The Biddenden and Boundgate Turnpike Road, 1766-1883

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 J «ft ^ XL* J J . . . f.„ ^*« -i_ vxaamaen A..n.a/u D-O..i.m..aAaA.^ie. rj urniu.^K:£ Tir.i i_s*c. 7 J. °° T Jlnauice i„ r . . . . • • . So&ds h*cc. AmtUAt &AL\IU^< *r, ' <2SB E-ii-E - - ' f-£"- -~** -V i .x\it -N yt- £ : : . zC'i-jcn^ ^ S ^L .-zJ /Aiiti i . jllift ut-j; - £ - w - - t j - P t JL. SS-- s4ti , - -Sv t »- I • ~' YtMIOU. 3k if 36. SJUO. U U.43. U-O- 4& i?. U.^. JO. JL ^1.^5. Ji. J J ^ v\ c\ . s J < y _ Sv. _ ^ ^ ^ / v _ _ J _j \ , 2 L __ L-\_-J\E * ^*'^* ^'l\.jr. i l i . ^l 3 1SL. I iI--.Z- , /v^v- ~^- jC-jJ _tHi t t j r rI ^ L . .. _^ Cill i l j z l t t : _VL j: jIf--nAr HJIt- TJ- Aj • L-iJ _ \V - __ tirt ci - _ 4- 4 ^ J. ;6 «.M. <9- 6ft 6*. 6:.6j. 64.6* 66.6?. 68; 65.7a p. 72.73. fi-Tf. 76.fl: p . 79.8a8L Bl. 6J. 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