The earliest known infrastructure for transport in Somerset is a series of wooden trackways laid across the Somerset Levels, an area of low-lying marshy ground. To the west of this district lies the Bristol Channel, while the other boundaries of the county of Somerset are along chains of hills that were once exploited for their mineral deposits. These natural features have all influenced the evolution of the transport network. Roads and railways either followed the hills, or needed causeways to cross the Levels. Harbours were developed, rivers improved, and linked to sources of traffic by canals. Railways were constructed throughout the area, influenced by the needs of the city of Bristol, which lies just to the north of Somerset, and to link the ports of the far south-west with the rest of England.
Today, the trunk road and rail routes to the south-western counties of Devon and Cornwall pass through Somerset. This gives the county good connections to Wales, London, and the north of England. A major port and an international airport are situated in the north of the county. Older infrastructure, such as canals and defunct railway lines, have been adapted to serve present day demands for leisure use.
History Early developments
The oldest timber trackway known in Northern Europe, and perhaps the oldest road in the world, is the Sweet Track across part of the Somerset Levels, the low-lying land in the centre of the county. Analysis of the timbers has enabled very precise dating, showing it was built in the spring of 3806 BCE. It extended across the marsh from what was then an island at Westhay, to the Polden Hills at Shapwick. Named after Ray Sweet, who discovered it while cleaning ditches, it is just one of a network of at least 43 tracks that once crossed the Levels.
Pack horse tracks and trails developed later on the higher, drier ground. These could be negotiated by people on foot, or horse and donkeys carrying larger loads. Many of these ancient routes are still in existence across farm land as bridleways and public footpaths, such as that at Midford which links the Pack Horse bridge to the villages of Combe Hay and Twinhoe. Other examples can be seen on older Ordnance Survey maps prepared during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Early trackways were limited in use by the conditions of the underlying soil. The temperate Climate of south-west England can be very erosive to any manmade structures. During winter in particular, whilst a horse and rider could cover a significant distance in a day, any attempt to convey heavy goods such as building materials could be extremely difficult and time-consuming.
Roman era
After the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE they built a number of forts to impose their authority. They included one built inside the earlier Iron Age hill fort at Ham Hill, one at Charterhouse on the Mendip Hills, and probably another at Ilchester where a settlement developed around an important crossroads and river crossing. While earlier trackways continued to be used, a number of relatively straight, well drained Roman roads were built to facilitate communications between the forts and allow the rapid movement of troops.
One of the most important roads in the Roman's British network was the Fosse Way from Lincoln to Exeter which ran south-westwards across Somerset. From Bath the route is now used by parts of the A367 road through Radstock and Stratton-on-the-Fosse. It then crosses open country along farm tracks and minor roads, passing through the eastern suburbs of Shepton Mallet to Cannard's Grave. The route then becomes the A37 through Street-on-the-Fosse and Lydford-on-Fosse almost as far as Ilchester. After passing through the town the route then follows a section of the A303 under the ramparts of the fort at Ham Hill.
The Dorchester Road ran south-eastwards from Ilchester, following the line of the present-day A37 through Yeovil. Another road ran westwards along the Polden Hills to Crandon Bridge near the mouth of the River Parrett, a district important at the time for its salt production. The Fosse Way was crossed at Beacon Hill north of Shepton Mallet by a road that linked lead and silver mines at Charterhouse with a harbour at Southampton. Hot springs were discovered near where the Fosse Way crossed the River Avon and the town of Aquae Sulis (now the city of Bath) developed there. Just a little further north the Fosse Way crossed a long road between London and Sea Mills.
The waters of the Bristol Channel and rivers such as the Avon were used for transport. The small vessels in use at that time could navigate quite some distance upstream, indeed the River Yeo shows evidence of being straightened near Ilchester. Harbours were established near river mouths at Sea Mills (River Avon), Uphill (River Axe), Crandon Bridge and possibly Combwich (River Parrett).
After the Romans
The Romans left the area to its own devices after 410 CE, although most of the established settlements and infrastructure continued in use for many years. Over time new settlements were established, often related to crossing points on rivers such as Highbridge, Bridgwater and Taunton. When Daniel Defoe surveyed the county in 1724 he reported that there were two routes between Taunton and Bristol. The 'Lower Way' which was often impassable due to flooding, and the busier 'Higher Way' over the Mendip Hills. A causeway was created across the flood plains at Mark on the route between Highbridge and Wells.
Unlike today's mechanical transport, the long journeys at this time used animal power and were undertaken in small stages, fresh horses were required at intervals, hence the name 'stage' coaches. Coaching inns provided travellers with refreshments and overnight accommodation required. The George Inn, at Norton St Philip, is one of a number of establishments that claims to be Britain's oldest tavern, is located in the centre of the village. It was built in the 14th or 15th century, as a wool store for the priory at Hinton Charterhouse and to accommodate travellers and merchants coming to the annual wool fairs that were held in the village from the late 13th century until 1902. In the 15th century the timber-framed upper floors were added. The inn became part of the stage coach route between London and the South West. On 12 June 1668 the noted diarist Samuel Pepys, with his wife and servants, passed through the village on their way to Bath from Salisbury.
From the eighteenth century a number of turnpike trusts were set up to build and maintain roads. For instance, the Taunton Turnpike Trust was established in 1752 to improve the roads around that town. The network of turnpikes speeded traffic. Before the end of the century the time taken by the mail coach from Taunton to London had been halved from four to just two days; by 1823 the journey took just 23 hours. The turnpikes were funded by tolls charged on users. Some individuals also had powers to charge road users, often where bridges replaced ferries across rivers. An example of a toll road which has survived into the twenty-first century is between the villages of Bathampton and Batheaston across the river Avon. This was built to replace a man-powered cable supported punt ferry in 1870.
The early roads were improved by the use of tarmacadam construction in the early 20th century. A feature of the M5 motorway south of Taunton, built in the 1970s, is the use of concrete "rafts" to overcome the water-logged soil in that area.
Waterways
The waters of the Bristol Channel are a natural highway and several of the county's rivers used to be navigable to small vessels. A small harbour was established in Roman times at Uphill at the mouth of the River Axe. The river was navigable to the settlement at Weare and overseas trade was carried out from the wharf at Rackley during the Middle Ages, although this village is no longer on the river as the course has been diverted. By 1388 Thomas Tanner of Wells was exporting cloth and corn from Rackley to Portugal, and receiving iron and salt in exchange. Slate was imported through this route at a later date, but an Act of Parliament in 1915 authorised the drainage of the Axe and installation of a flood gate at Bleadon, which is now the tidal limit on the river. Lympsham Wharf near Bleadon had also been used for many years but the arrival of the railway in 1841 made this the furthest navigable point. It was last used by the ketch Democrat in 1942. In 1915 an Act of Parliament authorised the drainage of the Axe and installation of a flood gate at Bleadon, which is now the tidal limit on the river.
In the medieval period the River Parrett was used to transport Hamstone from the quarry at Ham Hill for the construction of churches throughout the county. The nearest bridge to the river's mouth was established at Bridgwater in 1200 AD. A ford, usable only at low tide, and later a ferry operated across the mouth of the river at Combwich, it is thought, since Roman times. The crossing lay on the route of a Saxon herepath; and in the 15th century was regarded as part of the King's Highway. The White House Inn, a licensed victualler, on the Pawlett bank traded from 1655 to 1897 but the ferry has since fallen out of use, and the former White House Inn was demolished round about 1930.
The River Parrett was originally part of the Port of Bristol, however in 1348 a Port of Bridgwater was created. This encompassed of the Somerset coast line, from the Devon border to the mouth of the River Axe. Some quays were built in Bridgwater in 1424 and another quay, the Langport Slip, was built in 1488 upstream of the town bridge. The river was navigable, with care, as far as the town bridge by 400–500 tonne vessels. Goods arriving by sea were trans-shipped into barges that could navigate the River Parrett to Langport and, by using the River Yeo, to Ilchester. Barges could also reach Taunton by using the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal after it opened in 1827.
Combwich Pill, a small creek near the mouth of the river, has been used for shipping since the 14th century; and the wharf in the 18th century was used for the unloading of coal and tiles. From the 1830s, with the development of the brick and tile industry in the Bridgwater area, it was used by two brickyards to import coal and to export tiles to other harbours on the Bristol Channel. This traffic ceased in the 1930s but in 1950 the wharf was taken over by the Central Electricity Generating Board to bring in materials for the construction of Hinkley Point nuclear power station.
Following the passing of the Port of Bridgwater Act in 1845 all river traffic between the mouth of the River Parrett and the first bridge fell under the jurisdiction of the Port of Bridgwater. In 1998 Sedgemoor District Council took over the pilotage services for the river which had previously been operated by Trinity House.Sedgemoor District Council, Facts on the Port of Bridgwater
On the northern edges of the county, the River Avon provided a route from the Bristol Channel through Bristol to Bath. An Act was passed in 1712 to 'clearing, making and effecting a passage for boats, lighters and other vessels', although work did not start until 1724. At Bath the river linked with the Kennet and Avon Canal. This was completed in 1810 and, enabling narrow boats to work through to London.