THE BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD.
1766-1883
By F. C. ELLISTON-ERWOOD, F.S.A.
THE Turnpike System of road maintenance was introduced into Kent
in 1709 by the Act 8 Anne c. 20, whereby the control of the Sevenoaks,
Tonbridge and Tunbridge WeUs roads passed to Trustees appointed by
that Act. It was nearly half a century before this admittedly successful
experiment was applied to the Weald. NaturaUy the three great
highways into the county from the metropolis, the Dover, Hythe and
Rye roads, were the first to receive attention, but even here the process
of turnpiking was piecemeal and they were not completely in the hands
of Trustees tUl well into the eighteenth century. Until these main
arteries were in a state of reasonable repah there was not much to be
gained by repairing the highways up from the Weald.
But from 1750 till 1775 there was an almost feverish haste to obtain
Acts of Parliament which would sanction improvements in those
Kentish roads which had had. for a long time an evil reputation among
both traveUers and residents. This was particularly so in the Weald,
and now from Cranbrook and its immediate neighbourhood, greatly
improved communications began to appear, Unking up that remote
district with Maidstone, Ashford, Chatham, Faversham and Canterbury.
It wUl be observed that the general line of advancement was
northwards, to clear as soon as might be the treacherous clays of the
Weald, to reach as quickly as possible the drier, firmer terrain of the
southern slope of the North Downs. One of these roads was that from
Biddenden through Smarden, Pluckley, Little Chart and Charing, to
meet the aheady formed road from Ashford to Faversham, at a place
eaUed Boundgate (Fig. 1). The Act authorizing the reconstruction of
this road was in the usual form. After reciting the course of the new
highway and emphasizing the ruinous and " foundered " state of the
existing way, a long list of Trustees followed, containing nearly a
hundred names, including many of the notable famUies of the county,
the Hales, the KnatchbuUs, the Derings, SackvUles and FUmers with a
host of lesser folk, landed gentry and the clergy. Of this imposing
array, it must be admitted that this was the first and only appearance
of most of them in the annals of the Trust ; the Act specified seven
Trustees as a quorum, and this seems to have been taken as a directive,
for rarely did more than that number appear at the regular meetings.
185
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
Weftwctty'anfh
#' Biddenden) to
Milkhouse Street.
And the Woodchurch Turnpike Roads.
The Trustees of the above Roads have resolved to enforce the foUowing; provisions of the
General Turnpike Aets.
Persons Driving without Reins
and riding on any Waggon or Curt upon any Turnpike Koiul, without some other Person on fuot
or on horseback to guide the horse or horses therein, und such horses not being more than two
dravioRtfae same; are liable to a penalty of FOKTY SHILLINGS. 3 Geo. 4, cap. 126.
sec. 132.
Owner's Name of every Waggon
Wain, Cart, or other such Carriage, shall be painted in one or more straight lines upon some
conspicuous part of the right or oft side, or upon the offside shads thereof; if such name or
pine! of abode be false or fictitiou.s, or if such Carriage be used on any Turnpike Road
without such name &c. the owner is liable to a penalty of FIVE POUNDS. Sec. 15.
Any Driver leaving Block Stones
on uny Turnpike Road after having blocked or stopped any Cart. Waggon, or other Carriage
in Koing up a hill, N liable to a penalty of FOKTY SHILLINGS, over and aboie the damage
oused thereby; und descending a hill with u wheel locked without a skidpun, to a penalty of
TWENTY SHILLINGS. Sec. 121, and J24. Any Hawker, Higgler, Gipsy,
or other person who shall ;pitch any Tent or encamp on any Turnpike Houd or shall LEAVE
ANY 'W'AGGON', CART, or. other Carriage upon the side'thereof, longer than is necessary
to load or unload the same, (except in case of accident, and then uo longer than may be
necessary to remove the same,) or IF ANT PERSON SHALE LAY ANY TIMBER,
MANURE, or other thing whatsoever gpon. or on the sides thereof, he shall be liuble to a
penalty of FORTY SHILLINGS. .See. 124. If any Horse, Sheep, Beast,
or Cattle of any kind, be found tethered, wandering, straying, or•lying about any Turnpike Kauri,
the same will be impounded, and a penalty of TWO SHILLING* per heuri will be enforced.
4, Geo. 4, c. 95, Sec. 75.
By Order of the Trustees,
THOMAS THURSTON,
AngSFSFW. SURVEYOR.
Elliott and Son, Printers, Ashford.
FIG. 2
190
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
Wealden road when first reconstructed was only covered with half the
proper quantity of stones and that this, combined with the recent wet
season, made it necessary to put down about two cords of stone per rod,
or alternatively a lesser amount of stone with a gravel capping. The
surveyor was asked to find the most suitable material. The entry to
Little Chart Court was to be remade and the cost shared between the
owner and the Trust, the latter's contribution amounting to £3. There
was a certain amount of " give and take " between the Trust and
adjoining owners to improve the road generally.
The preceding summary gives a general idea of what went on at the
meetings of Trustees. Five meetings a year was the normal practice,
and of these, three were purely formal with no business transacted, and
certainly without a quorum. One meeting gave notice of the Annual
Meeting and ordered the preparation and presentation of accounts,
another gave notice when necessary of a meeting for auctioning the
tolls, but for the rest, everything seems to have been left to the Surveyor
and the Clerk, Weller Norwood of Charing, who was also Clerk of the
Stocker's Head Trust.1 In the following precis of the minutes only
unusual variants of normal happenings or details that shed light on the
particular problems of this road are mentioned. Annual Balances and
income from the letting of the tolls are dealt with later.
Year 1836-7
9 May 1836. Nothing. 1 Aug. 1836. Nothing. 30th Oct. 1836.
Nothing. 2 Jan. 1837. Annual Accounts and Estimates to be
prepared. 23 March 1837. Accounts audited and ordered to be
printed. Thurston appointed Surveyor at a salary of £25 per annum.
That is the general picture of the administration, and it proceeds thus
with little variation till the end of the Trust.
In April, 1838, some new Trustees were appointed in place of those
that had died or left the district, and the following month saw the first
recorded auction of the tolls. There were four tollgates on the line of
the roadj at Biddenden, Maltman's Hill, Pluckley and Charing. These
were respectively let to John Austen, Gatekeeper of Maidstone, Alexander
Bottle of Dover, John Austen and John Smith of Canterbury,
and reahzed altogether £428. Judging from the prices obtained
Biddenden and Charing were the most used gates, the others only
fetching httle over half of the sums paid for the busier ones. The
re-measurement of the road (see p. 188) took place in 1840, but the
rates per mile were put up to £10 in Smarden on the grounds that the
sums arising from this charge were wholly insufficient for the purpose
for which they were intended. This alteration was made by the
Justices in Canterbury. There are yearly entries of interest being paid
on the loan, but very rarely is the principal debt reduced. In 1843 a
1 Arch. Cant., LXX, p. 205.
191
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
curious contretemps occurred. The bidders were assembled for the
auction of the tolls when the clerk announced that he had forgotten to
advertise it as ordered in the Act. The sale was therefore postponed
for a month, when Mr. Bottle of Dover, Grocer, took the whole series
for £426 and was given a dinner for his trouble.1
In 1846 the railway question crops up again. The South Eastern,
the Great Kent Atmospheric Railway and the Central Kent all submitted
proposals and asked the Trustees whether they were still
neutral or dissenting. This time the Trustees ordered the Clerk to
inform the Solicitors to the various undertakings that their attitude
was now one of dissent.2
In the same year the Trustees decided to keep the tolls in their own
hands and to appoint Collectors of Tolls at 7s. per week, later on
reduced to 6s. They were evidently dissatisfied with the bids made by
the farmers of the toll; no figures are available for the actual amounts
collected by the Trust, but quite clearly it was more advantageous to
let the tolls than collect them, and the following year a return was made
to the old custom, especially as there was an organized attempt at
Biddenden to evade payment : the parishioners had constructed a good
hard road to cut out the gate in the town. The reply of the Trustees
was to transfer the gate and collector's house to a new position near
the end of this by-pass. At the same meeting a Mr. Reece applied on
behalf of the personal representative of the late Mr. John Holah for
payment of a long arrear of interest on a loan of £200, originaUy granted
to a Robert Spencer. This must have been many years earlier (no dates
are given), for the Trustees pleaded the Statute of Limitations and
declined to pay the arrears till opinion of Counsel had been obtained,
together with the consent of all the other creditors. This sounds very
much like sharp practice, but it does throw hght on the financial
problems that faced practically all turnpike authorities.
1 This giving of a dinner or a money grant towards its cost was a common
feature of'most trusts. At Biddenden it continued till 1861 with sums varying
from 30s. to 7s. 6d. It was then dropped but revived in 1875, but never more
than 10s. was given, and in 1878 the " dinner " became " luncheon."
2 These two railways were only part of the great number that were projected
during the " railway mania " of the mid-forties of the nineteenth century. The
Central Kent was mainly a Maidstone affair, the leading figure being a Mr. Wilson,
a local solicitor. Plans were deposited every year from 1836 to 1842, but though
each showed some modification of its predecessor, nothing came of the proposals,
even though the South-Eastern Railway subsidized the scheme to the sum of
£6,000 with a seat on the Board.
The Kentish Atmospheric Railway was more concerned with linking up Kent
with the Croydon Line. It likewise never reached fruition, though its real sponsors
were the directors of the Croydon Railway. The intricacies of the relations
between the South-Eastern, the London, Chatham and Dover, and the Brighton
Lines and their rivalries and jealousies are far too involved to be related here.
There is much information about this matter in the Kent County Archives at
Maidstone. (Information from Mr. Edwin Course.)
192
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
Biddenden once more appears as an unruly member. The gate was,
in view of previous complaints, removed to Curteis Corner, about
half a mile north of the town. To this the parish retorted by asking
that the tolls at the gate should be reduced. This was declined on the
grounds that the arrears of interest were very heavy, but, as already
shown, there was a reluctance to pay these arrears if any opportunity
offered. Charing, too, was becoming an expense. A scheme for the
drainage of the town had involved the opening up of the roads and had
cost the Trust some £20 in 1846. Now in the following year there were
complaints of flooding due presumably to defective work. Thurston
was consulted and another £45 was granted to the improvement of
the sewer. Once again the Trust had to take over the collection of ifcs
tolls, as Mr. Bottle wished to be relieved of his task, and then the Trust
suffered a severe loss in the death of their Clerk, Mr. Weller Norwood,
who had piloted it for a long while. In fact to all intents and purposes
he was the Trust, and in appointing his son, Mr. Edward Norwood, they
were doing the wisest thing and ensured some continuity with no great
change of policy. In 1850 a great figure in road administration appears
on the scene in the person of James McAdam, one of the sons of the great
James Loudon McAdam, whose name will always be associated with
road construction and maintenance. This is not the place to dwell on
the influence of this family nor the manner in which they indeed became
the great " Colossi of English Roads," but this particular James was
Surveyor-General of the Trust Roads and it was part of his duty to
exercise some sort of control over them, as they were now beginning
to attract some animosity and severe criticism. The Biddenden Trust
was therefore asked what it was doing towards the extinction of its
debt, according to the provision's of the 12/13 Vict. c. 87, and a request
was made that the Trustees act according to that measure. The
Trustees, feeling no doubt annoyed at the intrusion of an outsider,
replied with some acerbity, that they were acting on the provisions of
their own Act, and quoted the sections that were germane. They must,
however, have been conscious of a guilty feeling, for at the same meeting
it was again reported that there was an arrear of interest on a mortgage
originally granted to Mr. Robert Spencer amounting to nearly a hundred
pounds but it was maintained that the claimant, Mr. Holah, had not
yet estabhshed his title and no such evidence had been submitted by
1852.
Routine matters, such as tollgate improvements, enforcement of the
regulations against locked wheels instead of skid-pans on hills, and a
further reduction of trust responsibility by vesting authority in only
two Trustees, carried the Trust on till 1859 when the Biddenden
controversy flared up again. The town said that all the money
collected was not required and was certainly not spent on the town
193
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
roads. This was the everlasting dispute arising from contributions in
heu of statute duty, which duty had been abohshed in favour of money
payments in 1835, and Biddenden now said that no more payments
would be made without an order from the Justices of the Peace. In the
foUowing year this unruly townlet was stiU persisting in its intransigeance.
But other matters were looming up. The old Treasurer,
Thomas RacheU, was dead, and Baker Ashwell reigned in his stead, and
one of his first actions was to estabhsh a sinking fund for the hquidation
of outstanding debts. There may have been wisdom in this, as the
existing Act was due to expire in 1861, and true to type the Trustees
were to apply for a new one, and it would materiaUy assist that application
if it could be shown that efforts were being made to extinguish its
burden of debt. At the same time there was a discussion about an
amalgamation with the Stocker's Head Trust, whose finances were in a
very bad way. Unfortunately there is httle or no information as to
the condition of this Trust. The account of this road in Arch. Cant.
LXX stopped short in 1849 when the avaUable records cease, but its
revenue was never very high and its upkeep expensive. For some time
there had been close contacts with the Biddenden Road with officials
and many Trustees in common, and the prospect of a new Act for the
latter road seemed to offer a solution of the difficulties. Matters
appeared to be progressing favourably in this direction. The creditors
of both Trusts agreed to an amalgamation and for a continuance of a
local Act rather than a permissive existence under a Continuing Act.
The Draft BUI was read over and approved, the chief provision being
that the tolls of both roads should be pooled and distributed or spent,
three parts to Biddenden and one part to Stocker's Head. What
actuaUy happened is now impossible to say. The new Act was reported
passed in August, 1861, but therein is not the shghtest indication of
amalgamation, and Stocker's Head Trust continued its sohtary way to
its end. MeanwhUe the Biddenden road pursued its own way, with
the new Treasurer acting as a new broom. He simplified the accounts,
though, owing to the complete absence of any balance sheets of any date,
no details of this reform can be given, but perhaps the withdrawal of any
grant for the refreshment of those bidding for the tolls was one of his
minor reforms. Complaints about the damage done to the roads by
the appearance of steam engines on the highways may have warned the
Trustees of a dark cloud of steam and smoke already threatening them,
but a more domestic matter now demanded their attention. The
roads of the Maidstone and Ashford Trust crossed the Biddenden roads
in Charing vttlage and for some short distance traveUed along them.
This Trust had now made a diversion, and all that was needed was a
plain road crossing. In these circumstances a payment of £10 by
Maidstone for this slight accommodation was to be withheld. Bidden-
194
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
den protested and sent a deputation, pointing out that the new road
stUl crossed their highway. Maidstone persisted in its refusal to make
any payment. It appeared, however, that there was some doubt as to
the number of Maidstone Trustees present at the meeting that decided
to withdraw the payment, and Biddenden seized on this and other
shght infractions of the law and further asked that whUe these points
were being fought out the payment for the current year be made, the
question of arrears and future contributions to await the general
decision. This was declined, and nothing was done tUl it was settled
that Maidstone's action was contrary to law. Unless, therefore, the
payment was made, a gate would be erected in Charing across the road
and all Maidstone and Ashford traffic would have to pay a toU. This
master stroke settled matters ; Maidstone capitulated and agreed to
pay and continue the £10 in dispute. MeanwhUe the raUway question
was again before the Trustees, and in January, 1864, the proposed
Maidstone to Ashford RaUway was allowed to cross the road by a
bridge, provided the parapets of this bridge were at least five feet high.
The Trust's activities once again pursued a quiet course, only
ruffled now and then by the determination of Mr. Horton to- run his
traction engine on the road in spite of the warnings of the Trust and the
Secretary of State. The Police and the Surveyor were warned to be on
the road and take the appropriate steps for every infraction of the
regulations. Or sometimes there was a serio-comic interlude, as when
Mr. Thomas Street, bidding for the toUs on behalf of an absent principal,
found himself without cash for the necessary deposit. Instead, he
produced a heavy gold ring which the clerk accepted in lieu. The
principal being still absent, he decided to relinquish the tolls, asked that
they be put up again and requested the return of his ring. As the
second auction produced a final bid £4 less than his own, the Clerk
refused to do this, whereupon Mr. Street snatched his ring from the
table where it was lying and refused to return it. The Clerk was asked
to consider whether there had been an infraction of the law, and, if so,
to take proceedings. Then the Maidstone affair revived again (1870).
By this time the Maidstone Turnpike had been taken over by the
Highways Board and this authority now offered but £5 for the privUege
of crossing the Trust roads at Charing. Once again the old procedure
was followed. £10 was demanded or a gate would be erected, and the
Highway Board capitulated. Ashford next joined with Biddenden in
declining to pay the increased compositions. Highway Boards had by
this time come into operation, taking the place of the old parish Surveyor,
and they were generaUy showing increased hostility to the
entrenched position of the TurnpUie Trusts everywhere, and Ashford
was not behindhand in making its claims. The matter was taken to
court, but no result seems to be recorded.
195
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
These Highway Boards continued to be a thorn in the side of the
Trust. The Board's traction engine at Biddenden is reported to do
more damage to the road than normal traffic, and the Tenterden
Highway Board offered to take over the roads in the parish of Biddenden
for a payment by the Trust of £16 2s. This offer was acceptable only if
the Board would buy for £69 6s. 8d. road repair material recently put
on and by the roadside, otherwise the Trust would press for the payment
of £38 Os. 7d., the assessed composition for this part of the road.
MeanwhUe the death of the Surveyor was reported, and a very
efficient servant was lost to the Trust; his son Charles Thurston, who
had been associated with his father since 1868, was appointed (1880)
in his place, but in 1882 it was reported that "Mr. Thurston had
neglected his duty, had not attended the meetings and had not produced
vouchers for payment " so he was immediately discharged.
A new Treasurer was also appointed, and amid aU this upset it was
announced that the Trust would come to an end on 1st November,
1883. In the midst of aU the preparations for the dissolution of the
Trust and the disposal of the toll houses Ashford announced its readiness
to pay the disputed composition, and in gratitude the Trust gave it the
snow-plough " being much out of repair." Then on 26th November,
1883, the last meeting of the Trust was held. The Clerk was instructed
to make up the final accounts and dispose of the property. Two
Trustees were deputed to sign all official documents on their behalf and
provision was made for the repayment of all mortgages, claimants being
given to the end of the year to submit their proofs. And so the Biddenden
and Boundgate Trust came to its end after a life of one hundred and
eighteen years of dull undistinguished activity.
The minutes are in the main bald and unflluminating, and it is clear
that most of the work was carried out by the Clerk, the Surveyor and one
or two Trustees. The Trust was efficient in an unimaginative way, and
financiaUy it managed to keep its head always above ruin, though it
was only towards its end that it made any attempt to pay off its
creditors, and this it did in a fashion common enough among trusts, by
inviting tenders from its creditors for the sum they would accept for
immediate repayment, which in some cases was almost as low as 50 per
cent. It is the financial side of any trust that is the most important
and valuable, as it shows up aU the strength and weaknesses of the
system. It must be remembered that most Trustees were deficient in
any sort of business qualifications, and the wonder is that they survived
as well and as long as they did. To give an adequate picture of the
finance of this Trust is not easy. There are no complete accounts, and
each yearly meeting was evidently satisfied with a statement of Balance
in Hand. These are shown, to the nearest £25, on the accompanying
chart (Fig. 3) and they make it clear that with the exception of 1861
196
BIDDENDEN AND BOUNDGATE TURNPIKE ROAD, 1766-1883
these balances ranged between about £150 and £525. The drop referred
to was probably caused by the bUl of costs incurred in obtaining the
new Act. The revenue from the toUs is not so easy to Ulustrate. There
were some years when the tolls were in hand and not returned as
separate items, and there are other times when some only of the gates
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FIG. 3
were let and others retained, but as a general guide the second graph
(in broken lines) indicates that a revenue of between £275 and £475 per
annum was usual, though with a gradual decline as the Trust neared the
time for extinction.
197
