LOCAL HIGHWAYS
Stoke Goldington is positioned on the B526 (previously the A50 trunk road) from Newport Pagnell to Northampton, which previously made it ideal for the Royal Mail and passenger coach connections from London to Derby, Manchester and Liverpool in the 19th century. read more…
In the 16th Century English roads were in such a terrible state that in 1555 an Act of Parliament was passed to mandate Parishes to maintain their local highways.
The new Statute mandated ALL parishioners to do 4 (later 6) consecutive days of unpaid work repairing the roads. Where local roads were used by heavy through traffic, this obligation became very unpopular, very quickly…
In North Bucks the roads were particularly bad because of the underlying clay soil and surfaces were continually broken and rutted by heavy waggons.
There are copies of Bucks Session Records from the 17th Century in the SGA archive, listing landowners and tenants continually being fined for “not Repairing the Highways there” (mainly at Eakley, in the northern part of the Parish)
Turnpike Acts
Turnpike Acts were passed in the 18th Century, creating Trusts of local landowners and dignitaries to charge tolls for carriages and animals to pass over their sections of the road network, using the money collected to finance the work needed. These repairs remained the local responsibility until 1835.
Local Roads
1709 – Turnpike Act – The Road from Stoke Goldington to Northampton (Geo I. Cap. 10)
1722 – Buckinghamshire Highways Act. Ch. 13 (Geo I)
1723 – Turnpike Act – The Road from Newport Pagnell to Stoke Goldington (Anne. Cap. XIII)
Later these Trusts were combined as the Northampton and Newport Pagnell Turnpike Trust, which remained in existence until 1871.
Milestones
Under the General Turnpike Act of 1766, milestones became mandatory, instead of voluntary.
There were 3 milestones in Gayhurst and Stoke Goldington until at least 2003, which seem to have disappeared recently. read more
Bob Clarke, a long term villager, wrote about his memories of Getting About in the Country in the early 20th Century rural areas
Sources:-
K. Edmonds, J. Elding & J. Mellor – Turnpike Roads of Buckinghamshire
Peter Gulland – The Toll Roads of Buckinghamshire 1706-1881