Lloyd
master brummie
It is the intention of the Law Commission to repeal the remaining highway turnpike acts, many dating from the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Not as drastic as it may sound, these acts had been rendered obsolete by subsequent legislation but never officially removed from the statute books, which this repeal intends to do.
The document of consultation (sorry, the date by which to object has already passed!) is of interest as it does list most of the remaining acts and therefore the roads to which they refer, in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Surrey, plus the London - Holyhead road.
To quote from the paper,
"TURNPIKES REPEAL PROPOSALS
INTRODUCTION
Background
1. This note proposes the repeal of a number of obsolete turnpike Acts relating to
the construction, repair and maintenance of roads in parts of Gloucestershire,
Oxfordshire and Surrey. The note also proposes the repeal of obsolete Acts relating
to the financing, construction, repair and maintenance of roads between London and
Holyhead. These Acts have long ceased to have any effect. In most cases, the
periods for which they were individually enacted expired a century or more ago.
Despite this, none of them have been formally repealed, and they remain on the
statute book to this day.
2. Until the late 19th century, Britain had no national framework for maintaining its
highways. For much of the 17th and 18th centuries, roads were repairable by the
population at large, with every able-bodied man being subject to six days a year of
unpaid statute labour repairing the roads. The inefficiency of the statute labour
system left most roads poorly repaired and maintained.
3. Turnpikes were an alternative method of road administration and were first used
in 1663. A turnpike was a toll-gate set up across a road, with travellers along that
road being able to pass through the gate only upon payment of a toll. The revenue
collected from tolls would be used to repair and maintain the road.
4. The first turnpike Act was passed in 1663 to set up a turnpike road in
Wadesmill, Hertfordshire. The first turnpike trust was established by a 1706 statute
which appointed and nominated 32 trustees to oversee the maintenance and
management of the road between Fonthill in Bedfordshire to Stony Stratford in
Buckinghamshire. These humble beginnings led to the passing of more than 1100
local Acts establishing turnpike trusts during the 18th century. These Acts were
generally expressed to continue for, or expire after, a fixed period, usually 21 years.
The relevant periods were frequently extended, either by an Act specific to a
particular turnpike trust or, after the mid-1830s, on an annual basis by the Annual
Turnpike Acts Continuance Acts (“the ATCAs”).
5. The Annex to this note explains the reasons for the rise and subsequent decline
of the turnpike system as a means of maintaining a national road network. For
example direct competition from the newly-built railways in the first half of the 19th
century was a major factor in the financial failure of many turnpike trusts. Suffice it to
say that, from 1864 onwards, Parliament embarked on a positive programme of
terminating turnpike trusts. This was achieved by means of the ATCAs, each of
which identified specific turnpike Acts for repeal or discontinuance, whilst continuing
every other subsisting turnpike Act for a period of approximately 12 months. The
final extension under an ATCA was until 1 November 1886, and the last remaining
trust (relating to the Anglesey portion of the Shrewsbury to Holyhead Road) expired
on 1 November 1895.
6. Although the framework of legislation that governed the generic management of
turnpike trusts was repealed in 1981, most of the Acts that provided for individual
turnpike trusts have never been formally repealed. The present exercise seeks to
remedy that situation in relation to the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and
Surrey and in relation to the roads between London and Holyhead. Work on
repealing turnpike legislation in other counties of England and Wales will be
undertaken in due course.
Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1885
7. The Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1885 (“the 1885 Act”) was the final
Act in a long series dating back to the 1830s whereby Parliament provided for the
continuation, expiry or repeal of turnpike Acts. It applied only to turnpikes in England
and Wales. Sections 1, 3 and 4 provided for the continuation of specified turnpike
Acts to dates varying between 1 November 1885 and 1 November 1896. Section 2
repealed the turnpike Acts specified in Schedule 2 to the 1885 Act.
8. The most significant provision of the 1885 Act is section 6, which applied to all
other turnpike Acts that then remained in force. Section 6 provided as follows-
Any other Act now in force for regulating, making, amending or repairing
any turnpike road which will expire at or before the end of the next
session of Parliament shall continue in force until the first day of
November one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, and no longer,
unless Parliament in the meantime otherwise provides; but this section
shall not affect any Act continued to a specified date and no longer, or
any Act which is to be repealed at a specified time.
In other words, any turnpike Act that had not already expired, been repealed or
discontinued could continue no longer than 1 November 1886 unless Parliament
provided otherwise. In the event, as indicated above, the final turnpike trust expired
in 1895."
So it doesn't mean that you no longer have to pay road tax for your car, and you still have to pay on such roads and bridges as tolls apply to, but a bit of England's transport history is finally retired to the history books long after its days of usefulness have passed.
Not as drastic as it may sound, these acts had been rendered obsolete by subsequent legislation but never officially removed from the statute books, which this repeal intends to do.
The document of consultation (sorry, the date by which to object has already passed!) is of interest as it does list most of the remaining acts and therefore the roads to which they refer, in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Surrey, plus the London - Holyhead road.
To quote from the paper,
"TURNPIKES REPEAL PROPOSALS
INTRODUCTION
Background
1. This note proposes the repeal of a number of obsolete turnpike Acts relating to
the construction, repair and maintenance of roads in parts of Gloucestershire,
Oxfordshire and Surrey. The note also proposes the repeal of obsolete Acts relating
to the financing, construction, repair and maintenance of roads between London and
Holyhead. These Acts have long ceased to have any effect. In most cases, the
periods for which they were individually enacted expired a century or more ago.
Despite this, none of them have been formally repealed, and they remain on the
statute book to this day.
2. Until the late 19th century, Britain had no national framework for maintaining its
highways. For much of the 17th and 18th centuries, roads were repairable by the
population at large, with every able-bodied man being subject to six days a year of
unpaid statute labour repairing the roads. The inefficiency of the statute labour
system left most roads poorly repaired and maintained.
3. Turnpikes were an alternative method of road administration and were first used
in 1663. A turnpike was a toll-gate set up across a road, with travellers along that
road being able to pass through the gate only upon payment of a toll. The revenue
collected from tolls would be used to repair and maintain the road.
4. The first turnpike Act was passed in 1663 to set up a turnpike road in
Wadesmill, Hertfordshire. The first turnpike trust was established by a 1706 statute
which appointed and nominated 32 trustees to oversee the maintenance and
management of the road between Fonthill in Bedfordshire to Stony Stratford in
Buckinghamshire. These humble beginnings led to the passing of more than 1100
local Acts establishing turnpike trusts during the 18th century. These Acts were
generally expressed to continue for, or expire after, a fixed period, usually 21 years.
The relevant periods were frequently extended, either by an Act specific to a
particular turnpike trust or, after the mid-1830s, on an annual basis by the Annual
Turnpike Acts Continuance Acts (“the ATCAs”).
5. The Annex to this note explains the reasons for the rise and subsequent decline
of the turnpike system as a means of maintaining a national road network. For
example direct competition from the newly-built railways in the first half of the 19th
century was a major factor in the financial failure of many turnpike trusts. Suffice it to
say that, from 1864 onwards, Parliament embarked on a positive programme of
terminating turnpike trusts. This was achieved by means of the ATCAs, each of
which identified specific turnpike Acts for repeal or discontinuance, whilst continuing
every other subsisting turnpike Act for a period of approximately 12 months. The
final extension under an ATCA was until 1 November 1886, and the last remaining
trust (relating to the Anglesey portion of the Shrewsbury to Holyhead Road) expired
on 1 November 1895.
6. Although the framework of legislation that governed the generic management of
turnpike trusts was repealed in 1981, most of the Acts that provided for individual
turnpike trusts have never been formally repealed. The present exercise seeks to
remedy that situation in relation to the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and
Surrey and in relation to the roads between London and Holyhead. Work on
repealing turnpike legislation in other counties of England and Wales will be
undertaken in due course.
Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1885
7. The Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1885 (“the 1885 Act”) was the final
Act in a long series dating back to the 1830s whereby Parliament provided for the
continuation, expiry or repeal of turnpike Acts. It applied only to turnpikes in England
and Wales. Sections 1, 3 and 4 provided for the continuation of specified turnpike
Acts to dates varying between 1 November 1885 and 1 November 1896. Section 2
repealed the turnpike Acts specified in Schedule 2 to the 1885 Act.
8. The most significant provision of the 1885 Act is section 6, which applied to all
other turnpike Acts that then remained in force. Section 6 provided as follows-
Any other Act now in force for regulating, making, amending or repairing
any turnpike road which will expire at or before the end of the next
session of Parliament shall continue in force until the first day of
November one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, and no longer,
unless Parliament in the meantime otherwise provides; but this section
shall not affect any Act continued to a specified date and no longer, or
any Act which is to be repealed at a specified time.
In other words, any turnpike Act that had not already expired, been repealed or
discontinued could continue no longer than 1 November 1886 unless Parliament
provided otherwise. In the event, as indicated above, the final turnpike trust expired
in 1895."
So it doesn't mean that you no longer have to pay road tax for your car, and you still have to pay on such roads and bridges as tolls apply to, but a bit of England's transport history is finally retired to the history books long after its days of usefulness have passed.
