Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by acts of Parliament during the 18th and 19th centuries. The trusts had powers to collect road tolls for the maintenance of principal highways. The length of turnpike roads within what is now Greater Manchester varied considerably, from the Little Lever Trust, to the Manchester to Saltersbrook Trust.
Turnpikes contributed significantly to England's economic development before and during the Industrial Revolution. Although the trusts were abolished in the late-19th century, the roads themselves broadly remain as modern routes, and some of the original toll houses and roadside milestones have survived.
The metropolitan county of Greater Manchester was created in 1974 and so the turnpike trusts predate its existence. Greater Manchester lies at the conjunction of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire; many trusts operated roads which crossed those ancient county boundaries. The list below is divided according to historic county, with the first part of the name of each trust determining which table it appears in.
History
Method of construction and the design of the road surface varied. Before construction of its road, the Bury, Blackburn and Whalley Trust engaged "skilled persons" as temporary surveyors, to make a survey of the districts through which the road would pass. It then advertised for tenders for construction of varied parts of the roads, with contractors responsible for building their respective portions, under the supervision of permanent surveyors. The trust bought limestone for the road surface largely from limestone quarries in Clitheroe. In Manchester, Liverpool, and Wigan, due to heavy coal traffic it was necessary to lay pavements of large stones along the roads. Suitable material would, if not found in the vicinity, be imported from the coasts of Wales and Scotland. Normally the pavement ran down the middle of the road, with a gravelled way on either side. An exception was along Bury New Road (built in 1826), where the middle track was of gravel, with stone pavements outside it. Such pavements were expensive, and unpopular with travellers who regularly described their discomfort travelling upon them.
Toll rates varied across the region, but preferential rates were often available to local residents, and for particular kinds of local traffic. The 1819 act of Parliament of the Crossford Bridge and Manchester Trust, the Road from Crossford Bridge to Manchester Act 1819 (59 Geo. 3. c. lvi), allowed it to charge half tolls on the inhabitants and occupiers of Trafford House, Old Trafford, and Stretford Moss. The Bolton and Westhoughton Trust allowed farmers from Rumworth and Westhoughton to use the roads free of charge, when taking horses and carts laden with produce from their own farms to Bolton Market. Carriage of coal was often charged at half the normal rate, and no tolls were payable by persons travelling on foot. Other road users who were entitled to free passage included posthorses, carriage of ordnance and military stores, and cattle going to pasture.
Turnpike roads had a huge impact on the nature of business transport around Manchester. Packhorses were superseded by waggons, and merchants would no longer accompany their caravans to markets and fairs, instead sending agents with samples, and despatching the goods at a later date. In 1804 it was said that Manchester employed more than 120 "land carriers".
The railway era spelt disaster for most turnpike trusts. Although some trusts in districts not served by railways managed to increase revenue, most did not. In 1829, the year before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, the Warrington and Lower Irlam Trust had receipts of £1,680, but by 1834 this had fallen to £332. The Bolton and Blackburn Trust had an income of £3,998 in 1846, but in 1847 following the completion of a railway between the two towns this had fallen to £3,077, and in 1849 £1,185.
The end of the turnpike system created serious problems for the local parishes and highway district boards upon whom the burden of maintenance fell. The Local Government Act 1888 made the repair of all main roads the responsibility of the new county councils. Lancashire County Council determined that any road leading to a town with a population of 25,000 or more would become a main road, which included almost all of the old turnpike roads in the region.
Cheshire Name Interest Income Length (1848) Main gates Side gates Act Year Date expired County Modern road(s)Cranage Green to Altrincham17531881CheshireStockport to Marple Bridge10 miles (16 km) (1852)51 (chain)1801Cheshire & DerbysAlthough no map exists to demonstrate the location of this road, the previous reference provides a strong indication that it was this roadWashway (Crossford Bridge to Altringham)Altringham is the old spelling of Altrincham3 miles, 4 furlongs, 164 yards (5.8 km) (1852)
Derbyshire Name Interest Income Length (1848) Main gates Side gates Act Year Date expired County Modern road(s)Glossop to Marple Bridge1803Derbys
Lancashire Name Interest Income Length (1848) Main gates Side gates Act Year Date expired County Modern road(s)Adlington and Westhoughton Trust£201, 14s, 10dLancsAshton and Platt Bridge£175 13s 6d3 miles 4 furlongs (5.6 km)1806LancsAshton under Lyne to Saddleworth1826Lancs & YorksBarton Bridge and Moses Gate£933 13s 4d13 miles 1 furlong 110 yards (21.2 km)Barton Bridge and Stretford£300 19s4 miles 3 furlongs 2 yards (7 km)1811LancsBarton Road, Stretford (partial)Bolton and Blackburn£1,267 6d12 miles 5 furlongs 41 yards (20.4 km)Bolton and Nightingale£1,755 10s 9d19 miles (30.6 km)B6226Smithills Dean RoadColliers Row RoadScout RoadBolton and St Helens17 miles 2 furlongs 44 yards (27.8 km)58B5215Bolton and Westhoughton2 miles 7 furlongs (4.6 km)Bolton RoadBolton to Haslingdon (dormant)1825DormantLancsBolton to Leigh1762LancsBurnley to Tottington1795LancsBury to Little Bolton5 miles 4 furlongs 176 yards (9 km)341821LancsBury to Blackburn, Whalley etc.33 miles 5 furlongs 9 yards (54.1 km)Bury to Haslingden to Blackburn1789LancsDryclough, Shaw, Rochdale10 miles 7 furlongs 102 yards (17.6 km)1805LancsEccles to FarnworthEdenfield and Little Bolton1797B6213Edenfield Chapel and Bury BridgeElton and Blackburn12 miles 6 furlongs (20.5 km)B6214Gilda Brook and Irlam7 miles 7 furlongs 173 yards (12.8 km)B5320Heath Charnock to Bolton1763LancsHeywood to Heaton1789Hulme and Eccles3 miles 5 furlongs 214 yards (6 km)46 Geo. 3. c. ii22 March 1806LancsHulme and Stretford5 miles 4 furlongs 183 yards (9 km)Hulton5 miles 20 yards (8.1 km)Ince, Hindley and Westhoughton6 miles (9.7 km)Irlams o' th' Height3 miles 7 furlongs 87 yards (6.3 km)Little Lever4 furlongs (0.8 km)118241849 (disturnpiked)Manchester and Ashton under Lyne3 miles 7 furlongs (6.2 km)1825LancsManchester and BuryManchester and Oldham and Austerlands19 miles 1 furlong (30.8 km)17351880Lancs & YorksManchester to BoltonManchester to Newton Chapel (dormant)1817DormantLancsManchester to PilkingtonManchester to Rochdale, Bury and Radcliffe5 miles 7 furlongs (9.5 km)17551873-80LancsCheetham Hill TrustManchester to Saltersbrook22 miles (35.4 km)17321884Lancs & CheshireManchester, Denton, Stockport58 Geo. 3. c. vi1818Lancs & CheshireMather Fold and Hardmans, Moses Gate District3 miles 2 furlongs (5.2 km)Mather Fold and Hardmans, Ringley District3 miles 6 furlongs (6 km)Pendleton Trust Agecroft District£3004 miles 187 yards (6.6 km)Moor LaneSingleton RoadPendleton Trust Irlam's-o'-th'-Heights DistrictPendleton Trust Pendleton District2 miles 2 furlongs (3.6 km)Pendleton Trust Swinton District5 miles 2 furlongs (8.5 km)Prestwich and Bury5 miles 3 furlongs (8.7 km)Stand LaneRadcliffe6 miles 1 furlongs (9.9 km)Rochdale and Burnley18 miles 4 furlongs (29.8 km)28 Geo. 2. c. 5317551880LancsRochdale and Edenfield7 miles (11.3 km)34 Geo. 3. c. 1241794LancsRochdale and Manchester, Manchester DistrictRochdale and Manchester, Rochdale DistrictRochdale, Bamford and Bury7 miles 4 furlongs (12.1 km)17971866LancsNorden RoadBagslate Moor RoadSalford to Wigan26 Geo. 2. c. 271753LancsSharples and Hoghton10 miles 4 furlongs (16.9 km) (1848)3 (1852)Standedge and Oldham10 miles 7 furlongs (17.5 km)Stretford to Manchester17511872LancsSudden Bridge to Bury4 miles 6 furlongs (7.6 km)1797LancsSwinton District5 miles 2 furlongs (8.4 km)Warrington and Lower Irlam7 miles 5 furlongs (12.3 km)Warrington and Wigan11 miles 2 furlongs (18.1 km)1727LancsRadcliffe to Bolton & Bury1836LancsWigan and Preston, south of (River) Yarrow12 miles 6 furlongs (20.5 km)17271866-67LancsManchester and Buxton17251860-75 earliest record 1759 Lancs & DerbysB5470Stockport and Ashton1765Lancs & CheshireStockport and Warrington1820Lancs & CheshireStockport and Warrington (Edgley Branch)Wilmslow26 Geo. 2. c. 5317531881Lancs & CheshireB5167Worsley Trust
Yorkshire Name Interest Income Length (1848) Main gates Side gates Act Year Date expired County Modern road(s)Halifax to Littleborough1760Yorks & LancsOldham and Ripponden16 miles 7 furlongs (27.2 km)1795Yorks & LancsRochdale to Halifax and Elland 17351872YorksSaddleworth to Oldham1792Yorks & Lancs
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