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Turnpike trusts in Rutland Turnpike trusts in England and Wales During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries turnpike roads were a critical part of the pre-railway transport revolution, transforming barely-passable tracks into a network of managed toll roads. These roads were managed by local, not-for-profit Turnpike Trusts, established by individual Acts of Parliament to levy tolls for the specific purpose of road maintenance and improvement. Before the turnpike system, road maintenance was the responsibility of local parishes, primarily through a system of 'statute labour', which required residents to work on the roads for up to six days a year without pay. This system proved inadequate for the upkeep of major routes, especially with the increase in heavy wheeled traffic. The first national turnpike Act was passed in 1663 for a section of the Great North Road, but 'turnpike fever' and subsequent widespread formation of turnpike trusts peaked between 1750 and 1772. Each trust operated under an Act of Parliament, which typically granted powers for a limited term – typically twenty-one years – although these Acts were routinely renewed. The trustees, usually local gentlemen and commercial interests, were authorised to erect gates (the 'turnpikes') and toll houses, where a 'pikeman' or collector would collect tolls based on a schedule determined by the Act. Former toll house, Stamford. The system was not without opposition. Local communities often resented paying tolls for routes that were previously free, leading to a period of 'tollgate riots' in some regions. Rutland's residents did not riot, so far as I'm aware. The turnpike trusts in Rutland facilitated significant improvements in road quality and speed of travel. Influential road engineers like Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam developed innovative construction methods (such as 'Macadamising' using graded stones) that were adopted by turnpike trusts. However seemingly neither Telford nor McAdam were directly involved with Rutland's turnpike trusts. Turnpike trusts in Rutland Rutland benefited from proximity to the much-improved Great North Road. There were also several more local turnpike trusts. The Stamford to Oakham Turnpike was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1794. This ran from Scot Gate in Stamford, through Oakham, to the Cross Guns inn at Greetham, so it connected to the Great North Road at both ends. This trust established several toll gates and side bars along its route, including locations like Stamford Fields (on the county boundary), Tinwell Lodge, Shacklewell, Empingham, and the Hambleton or Fishpond Bar, near the turn-off to Upper Hambleton. The most important turnpiked route in Rutland was a section of the road from London to Leeds used by mail coaches. It entered Rutland just north of Rockingham, went north to Uppingham and then Oakham before heading to Melton Mowbray. This is now the A6003 and A606. Other trusts operating close to Rutland of the Grantham Turnpike Trust (now the A607 connecting Leicester and Melton Mowbray with Grantham) and the Nottingham to Melton Trust (now the A606). There must have been a corresponding trust for Melton to Stamford (now also the A606). Turnpiked routes in Rutland. From The Turnpike Roads of Leicestershire and Rutland by Arthur Cossons (Kairos 2003) . The improvements turnpikes brought Before turnpiking according to a timetable of 1811 mail coaches left London at 8 p.m. and were expected to arrive in Oakham at 11 the next morning before continuing to Melton Mowbray, Nottingham and eventually Leeds. This was an average speed of just over 6 m.p.h.. In 1835, after turnpike trusts had improved much of the route, the mail coaches were expected to achieve over 9 m.p.h., reducing journey times to two-thirds of the pre-turnpiking era. The decline of the turnpike trusts The decline of the turnpike system began with the advent of the railways in the mid-nineteenth century, which offered much faster long-distance transport. Although turnpike roads remained important for local travel, the trusts' revenue and viability diminished. The system was phased out nationally in the 1870s, with most trusts in Rutland ceasing to exist by 1878. The Stamford to Oakham trust closed in 1871. Responsibility for maintaining the main roads eventually transferred to the newly-formed county councils in the late ninteenth century. The legacy of Rutland's turnpikes is evident today, as many of the routes they established form the foundation of the county's modern A-road network. sources Turnpikes and the Royal Mail of Rutland (Rutland Local History Society 1982) The Turnpike Roads of Leicestershire and Rutland by Arthur Cossons (Kairos 2003) Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2026 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/rutland

Rutland's history home page what's new? glossary bibliography Rutland's geology Rutland's boundaries Rutland's rivers long, long ago prehistoric Rutland Roman Rutland long ago Anglo-Saxon Rutland Rutland's place-names waterborne transport around the sixth century Rutland's early churches Anglo-Saxon sculpture in Rutland The Matter of Rutland what the Normans did for Rutland Romanesque sculpture in Rutland Rutland's royal forests Rutland in medieval times Rutland's scratch dials Rutland's medieval carvings Rutland's sepulchral effigies Rutland's saltways Rutland in Tudor times Dissolution in Rutland not that long ago Rutland in the 17th century pinfolds and pounds in Rutland dovecotes in Rutland Rutland in the 18th century turnpiking Rutland Rutland's springs and wells changes in Rutland's agriculture since 1800 seems like yesterday Rutland's dialect Rutland's folk customs travellers in Rutland watermills and windmills in Rutland breweries in Rutland gasworks in Rutland ironstone quarrying in Rutland Zeppelins over Rutland redundant telephone exchanges in Rutland Second World War in Rutland WWII airfields and pillboxes in Rutland the making of Rutland Water Rutland Weekend Television free online history resources Victoria County History: Rutland volume one Victoria County History: Rutland volume two free PDFs of Rutland Record issues 1 to 50 old OS maps Historic England Listed buildings database Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland Open Domesday English Place-Name Society database Wikipedia list of places in Rutland (with links to village entries) Wikipedia list of people from Rutland researching and writing local history getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around Rutland Belton-in-Rutland History Society Cottesmore History and Archaeology Group Langham Village History Group Lyddington Manor History Society Rutland Local History and Record Society with free PDFs of over forty issues of the Rutland Record Uppingham Local History Study Group you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Vale of Belvoir Chronicle Barrowby Until Now website