Printed & Published for
THE BRITISH REINFORCED
CONCRETE ENGINEERING Co. Ltd.
By CHARLES W. HOBSON, St. James’s Sq., MANCHESTER
1923
THE CONTENTS
| § I THE ROAD IN GENERAL | ||
| Page | ||
| CHAPTER I | The Origin of Roads | |
| How Did the Road Come into Existence: The Experimentalor the Scientific Method: The Haphazard Road: The Casefor Design in Road Construction | [3] | |
| CHAPTER II | The Crossing of Marsh and Water | |
| Physical Factors Modifying the Formula of the Road: Marshas the Chief Obstacle to Travel: The Political Results ofMarshes: The Crossing of Water Courses: The Origin of theBridge: The Effect of Bridges upon Roads: The Creation ofa Nodal Point: The Function of the Nodal Point in History | [13] | |
| CHAPTER III | Passability | |
| The Choice of Soils: Following the Gravel or the Chalk:Conditions in the South and East: The Obstacle of Gradient:The Early Vogue of Steep Gradients: “The Other Side of theHill”: The Modern Importance of Gradient: Passes or Gapsin Hill Country | [33] | |
| CHAPTER IV | The Obstacle of Vegetation | |
| The Special Expenditure due to Forest: Roads which SkirtWoodlands: Roads which have been Deflected by Forest:Proximity of Material as a Final Main Cause Modifying theTrajectory of a Road: Cost of Transporting Material and itsEffects in Ancient and Modern Times | [47] | |
| CHAPTER V | Political Influences | |
| The Factor of Cost Resulting in the “Strangling of Communication”:Congestion which leads to decay: A Great ModernProblem: The Compulsory Acquisition of Land: Old RoadsServing New Objects | [56] | |
| CHAPTER VI | The Reaction of the Road | |
| The Physical Effects of Roads: The Way in Which the RoadCompels Communication to follow it: The Formation of UrbanCentres and the Urban Habit: The Spread of Ideas by Meansof Roads: History Deflected by the Deflection of the Road: TheExample of Shrewsbury and Chester: Towns which areMaintained by Roads: The Road in Military History: Resultsof the Decay of Roads: The Road as a Boundary | [63] | |
| § II THE ENGLISH ROAD | ||
| CHAPTER VII | The Road in History | |
| Through the Dim Ages: The Characteristics of the EnglishRoad: Absence of Plan: A Local instead of a National SystemLeading to the Present Crisis | [81] | |
| CHAPTER VIII | The “Blindness” of English Roads | |
| The Two Causes Governing the Development of English Roads—Waterwaysand Domestic Peace: The Relation of the EnglishRoad to Military Strategy | [92] | |
| CHAPTER IX | Five Stages | |
| The “Potential” in Political Geography Examples: ThePrimitive Trackways: The Roman Road System: The EarlierMediaeval Period: The Later Mediaeval Period: The TurnpikeEra | [107] | |
| CHAPTER X | The Trackways | |
| The Three Divisions of the British Pre-Roman Road System—theSystem of which Salisbury Plain was the “Hub”: TheSystem Connected with London: Cross-Country Communications—TheThree Factors which Have Determined Travel in Britain | [116] | |
| CHAPTER XI | The Making of the Roman Road | |
| The Great Initiative: The Mark of the Roman MilitaryEngineer: The Theory and Practice of the Straight Line:Modifications of the Straight Line: How it was Carried Out:The Method of Odds and Evens | [133] | |
| CHAPTER XII | The Dark Ages | |
| The Decline of the Roman Road: The Period at its Occurrence:Gaps: Roman Roads which Fell into Disuse: The Relationshipof the Modern to the Roman System: Watling Street: StaneStreet: The Short Cut Between Penkridge and Chester: PeddarsWay: The Coming of the New Civilization in the TwelfthCentury | [147] | |
| CHAPTER XIII | Wheeled Traffic and the Modern Road | |
| The Transition from the Horse to the Vehicle: The DistinctiveMark of the Later Seventeenth Century: The Turnpike System:The Underlying Idea of the Turnpike: Its Decline and theFirst Emergence of the General National System in 1810:Thomas Telford and His Work: The Movement Connectedwith the Name of Macadam: The Coming of the Locomotiveand its Results on Canals and Roads | [179] | |
| CHAPTER XIV | The Future | |
| A New Vehicle Compelling us to Make New Roads: ArterialRoads for the New Traffic: The Five Necessities of these Roads:Ways and Means: A National Fund: Taxation according toFuel Used: The Question of the Land Contiguous to the NewRoads | [194] | |
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
| Page | |
| FRONTISPIECE: An old Title Page showing the antiquity of the Road Problem | [4] |
| ICKNIELD STREET | [27] |
| TYPICAL ENGLISH LANE | [87] |
| THE EARLIEST ROAD | [111] |
| WELSH SECTION, HOLYHEAD ROAD | [123] |
| DERELICT ROAD, SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS | [151] |
| ERMINE STREET NEAR ROYSTON | [171] |
| TOLL HOUSE ON THE BATH ROAD | [181] |
| The text is also elucidated by fifteen maps and diagrams |
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
We are arrived at a chief turning-point in the history of the English highway. New instruments of locomotion, a greater volume of traffic, a greater weight in loads, and vastly increased rapidity in road travel have between them brought us to an issue: either some very considerable and immediate change in the character of the Road, or a serious and increasing handicap in our rivalry with other nations through the strain and expense of an out-worn system.
The moment therefore calls for some examination of the Road, its theory and history. That need has prompted me to write this essay; but I must say at the outset that I approach my task with no expert qualification. My only equipment for the general sketch I intend is historical reading and the experience acquired in the writing of certain monographs upon the topography of the Road in the past. I can do no more than suggest lines of thought which, if they lead to practice, need a detailed science I do not possess.
The Road is one of the great fundamental institutions of mankind. We forget this because we take it for granted. It seems to be so necessary and natural a part of all human life that we forget that it ever had an origin or development, or that it is as much the creation of man as the city and the laws. Not only is the Road one of the great human institutions because it is fundamental to social existence, but also because its varied effect appears in every department of the State. It is the Road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and nourishment of all. It is the Road which controls the development of strategics and fixes the sites of battles. It is the Road that gives its frame-work to all economic development. It is the Road which is the channel of all trade and, what is more important, of all ideas. In its most humble function it is a necessary guide without which progress from place to place would be a ceaseless experiment; it is a sustenance without which organized society would be impossible; thus, and with those other characters I have mentioned, the Road moves and controls all history.
A road system, once established, develops at its points of concentration the nerve centres of the society it serves; and we remark that the material rise and decline of a state are better measured by the condition of its communications—that is, of its roads—than by any other criterion.