in Somerset, 38-9;
survival of early trackway from Exe to Humber, 126-7;
alluded to, 138;
use of in Dark Ages, 177
FOWEY, RIVER, 97
FRANCE, Northern, Roman roads in, 147-8
FRENCH ROAD, the, characteristics of, 84-6
FUEL, taxation of;
simplest method of collecting a road tax, 202-3
GABAS, valley of, 44
GAINSBOROUGH, bridge at, 97
GALLEGO, 44;
bridge over near Huesca, 24
GARGANO, isolation of by marsh, 15
GAUL, military roads of, 75-6;
Roman road building in, 136-7
GENOA, 67
GLASGOW, 31
GLOUCESTER, bridge of, 74;
function of in making an inland port, 30;
and the Severn crossing, 98;
road from Winchester to, 138
GRADIENTS of bridges, 23;
factors determining, 37-8;
of the Fosse Way in Somerset, 38-9;
of the roads in the Jura, 40;
and of the Vosges, 41;
of railroads, 41-2;
and the internal-combustion engine, 42;
at Lynton and Lynmouth, 42;
of the mountain pass, 43-6;
of English roads, 89;
straightness of Roman roads modified by, 138
GRANITE, use of in road construction, 54-5
GRAVEL, road courses over, 33-4;
example in Wey Valley, 34
GRAVESEND, 164
GRAYS, 121
GREAT NORTH ROAD, 50, 163, 191
GUILDFORD, 35, 130
HAMPSHIRE, chalk ridge of, 119;
ease of communication through, 130-31
HAMPSHIRE DOWNS, 130
HARDHAM and Stane Street, 139, 168
HASTINGS, 99
HAVRE, 74
HIGHLANDS ROADS COMMISSION and Telford, 187
HILLS, effect of on course of roads, 7-11
HIPPO, 103
HOG’S BACK, the, track over, 35
HOLLAND, roads of, 53-4
HOLMES, RICE, 98
HOLYHEAD ROAD, the, 71-2;
and Telford, 186-9;
completion of, 192-3
HOUGHTON, 130
HUESCA, bridge near, 24
HUMBER crossed by Roman road, 98, 102;
strategical consideration of, 100-01, 104;
trackway from Exe to, 117, 125-6, 129
HYDE PARK, 78
ICELAND, 93
ICENI, the, 174
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, the, and the turnpike road, 90
INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE and gradients, 42;
makes a crisis in road building, 91;
and the need for new roads, 180, 195-6;
danger of crossing roads confined to, and solution of
difficulty, 198-9
IRELAND, Chester once the port for, 70
IRON INDUSTRY, the Wealden, 131
ISLAM, Western, influence of drift sand on roads of, 36
ITALY, marshes created by the Road in, 65
JERUSALEM, 70
JUNIPER HILL, near Dorking road, 149
JURA, the, gradients of roads in, 40
KENT, Roman road system in, 98;
Roman campaigns in, 102-3;
early trackways through, 120-29;
approach to London from, 121
LAMBETH, crossing of Thames at, 121;
and early trackway, 129
LANCASHIRE, effect of marsh on, 15;
plain of, 105, 126;
communication of with main trackway, 122
LANDES, the, scarcity of roads in, 53
LEA, RIVER, 122
LEATHERHEAD and Stane Street, 170
LEGISLATION, road, 60-61, 83, 106, 115, 186-8;
suggested for arterial roads, 201-5
LEITH HILL and Stane Street, 139, 166, 169
LEWES, lowest old bridge at, 97;
and the south coast road, 99
LINCOLN, 35
LINCOLNSHIRE, 125
LITTLEHAMPTON, swing bridge at, 98-9
LIVERPOOL, 129
LIVERPOOL STREET STATION, 68
LOCOMOTIVE (_see_ Railroad)
LONDON, crossing of Thames at, 15;
plans for rebuilding after Great Fire, 58-9;
growth of due to railroads, 67-8;
and spread of Christianity, 70;
potential between Dover and, 108;
centre of a series of trackways, 116-7, 120-2, 129;
and Stane Street, 132, 165-6;
and Watling Street, 140, 162-4;
road entries into, 201;
and Chester, 70, 72, 148;
lack of potential between, 164
LONDON BRIDGE, old, 21;
avoidance of high gradient and result, 24;
convergence of roads to, 25;
effect of on development of the city, 29;
function of in making an inland port, 30;
lowest old bridge on the Thames, 97;
and necessity of detours by Roman troops, 103;
advantage of site of, 122
LYME REGIS, 98
LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH, gradients at, 42
LYONS, double crossing of streams at, 32;
spread of Christian religion to, 70
MACADAM, 90;
and the improvement of road surface, 189-90
MAESTRICHT, 29
MANCHESTER, 122
MARBLE ARCH and Watling Street, 164
MARSH, effect of on course of roads, 7-10;
impassability of, 14-15;
divided Lancashire from Southern England, 15;
Thames estuarine, 15;
protected Venice, 15;
and Russian Church, 15;
and Russian Revolution, 15;
isolation of Gargano due to, 15;
effect of on course of road from Pulborough to Arundel, 17;
and Eastern and Western European civilisation, 15;
at Bramber, 18;
created by roads, 64-5;
Pinsk, 76-7;
of Thames estuary, 121-2;
effect of on Roman roads, 103-4;
formation of during Dark Ages by disrepair of Roman road at river
crossings, 158-9
MARSHES, disappearance of section of Roman roads in during Dark
Ages, 149-55
MATERIAL for road construction, influence of proximity on course and
number of roads, 14, 52-5;
diversity of in England, 105-6
MEDWAY, the, 19;
crossing of at Snodland, 130;
at Rochester, 130
MELUN, double crossing of streams at, 32
MENAI STRAITS, suspension bridge over, 188
MENDIPS, lead mines of, 98;
trackway to, 120
MERSEY, RIVER, marshes of, 122
MERTON, gap in Roman road between Epsom race-course and, 149;
and Stane Street, 166-70
MICHELHAM and Stane Street, 170
MIDDLE AGES, the, and bridge building, 22;
and the bridge as a place of toll, 26;
road system of, 114, 154, 177-8
MIDHURST, 131
MILITARY ROADS, Roman roads designed as, 133-7;
in U.S.A., 75;
on the Rhine, 75;
Alpine, 75
MOLE, RIVER, 19;
crossing of by Pilgrims’ Way, 131
MONTREUIL, 31
MOROCCO, effect of “nullahs” in, 36-7
MOSELLE, valley of, 44-6
MOTOR VEHICLE, the (_see_ Internal-combustion Engine)
NAPLES, 70
NERO, 102
NEWCASTLE, bridge of, 97;
function in making an inland port, 30
NEWHAVEN, swing bridge at, 99
_Nodal Points_, definition of, 26;
creation of by bridges, 26-9;
and military strategy, 29;
and markets, 29-30
_Nore Wood_ and Stane Street, 51
NORFOLK, trackway to, 125;
and Peddars Way, 174
NORMAN CONQUEST, the, and Sussex, 132
NORTHUMBERLAND, Roman wall in, end of road from Egypt, 70
NORTON PARK (Northants), example of marsh formation through
breakdown of culvert, 158-9;
map, 159
“NULLAHS,” effect of on road building, and example in Morocco, 36-7
OAKENGATES (Shropshire) and Watling Street, 164
OCKLEY and Stane Street, 153-69;
Battle of, 76
_Odds and Evens_, method of in planning long stretches of straight
road, 141-5;
sketch plans, 141-3
ORFORD, decay of, 176
OUSE, Sussex, crossing of at Lewes, 97, 130
PARIS, effect of bridge on development of, 29;
road planning of under Napoleon III., 58-9;
St. Lazare Station, 68;
Roman road from to Cologne, 140;
Island of, bridges of, 21
PARK LANE, site of trackway, 121
PARLIAMENT, 61, 106
PARNELL (Lord Congleton) and the Holyhead road, 187-8
PASSES, Alpine, roads due to military necessity, 75;
mountain, gradients of, 43-6;
of the Alps, 43;
Pass of Sallent, 44-5;
from Valley of Moselle to Belfort, 44-6
PEDDARS WAY, 161;
problem of its building, 173-4;
disuse during Dark Ages, 175;
its terminal point on the Wash, 175-6
PENKRIDGE, Roman road to Chester from, 72, 148;
local system developed from, 161;
disappearance of, 173
PENNINES, the, 105, 122;
trackways of, 125-6
PETERBOROUGH to York, Telford’s suggested reform of road from, 191
PETWORTH and Stane Street, 167
PHILADELPHIA, 31
PILGRIM’S WAY, the, 19, 131
PINSK MARSHES, the, 15, 76-7
PIRATES, raids of on England during Dark Ages, 162-3
PIXHAM, near Dorking, 130
PLYMOUTH SOUND, 97
POLISH and Russian civilisations, differences due to marsh, 15
POOLE, 129
POPULATION, effect of increasing density on road system, 106
PORTS, preservation of unsuitable by roads, 73;
instanced in Boulogne, 73-4
PORTSMOUTH, 99
PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR and Stane Street, 165
POST OFFICE and appointment of Telford, 186
“POTENTIAL,” definition of term, 107-8;
as applied to development of road system, 108-9;
change of instanced in Fosse Way, 126-7;
example of in Channel ports, 163-4
PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES and bridge building, 22-3
PUBLIC AUTHORITIES, powers of with regard to road construction, 60-61
PULBOROUGH, 17, 139;
and Stane Street, 166-9
_Pulse_, the, of a modern city, 68-9
PYRENEES, the Pass of Sallent in, 44;
Roman roads in, 138
RAILROAD, effect of gradients on construction of, 40-2;
and forest regions, 50;
and growth of London, 67-8;
effect of on development of road system, 192-3
READING, double crossing of streams at, 32
REFORMATION, THE, in England, economic effects of, 82-3
RHEIMS, disuse of Roman road to Chalons from, 157
RHINE, RIVER, 75
RICHBOROUGH and the crossing of the Wansum, 98
RIVER CROSSINGS, effect of on course of roads, example, 7-10;
general effect in England, 93-9;
on the Thames, 121;
and British trackways, 129-30;
fate of Roman roads at during the Dark Ages, 150-53;
instanced by Arun at Romans Wood, 153;
new crossings made, 153-4;
during Middle Ages, 154;
significance of particle “street” or “stone” in place-names at, 154;
instanced by Stamford (Northants), 154-5
ROAD, THE, purpose of, 4;
_trajectory_ or _course_ of, 4;
statement of formula for, 5, 6, 11-13;
effect of surface and gradient, 5;
weather and surface, surface and type of load, gradients and
character of traffic, 6;
difference between civilian and military needs, 6;
experimental growth on planning, 7;
instanced, 7-12;
design or growth, 11;
physical factors influencing course of, 12;
and the bridge, 21;
avoids a double crossing, 32;
influence of soils on course of, 33-7;
and the factor of gradient, 37-46;
influence of forest on course of, 47-51;
influence of intermittent vegetation on course of, 51-2;
proximity of material for, 52-5;
effect of cost on course of, 56-60;
the powers of public authorities regarding, 60-61;
influence of privileges upon, 61;
physical effects of in creating marsh, 63-5;
compels communication to follow it, 65-6;
and density of population, 66;
and the growth of towns, 67-8;
cause of differentiation between rural and urban life, 67-8;
and “canalization” of traffic, 70-76;
and the communication of ideas, 69-70;
instanced by spread of Christian religion, 70;
effects of decay or breakdown, 76-7;
use as a boundary, 77-8;
and idea of “potential,” 163-4
ROAD MAINTENANCE, 83-4
ROAD-MAKING, modern, conflict of principle regarding, 11
ROADS, arterial (_see_ Arterial roads);
convergence of at bridges, 25;
English (_see_ English roads);
military (_see_ Military roads);
Roman (_see_ Roman roads)
ROBERTSBRIDGE, 99
ROCHESTER, 31, 104, 121, 130;
and Watling Street, 140
ROMAN EMPIRE, extent of, 113
ROMAN ROAD, the, and forest, 50-51;
London to north-west, used as a boundary between Wessex and the
Danelagh, 78;
as a boundary in Westminster, 78;
recovered from parish boundaries, 78;
and the Humber, 98;
to lead mines of Mendips and the Severn, 98;
the, in Britain, military nature of, 134-5;
straightness of, 136-7;
straightness of, modified by existing tracks, 137;
by hilly country, 137-8;
by steep gradients, 138;
the planning of, in straight limbs, 138-140;
on hard sand, permanence of, 155-6;
the, divergent developments of our modern road system from, 160-61;
system, 95;
and streams, 97-8;
system of Kent, and the R. Wansum, 98;
system in England, 110-14;
map, 135
ROMAN ROADS, and spread of the Christian religion, 70;
in Balkan Peninsula, 76-7;
military basis of and resulting directness, 101-2;
and ferries, 102-4;
during Dark Ages, breakdown of river crossings on, 150-54;
instanced in Stamford, 154-5;
map, 155;
use of in Dark Ages, 147-8;
sectional disappearance of, 148;
instanced in Penkridge to Chester, Epsom race-course to
Merton, 148-9;
theories to account for disappearance, 149-50;
during the Dark Ages, sectional disappearance of on the
Continent, 156-7;
Watling Street, 72, 158, 161-4;
Stane Street, 132, 164-73;
Penkridge to Chester, 173;
Peddars Way, 173-6
ROMANS, THE, and bridge building, 22;
and the bridge as a place of toll, 26;
as road builders, 53-4;
and Wales, 71-2
ROMANS WOOD, crossing of Arun at, 153, 166, 169
ROME, 70, 77;
bridge of, and function in creating an inland port, 30
ROMNEY MARSH, 62
ROTHER, the, valley of, 131, 139
ROUEN, bridge at, 21, 29
RUSSIAN and Polish civilisations due to marsh, 15;
Orthodox Church, the, and the Pinsk Marshes, 15;
Revolution and the Pinsk Marshes, 15
RYE, 99
ST. ALBANS, 70
ST. CATHERINE’S CHAPEL, 35, 130
SALISBURY PLAIN and the chalk ridges, 35;
centre of a system of trackways, 117-20, 126
SALLENT, Pass of, 44
SAND, road courses over, 33;
drifts in Western Islam, 36;
in Sussex Weald, discontinuous nature of, and influence on iron
industry, 131-2;
hard, permanence of Roman roads cut in, 156
SARAGOSSA, bridge at, and road convergence, 25
SARDINIA, 93
SEAFORD, 99
SELSEY, 62
SEVERN, bridged at Gloucester, 74;
tunnel, 74;
use of in Middle Ages, 94, 129;
crossing by Roman road, 98;
strategical consideration of, 101;
estuary of, and the Romans, 102;
traffic over lower, in event of invasion, 104
SHIPLEY, 126
SHIRES, origin of, 119 (note), 174
SHOOTERS’ HILL, 121
SHOREHAM, 18;
bridge at, 98-9
SHREWSBURY and the Holyhead road, 71-3;
and Roman road London to Chester, 148
SICILY, 93
SILCHESTER, 103, 165
SNODLAND, 130
SOILS, effect of on course of road, 33-7;
diversity of in England, 105-6
(_see_ also under Chalk, Gravel, Clay, and Sand)
SOUTHAMPTON WATER and the trackway from Salisbury Plain, 119, 129;
traffic to during Dark Ages, 132
SPAIN, high-gradient bridges in, 24
STAGE COACHES, 186
STAINES, 102, 165
STAMFORD and the Great North Road, 50;
instance of new track replacing older one on river
crossing at, 154-5;
map, 155
STANE STREET, example of hindrance of vegetation at
_Nore Wood_ on, 51;
and the Wealden clay, 132;
curve on at Bignor Hill, 138;
example of Roman road as basis of modern local system, 160;
motive of, 164-5;
and the Weald, 165;
stages of, 166;
development of local systems from, 167-73;
the, Mr. H. Belloc’s references to, 139, 164
STEPHENSON and the railroad, 192
“STONE,” significance of, coupled with “ford” as a particle in
place-names, 154
STONEHENGE, 19
STOUR, bridge over at Canterbury, 97
STRAIGHTNESS OF ROMAN ROADS, characteristics, 134-7;
modifications of, 137-8;
planning, 138-40;
method of planning, 139-45
STRAITS OF DOVER, 19, 35, 105, 132
“STRANGLING OF COMMUNICATION,” 57
STRATEGY, MILITARY, and the English road system, 99-101;
(_see_ also Military roads)
STRATFORD ST. MARY’S, origin of Peddars Way, 174
STREATHAM and Stane Street, 167
STREATLEY, Thames valley at, 35
“STREET,” significance of, coupled with “ford” as a particle in
place-names, 154
SUFFOLK and Peddars Way, 174
SURFACE (_see_ under Soil, Chalk, Clay, Gravel, Sand)
SUSSEX, effects of decay of main road in, 76;
coast of, 98;
trackways through, 120;
Downs, 17, 130;
Weald, the, sand ridges in, 131;
iron industry in, 131;
clay in, 131;
isolation of from the North, 166;
West, isolation of during the Dark Ages due to breakdown of Roman
bridge over the Arun, 153;
coast, an example of road diversion due to waterways, 99;
and raids, 99
TELFORD, THOMAS, 90;
and the road from London to Holyhead, 186-9;
and the Great North Road, 191
TEMPLE BAR, 59
TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, 59
THAMES, RIVER, and its crossing at London, 29, 97, 121-2;
provides easy means of penetration into England, 94;
strategical considerations of, 100-01;
and the trackways, 117, 126;
and communication with south coast, 132, 165;
and Gravesend during the Dark Ages, 164;
estuary of, effect of marshes in, 15, 102-4
TIBER, RIVER, current of, 31
TILBURY, temporary bridge at during the Great War, 100;
hard approach to Thames at, 121
TOLL, payment of at bridges, 26
TOWNS, problem of road congestion in, 57-60;
“reserve,” 68
TRACKWAYS, BRITISH, PRE-ROMAN, the Pilgrim’s Way, 19;
the first stage of road development, 110;
Exe to Humber, 117, 126-7;
from Salisbury Plain, 117, 118-20, 126;
from London, 120-22;
to centre of Norfolk, 125;
to the Tyne, 125;
by Shipley, 126;
and position of wheat lands, 128;
and the ports, 129;
and river crossings, 129-30;
and chalk, 130-31;
and sand, 131-2
TRENT, RIVER, 93-4, 102;
old lowest bridge over, 97
TURIN, rebuilding of, 59
TURNPIKE SYSTEM, 115, 180;
made the modern English road, 183;
basis of, 184;
early resentment against, 184;
not a national system, 185
TYNE, RIVER, crossing of by Romans, 102;
and the trackways, 125, 129
U.S.A. and military roads, 75
URICONIUM, 71, 103
VEGETATION (_see_ Forest);
intermittent, influence of on course of road, 51-2
VENICE, protection by marsh, 15;
limitation of growth by marsh, 67
VICTORIA STATION, London, 68
VOSGES, the, gradients of roads in, 41;
Valley of Belfort in, 44-5
WALES, Roman campaigns in, 71-2;
South, riots against turnpikes in, 184
WALL, the Roman (Hadrian’s), 70-71
WANDLE, RIVER, marshes of, disappearance of Roman causeway in during
Dark Ages, 149
WANSUM, RIVER, crossed by Roman road, 98
WASH, THE, trackway to, 120, 126;
and Peddars Way, 174-5
WATER COURSES, first crossings of, fords, 18-20;
_taking-off places_, 18-19;
effect of rate of current, 19-20;
ferries, 20;
bridges, 20-32;
double crossings at, 31-2
(_see_ also River Crossings)
WATLING STREET, at Penkridge, 72;
between Rochester and London, 140;
at Norton Park, 158;
as the basis of a modern road, 160;
causes of preservation of, 161-4;
use of during Dark Ages, 177
WEALD, the, as an obstacle to communication, 165-6
WELLAND, RIVER, 50
WENLOCK EDGE, 94
WESTMINSTER, northern boundary of, a Roman road, 78
WEY, RIVER, and Pilgrim’s Way, 19;
road in Valley of Upper, 33;
crossing at St. Catherine’s Chapel, 130;
at Guildford, 130
WHEAT LANDS and early trackways, 128
WHEELED TRAFFIC, sudden increase of at end XVII century, 180
WILTSHIRE, 120
WINCHESTER, and the Pilgrim’s Way, 19;
as centre of wheat growing, 128;
to Gloucester, road from, 138;
to London, Roman road from, 165
WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, 59
YARMOUTH, growth of, 176
YORK, Telford’s suggested reform of road to Peterborough from, 191
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled
consecutively through the document.
Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are
mentioned.
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.