,transcriber's ,notes3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics71 and text enclosed by equal signs is in bold 7bold74 ,additional ,transcriber's ,notes are at the end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,road 99 99 99 99 99 ,profit1 ,conveniency1 and ,pleasure1 to the whole ,nation4 ,being a short ,rational ,discourse1 lately presented to ,his ,majesty1 ,concerning the ,high-ways of ,,england3 ,their ,badness1 the ,causes thereof1 the ,reasons of those ,causes1 the impossibility of ever having them ,well-mended according to the ,old way of mending4 ,but may most certainly be done1 and for ever so maintained 7according to ,this ,new way7 substantially1 and with very much ,ease4 ,and so1 ,that in the very depth of ,winter there shall not be much ,dirt1 no ,deep-,cart-rutts1 or ,high-ridges2 no ,holes1 or ,uneven ,places2 nor so much as a loose stone 7the very ,worst of ,evils both to ,man and ,horse7 in any of the ,horse-,tracts4 ,nor shall any ,person have cause to be once put out of his way in any hundred of miles ,riding4 ,to mend ,high-ways1 loe ,here the way is shewn1 ,no better way than ,this1 shall e're be known3 ,a ,firm and ,certain way1 of no great ,cost1 ,in all wayes else their ,labour's wholly lost4 ,the ,old way ne're could do't1 'twas meer ,deceit1 ,as may be prov'd1 it was a very ,cheat4 ,printed for a ,publick good in the ,year #afge4 ,,an ,,old ,,title ,,page showing the antiquity of the ,road ,problem 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,road ,by ,,hilaire ,,belloc ,printed ,published for ,,the ,,british ,,reinforced ,,concrete ,,engineering ,,co4 ,,ltd4 ,by ,,charles ,w4 ,,hobson1 ,st4 ,james's ,sq41 ,,manchester #aibc ,,the ,,contents ,i ,,the ,,road ,,in ,,general ,page ,,chapter ,i ,the ,origin of ,roads ,how ,did the ,road ,come into ,existence3 ,the ,experimental or the ,scientific ,method3 ,the ,haphazard ,road3 ,the ,case for ,design in ,road ,construction #c ,,chapter ,,ii ,the ,crossing of ,marsh and ,water ,physical ,factors ,modifying the ,formula of the ,road3 ,marsh as the ,chief ,obstacle to ,travel3 ,the ,political ,results of ,marshes3 ,the ,crossing of ,water ,courses3 ,the ,origin of the ,bridge3 ,the ,effect of ,bridges upon ,roads3 ,the ,creation of a ,nodal ,point3 ,the ,function of the ,nodal ,point in ,history #ac ,,chapter ,,iii ,passability ,the ,choice of ,soils3 ,following the ,gravel or the ,chalk3 ,conditions in the ,south and ,east3 ,the ,obstacle of ,gradient3 ,the ,early ,vogue of ,steep ,gradients3 8,the ,other ,side of the ,hill03 ,the ,modern ,importance of ,gradient3 ,passes or ,gaps in ,hill ,country #cc ,,chapter ,,iv ,the ,obstacle of ,vegetation ,the ,special ,expenditure due to ,forest3 ,roads which ,skirt ,woodlands3 ,roads which have been ,deflected by ,forest3 ,proximity of ,material as a ,final ,main ,cause ,modifying the ,trajectory of a ,road3 ,cost of ,transporting ,material and its ,effects in ,ancient and ,modern ,times #dg ,,chapter ,v ,political ,influences ,the ,factor of ,cost ,resulting in the 8,strangling of ,communication03 ,congestion which leads to decay3 ,a ,great ,modern ,problem3 ,the ,compulsory ,acquisition of ,land3 ,old ,roads ,serving ,new ,objects #ef ,,chapter ,,vi ,the ,reaction of the ,road ,the ,physical ,effects of ,roads3 ,the ,way in ,which the ,road ,compels ,communication to follow it3 ,the ,formation of ,urban ,centres and the ,urban ,habit3 ,the ,spread of ,ideas by ,means of ,roads3 ,history ,deflected by the ,deflection of the ,road3 ,the ,example of ,shrewsbury and ,chester3 ,towns which are ,maintained by ,roads3 ,the ,road in ,military ,history3 ,results of the ,decay of ,roads3 ,the ,road as a ,boundary #fc ,,ii ,,the ,,english ,,road ,,chapter ,,vii ,the ,road in ,history ,through the ,dim ,ages3 ,the ,characteristics of the ,english ,road3 ,absence of ,plan3 ,a ,local instead of a ,national ,system ,leading to the ,present ,crisis #ha ,,chapter ,,viii ,the 8,blindness0 of ,english ,roads ,the ,two ,causes ,governing the ,development of ,english ,roads--,waterways and ,domestic ,peace3 ,the ,relation of the ,english ,road to ,military ,strategy #ib ,,chapter ,,ix ,five ,stages ,the 8,potential0 in ,political ,geography ,examples3 ,the ,primitive ,trackways3 ,the ,roman ,road ,system3 ,the ,earlier ,mediaeval ,period3 ,the ,later ,mediaeval ,period3 ,the ,turnpike ,era #ajg ,,chapter ,x ,the ,trackways ,the ,three ,divisions of the ,british ,pre-,roman ,road ,system--the ,system of which ,salisbury ,plain was the 8,hub03 ,the ,system ,connected with ,london3 ,cross-,country ,communications--,the ,three ,factors which ,have ,determined ,travel in ,britain #aaf ,,chapter ,,xi ,the ,making of the ,roman ,road ,the ,great ,initiative3 ,the ,mark of the ,roman ,military ,engineer3 ,the ,theory and ,practice of the ,straight ,line3 ,modifications of the ,straight ,line3 ,how it was ,carried ,out3 ,the ,method of ,odds and ,evens #acc ,,chapter ,,xii ,the ,dark ,ages ,the ,decline of the ,roman ,road3 ,the ,period at its ,occurrence3 ,gaps3 ,roman ,roads which ,fell into ,disuse3 ,the ,relationship of the ,modern to the ,roman ,system3 ,watling ,street3 ,stane ,street3 ,the ,short ,cut ,between ,penkridge and ,chester3 ,peddars ,way3 ,the ,coming of the ,new ,civilization in the ,twelfth ,century #adg ,,chapter ,,xiii ,wheeled ,traffic and the ,modern ,road ,the ,transition from the ,horse to the ,vehicle3 ,the ,distinctive ,mark of the ,later ,seventeenth ,century3 ,the ,turnpike ,system3 ,the ,underlying ,idea of the ,turnpike3 ,its ,decline and the ,first ,emergence of the ,general ,national ,system in #ahaj3 ,thomas ,telford and ,his ,work3 ,the ,movement ,connected with the ,name of ,macadam3 ,the ,coming of the ,locomotive and its ,results on ,canals and ,roads #agi ,,chapter ,,xiv ,the ,future ,a ,new ,vehicle ,compelling us to ,make ,new ,roads3 ,arterial ,roads for the ,new ,traffic3 ,the ,five ,necessities of these ,roads3 ,ways and ,means3 ,a ,national ,fund3 ,taxation according to ,fuel ,used3 ,the ,question of the ,land ,contiguous to the ,new ,roads #aid ,,the ,,illustrations ,page ,,frontispiece3 ,an old ,title ,page showing the antiquity of the ,road ,problem #d ,,icknield ,,street #bg ,,typical ,,english ,,lane #hg ,,the ,,earliest ,,road #aaa ,,welsh ,,section1 ,,holyhead ,,road #abc ,,derelict ,,road1 ,,scottish ,,highlands #aea ,,ermine ,,street ,,near ,,royston #aga ,,toll ,,house ,,on ,,the ,,bath ,,road #aha ,the text is also elucidated by fifteen maps and diagrams ,,author',s ,,introduction ,we are arrived at a chief turning-point in the history of the ,english highway4 ,new instruments of locomotion1 a greater volume of traffic1 a greater weight in loads1 and vastly increased rapidity in road travel have between them brought us to an issue3 either some very considerable and immediate change in the character of the ,road1 or a serious and increasing handicap in our rivalry with other nations through the strain and expense of an out-worn system4 ,the moment therefore calls for some examination of the ,road1 its theory and history4 ,that need has prompted me to write this essay2 but ,i must say at the outset that ,i approach my task with no expert qualification4 ,my only equipment for the general sketch ,i intend is historical reading and the experience acquired in the writing of certain monographs upon the topography of the ,road in the past4 ,i can do no more than suggest lines of thought which1 if they lead to practice1 need a detailed science ,i do not possess4 ,the ,road is one of the great fundamental institutions of mankind4 ,we forget this because we take it for granted4 ,it seems to be so necessary and natural a part of all human life that we forget that it ever had an origin or development1 or that it is as much the creation of man as the city and the laws4 ,not only is the ,road one of the great human institutions because it is fundamental to social existence1 but also because its varied effect appears in every department of the ,state4 ,it is the ,road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and nourishment of all4 ,it is the ,road which controls the development of strategics and fixes the sites of battles4 ,it is the ,road that gives its frame-work to all economic development4 ,it is the ,road which is the channel of all trade and1 what is more important1 of all ideas4 ,in its most humble function it is a necessary guide without which progress from place to place would be a ceaseless experiment2 it is a sustenance without which organized society would be impossible2 thus1 and with those other characters ,i have mentioned1 the ,road moves and controls all history4 ,a road system1 once established1 develops at its points of concentration the nerve centres of the society it serves2 and we remark that the material rise and decline of a state are better measured by the condition of its communications--that is1 of its roads--than by any other criterion4 ,the construction1 the trace1 and the whole character of the ,road change with new social needs and habits1 with the facilities of natural science1 their rise and decline4 ,but this perpetual change1 which affects the ,road as it does architecture and every other work of man1 is specially marked by certain critical phases1 one of which1 as ,i said at the opening of this1 we have now entered4 ,there are moments in the history of the ,road in any society where the whole use of it1 the construction of it1 and its character have to be transformed4 ,one such moment1 for instance1 was when the wheeled vehicle first appeared3 another when there first appeared large organized armies4 ,it occurred whenever some new method of progression succeeded the old4 ,it occurred at similar critical turning-points in the history of the ,road not only when any of these things arose1 but also when they declined or disappeared4 ,the appearance of great cities1 their sudden expansion or their decay1 or the new needs of a new type of commerce--and its disappearance--bring a whole road system to one of these revolutionary points4 ,we have had 7as ,i shall develop in more detail7 five great moments of this kind in the history of the ,english road system3 the moment when the ,british trackway was superseded by the ,roman military road2 the moment when the latter declined in the ,dark ,ages2 the moment when the mediaeval system of local roads grew up on the basis of the old ,roman trunk roads and around them2 the moment when this in its turn declined in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries2 and the re-casting of the road system by the turnpikes of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries4 ,to-day the sixth great change is upon us4 ,it is incumbent upon us then to-day to get ourselves clear upon the theory and the history of the ,road1 and ,i propose in this essay to take them in two sections3 first1 the ,road in general2 next1 that special institution the ,english ,road4 ,a ,,preface ,the ,british ,reinforced ,concrete ,engineering ,co4 ,ltd4 recently became acquainted with the fact that ,mr4 ,hilaire ,belloc was engaged in the production of an essay on the history of ,british ,roads4 ,in numerous writings ,mr4 ,belloc has treated various aspects of ,road history1 and his learning on the subject and his method of communicating it are in high repute among wide circles of readers4 ,he is1 in fact1 an outstanding literary authority on the topic4 ,it therefore seemed to the ,company that if they could acquire the copyright of the work1 in which ,mr4 ,belloc was treating the whole subject not indirectly1 but directly and systematically1 and if they could issue this work to people who are professionally engaged in the construction of roads1 a very considerable service would be done to the cause of road development in the country4 ,the future always becomes a little clearer if we thoroughly understand the past1 and the ,company feel that everybody who is giving much of his mind and life to road problems will be glad to have in his possession a book which brings out the historical and social1 not to say the romantic1 interest which lies beneath the surface of the ,english highway4 ,mr4 ,belloc was accordingly approached on the subject and agreed to sell the publishing rights of his work to the ,british ,reinforced ,concrete ,engineering ,co4 ,ltd41 who now have great pleasure in issuing it to the surveying and civil engineering profession1 believing that it will at once assist and beguile the work of those to whose hands the future of the ,english ,roads1 and with it much of the economic and social prosperity of the country1 is largely entrusted4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,road ,i ,,the ,,road ,,in ,,general ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,roads ,how ,did the ,road ,come ,into ,existence3 ,the ,experimental or the ,scientific ,method3 ,the ,haphazard ,road3 ,the ,case for ,design in ,road ,construction4 i ,in order to understand any matter1 especially if we have to understand it for a practical end1 we must begin by the theory of the thing3 we must begin by thinking out why and how it has come into existence1 what its function is1 and how best it can fulfil that function4 ,next we must note its effect1 once it is formed1 and the results of the fulfilment of its function4 ,what then1 to begin with1 is the origin of the ,road8 ,why did this human institution come into existence1 and how does it tend to develop8 ,how may it best be designed to fulfil its function8 ,when we have decided that we can go on to the next point1 which is3 how does the ,road1 once formed1 react upon its environment2 what physical and 7much more important7 political results flow from its existence8 ,the answer to the first question1 8,how did that human institution1 the ,road1 come into existence1 and why80 is simple1 and will be given in much the same terms by anyone to whom it is addressed4 ,the ,road is an instrument to facilitate the movement of man between two points upon the earth's surface4 ,if the surface of the earth were uniform in quality and in gradient--that is1 if it were of the same stuff everywhere1 of the same degree of moisture everywhere1 and everywhere level--the ,road between any two points would clearly be a straight line 7to be accurate1 the arc of a great circle7 joining those two points4 ,for when we say that the ,road exists 8in order to facilitate0 travel over the surface of the earth from one point to another the word 8facilitate0 includes1 of course1 rapidity in progression1 and the straight line is the shortest line between any two points4 ,but the surface of the earth is highly diversified in quality as in gradient4 ,therefore the trajectory or course of the ,road is not in practice1 and should not be in theory1 a straight line from point to point4 ,that straight line has to be modified if we are to give to the ,road an ultimate form such that it shall best serve its end2 and when we come to look into the problem we shall see that it is one of very great complexity indeed4 ,that is where the study of the theory even in its most elementary form becomes of such value to the execution in practice4 ,we discover by studying the theory of the ,road how many and how varied are the elements of the formula we have to establish4 ,we become prepared in that study for the discovery1 in each new particular problem1 of any number of novel modifications not present in problems previously attacked4 ,so true is this that the whole history of progress in road-making is a history of discovering methods for dealing with obstacles either novel in character or only appreciated after lengthy use4 ,let us begin at the beginning1 with the very elements of the affair4 ,the first element in the theory of the ,road may be put thus3 ,to find a formula of minimum expense in energy for communication between two given geographical points under given conditions of travel and carriage4 ,the diversity of geographical circumstance moulds the formula into its final shape through balanced modifications of the direct line4 ,the most obvious modifications to a direct trajectory arise from the two primary circumstances of surface and gradient4 ,it is easier to go over one kind of soil than another2 easier to go over one kind of surface in summer and another in winter2 easier to go over one kind of surface in wet1 and another in dry weather2 easier to go over one kind of surface with a heavy load and another with a light load2 over one with sumpter animals1 over another on wheels1 and so on4 ,again1 it is for all kinds of travel easier to go upon the flat than uphill1 and this element of gradient is much more complicated than at first it would appear4 ,thus travel of one kind--travel on foot1 for instance--can take a sharp gradient for the sake of a short trajectory more easily than can traffic with burdens2 and traffic with burdens carried by animals can take a sharper gradient with advantage than can wheeled traffic2 and wheeled traffic differs according to the character of the vehicle in this respect4 ,again1 a road of diverse use must strike a compromise in its formula between the various needs subserved4 ,if the great bulk of its use is to provide for rapid military advance by marches1 you must sacrifice to shortness some of the easier gradients which would be demanded for traffic mainly civilian1 yet if of three main users even the least important is incapable of more than a given gradient1 your formula can never exceed that gradient1 and so forth4 ,so we have even in this simplest and most primary of all analyses of the ,road considerable elements of complexity appearing4 ,as the study progresses an indefinite series of further complexities arises1 and one soon reaches that crux in the theory of the ,road which has led to so much discussion and which some still call unsolved3 whether the formula of the ,road is best left to the unconscious or half-conscious action of experiment1 which in time should lead to an exact minimum of expense in energy1 or whether it is best to arrive at it by a fully conscious1 exact1 and 7as we say to-day7 8scientific0 examination of all the conditions and a deliberate and immediate conclusion upon them4 ,should the road grow or should it be planned8 ,the discussion is not idle4 ,the clash of opinion upon it is at the root of the contrast between national systems1 and a right answer will make all the difference between success and failure in our approach to a new road system such as is now upon us4 ii ,i maintain that of the two theories the second is just3 that a gradual experimental growth in its roads1 a method coincident with local caprice1 burdens with imperfect communication the society adopting it2 that conscious design is essential to efficiency4 ,and this ,i propose to illustrate by a single example4 ,take two points ,a and ,b1 such that a line joining them must lead across a marsh1 a river1 and a range of hills4 ,let some primitive wanderer make his way from ,a to ,b1 knowing1 when he is at ,a1 the direction of ,b by1 let us say1 a distant peak overtopping the range between4 ,that primitive wanderer would first of all skirt about the marsh and1 finding its narrowest place at ,c1 would set to work and make his causeway there4 ,having crossed it1 he would come to the river4 ,he must either swim or ford it4 ,supposing him to prefer1 through the necessity of a pack or what not1 to ford it1 he casts about for a ford4 ,he finds one at ,d1 and perhaps he also1 if he takes time to look about him1 finds another deeper one at ,e and another at ,f1 but as his causeway is near ,d he takes that ford4 ,illustration3 ,sketch ,i4 ,then he has to make for the hills4 ,we will suppose that the peak directing him from beyond ,b is still visible4 ,he takes his new direction from it and looks towards the base of the hills at ,g4 ,there1 in the direct line to the peak1 the contours are so steep that the trouble of getting up would more than counterbalance the shortness of the cut4 ,he casts about for a better chance1 and at last finds a gradient just worth his while at ,h4 ,he climbs up that2 but though the gradient is easy on the ,a side at ,h on the far side it is very difficult1 so he turns along the ridge to ,k1 where he finds an easier down gradient3 a spur leads him on by its gentle slope1 and from the bottom of the spur he makes straight for ,b1 which is now right in front of him and plain sailing4 ,now1 look at that track as established by our primitive wanderer and see how lengthy and inconvenient it is1 how ill fulfilling the object of the traveller compared with what would have been established by even a moderately intelligent and cursory survey of the ground as a whole and the making of a plan4 ,to begin with1 it would have paid our traveller to take a little more trouble in crossing the rather wider gap in the marsh at ,l and the rather deeper ford at ,f1 because he would have gained very much in time and space with comparatively slight extra effort had he surveyed the whole ground and thought things out4 ,he was only led on to the ford at ,d because it was suggested by the crossing of the marsh at ,c4 ,the first opportunity made the second4 ,but to continue the plan3 ,f is nearly opposite the easier up gradients of the hills1 but1 having surveyed that bad steep on the far side1 he slightly modifies his road1 crossing the ridge at ,m behind a summit which hid this way from the first traveller4 ,then he goes down the practicable1 though steep1 slope at ,n1 and so reaches ,b4 ,the first road produced haphazard by successive chances gives the lengthy and roundabout trajectory ,a--,c1 ,d1 ,h1 ,k--,b4 ,the second1 with very little extra labour1 gives him the far shorter and better trajectory ,a--,l1 ,f1 ,m1 ,n--,b4 ,we see from this elementary example how the thinking out of the theory of the ,road is of advantage in practice4 ,it may be urged that the discovery of advantages as time goes on gradually improves the ,road1 and in this way half-conscious development will always give you the best road in the long run without studying its theory4 ,but history is against that view4 ,europe is full of roads thus established haphazard1 confirming themselves by use and by expenditure1 and for centuries neglecting opportunities which would have been present to the eye of the most cursory and moderately intelligent survey4 ,this conflict of principle between growth and design in the creation of the ,road is at the root of half our modern crises in road-making4 ,the real issue is between those who would gradually add to or develop from custom and those who would radically impose new plans1 and on a right decision the economic future of this country may well depend4 ,when we come to consider even the first of succeeding modifications we see still more clearly the complexity of any road-formul and the corresponding advantage of plan over habit4 ,the marsh1 the river1 and the hill are but the beginning of the affair4 ,there is a modification due to the fact that the marsh may not be permanent1 nor the depth of the river2 that the ,road may be of special use at moments when the river is shallow or flooded1 when the marsh is dry or1 exceptionally1 impassable4 ,there is the modification of surface4 ,clay1 for instance1 is fairly good going in dry weather1 but the worst in wet4 ,there is the modification due to vegetation3 the balancing of the effort involved in going round a dense scrub against that of cutting through it and of maintaining the cutting when it is established4 ,there is the modification introduced by the instruments and science available for construction and for cutting4 ,in one stage of development it will pay to take a road by a bridge across a deep river where in earlier stages of development it would have been necessary to seek a ford4 ,in one stage of development it would pay to make a cutting through a scar too steep to climb where1 in a lower civilization1 it would have paid to go round it4 ,the whole formula increases in complexity the more we examine it4 ,it is a formula for the discovery of a minimum of effort4 ,but in the establishment of that minimum you have to consider not only a very great number of factors1 but the respective value of each to the whole1 and your success in establishing the ,road depends upon the accuracy of your judgment both as to the presence and as to the comparative value of all those factors4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,crossing ,,of ,,marsh ,,and ,,water ,physical ,factors ,modifying the ,formula of the ,road3 ,marsh as the ,chief ,obstacle to ,travel3 ,the ,political ,results of ,marshes3 ,the ,crossing of ,water ,courses3 ,the ,origin of the ,bridge3 ,the ,effect of ,bridges upon ,roads3 ,the ,creation of a ,nodal ,point3 ,the ,function of the ,nodal ,point in ,history4 i ,so much for the first principle of all3 that the ,road1 like all other human institutions1 is best made with brains1 and for that second immensely valuable1 but too often forgotten1 political principle3 that if you begin by making your thing wrong it is likely to take root and to remain wrong4 ,a catalogue of the more important physical factors modifying the formula of the ,road 7,i will come to the political and economic in a moment7 is as follows3 ,marsh to be traversed2 water courses to be traversed2 differences of surface other than marsh and water courses2 gradients to be dealt with2 the obstacle of vegetation to be dealt with4 ,to these five one may add a factor common to all1 and to the making of every road1 even in its most primitive stages3 7#f7 the proximity of material 7meaning by 8proximity0 the congeries of all the factors which make for the cheapness of material1 for the advantage of using it in a particular place74 ,let us take these physical points in their order4 99 99 99 99 99 ii ,,marsh4 ,it is not always appreciated that the chief obstacle to travel from the beginning of time has been and still remains marsh1 which may be defined as soil too sodden for travel1 as distinguished from the lands which are boggy in wet weather but passable4 ,marsh is less striking to the eye1 especially to the modern eye1 than a stretch of water1 much less striking than the apparent obstacle of the sea1 or of a bold hill range3 it is nevertheless the chief problem presented to the making of a road1 because of all natural obstacles it is the only one wholly untraversable by unaided man4 ,man unaided can climb hills1 swim water1 work his way through dense undergrowth4 ,but marsh is impassable to him3 it is the great original obstacle to progress4 ,if this has not been recognized in the past1 and is still little recognized1 it is not only because marsh is less striking to the eye than water or hills1 but still more because1 the original roads established by man in forming his cities1 markets1 and all the rest of it1 being compelled to avoid marsh1 we do not often come across the problem even to-day4 ,partly1 also1 because very extensive marsh is a rare phenomenon1 especially in ,western ,europe4 ,but if we look at the map and at history we shall see what that obstacle means4 ,it was marsh which cut off ,lancashire from the ,south of ,england1 and left ,lancashire the stronghold of old institutions1 especially after the ,reformation4 ,it was the marsh of the ,lower ,thames estuary1 now upon the right1 now upon the left bank of the river1 which forbade a crossing below ,london4 ,it was marsh which protected the growth of ,venice at the earliest and most dangerous moment of its existence4 ,it was marsh which cut off the ,western 7,polish7 civilization from the ,eastern 7,russian7 civilization1 and was the main geographical cause of that sharp division in culture which has affected the whole of later ,european history4 ,we may say that the ,russian ,orthodox ,church and the last ,revolution would neither have been1 save for the ,pinsk ,marshes4 ,to take lesser examples1 we can see to-day the way in which even our modern ways avoid marsh4 ,the large district of ,gargano in ,southern ,italy has remained largely isolated through marsh upon its flanks4 ,you may see all over ,europe1 and even in this well-drained country1 primitive roads deflected through marsh as they are not by any other obstacle1 and this deflection stamps our road system to this day1 in spite of our enormously increased opportunities of road construction4 ,we shall see on a later page the way in which marsh deflected in the dark ages ,roman roads at the river crossings in this island4 ,if a special example be required of a road having grown up and remained on an uneconomic trajectory on account of marsh moulding its earlier history1 one of the best in ,england is that of the ,arundel road south of ,pulborough4 ,seawards from ,pulborough 7a landing and crossing-place on the upper ,river ,arun of great antiquity7 the next considerable inhabited spot was the port and fortified spur of ,arundel4 ,the distance as the crow flies is a short day's march or less1 some ten miles4 ,now1 the road could have been taken in a fairly direct line and everywhere upon the level had it not been for marsh4 ,the marshes bordering the ,arun prevented such a construction in early times3 the road had to keep to a high1 dry bank1 then to climb right up to the top of the ,downs and fall again upon ,arundel4 ,so it remained--having taken root--through all the advances in science3 so it still stands to-day4 ,the railway takes the obvious line1 but the road1 established centuries ago1 remains on its former trajectory1 climbs up many hundreds of feet1 and then drops down again to ,arundel1 involving in the short distance of ten miles gradients of one in eight and heavy hill-climbing over more than half the distance4 ,a neighbouring example of the extreme importance of the first experiment in the history of a road is seen at ,bramber1 in the next valley eastward4 ,there a similar situation--the approach landwards from the port of ,shoreham--avoids the hills1 because at some unknown but very early period a causeway was built at ,bramber to negotiate the marsh2 and that was because the isolated hill at ,bramber afforded such a good opportunity of fortification and blocking the pass that a road was bound to reach it1 and even under primitive conditions men were at the labour of making an embankment4 ,illustration3 ,sketch ,,ii iii ,,water ,,courses4 ,the crossing of water courses does not seem to have been originally in the main a search for a ford4 ,it seems to have been rather a search for good taking-off places upon either side1 however deep the water in between4 ,the ford was used1 of course1 wherever it could be1 and in it also the hardness of the passage under water was of even more importance than the depth of water3 below1 say1 #d feet4 ,but the point to note is that often1 and probably in the majority of cases1 man in the early times took his short cut across water either by swimming or by taking advantage of floating material1 and was much more concerned with the hard bank upon either side than with the depth of the stream4 ,if you take such a very old road as that of the primitive ,british trackway whose two branches1 from ,stonehenge and ,winchester1 unite in what is called the 8,pilgrim's ,way0 and make for the ,straits of ,dover1 you find this trackway crossing the ,mole1 the ,wey1 and the ,medway1 as also the ,darenth1 at places where the obvious consideration has been a dry approach upon either side1 and not the local shallowness of the stream4 7,we must remember in this connection that the word 8ford0 is used at plenty of places where the stream is too deep for crossing on foot3 it means simply 8a going40 ,a false etymology here has misled many historians47 ,of more importance to the first makers of the ,road than the depth of a water course was its swiftness4 ,we have in this country few examples of swift streams of any magnitude1 and none of streams so swift as to be impassable or passable with great difficulty1 but where such examples occur abroad it is easy to see what a boundary and obstacle a rapid current afforded4 ,it works in all manner of ways to the disadvantage of travel1 it makes both swimming and ferrying more difficult 7or impossible71 it makes bridging either more difficult or 7in early times7 impossible1 it usually connotes great differences of level1 sudden floods1 etc41 and it also usually connotes changes and variety of currents1 as well as the destruction of the banks4 ,at an early stage in the development of the ,road came the use of the bridge1 and with the bridge the original chief consideration--a dry approach from either side--was emphasized4 ,it is true that fords were bridged as roads developed1 but the bridging of a ford is not the normal origin of the bridge4 ,the normal origin of the bridge1 if we judge by any one of the original great roads of ,europe1 is the replacing of a ferry4 ,men took the obstacle of a river 7on account of its length7 as something hardly to be turned1 save perhaps in its higher reaches4 ,they made straight for it1 seeking only firm ground from which to embark and disembark1 and established a boat crossing4 ,to this rather than to the ford the bridge succeeded4 ,they bridged it with increasing success as their material science increased in power1 and you may see all over ,europe the great bridges thrown1 not where the river was shallowest nor where it was easiest to traverse for any other reason1 but chiefly where the main road led4 ,in other words1 the bridge is a function of the ,road rather than the ,road of the bridge4 ,two outstanding examples of this in ,europe are ,london ,bridge1 perhaps prehistoric1 certainly not much less than two thousand years old1 and the bridge at ,cologne1 to which one might add the bridge at ,rouen and the bridges of the ,island of ,paris1 which we know to be more than two thousand years old4 ,but it must be remembered that the bridging of a river1 even in primitive times1 was the next easiest thing to a ferry1 and in some circumstances easier even than a ferry4 ,a bridge need not be built of piles4 ,it may be built of boats1 and in principle1 even over a broad stream1 once you could build a boat bridge at all you could build it of almost indefinite length4 ,what would militate against the effort to make a pile bridge were depth and rapidity of stream1 but even these1 unless the rapidity were very great indeed1 did not prevent the throwing of a bridge of boats4 ,the bridge as an element in the ,road plays a very large part which needs some detailed examination3 it develops a whole series of results4 ,the object of a bridge is to give continuity and security to travel across an obstacle of depth3 usually an obstacle of running water1 sometimes a dry ravine4 ,it is but rarely that a bridge is essential to the mere trajectory of a road4 ,in much the greater number of cases its function can be supplied1 though far less perfectly1 by a ferry1 or a ford1 or a graded way down into and up from a depression4 ,what the bridge does is to permit of continued traffic1 especially continued wheeled traffic1 across such obstacles without delay and without trans-shipment1 and at the same time to add1 up to a maximum of weight1 to security2 for it is obviously an instrument more secure than the ferry or the ford1 especially for heavy weights4 ,but the bridge has always represented a special economic effort1 greater yard for yard than that of the average of the road of which it was a part2 and that is why you almost always find it the mark of civilization4 ,a primitive culture can exist for centuries without bridges4 ,the proportion of bridge-building effort to road-building effort varies very much with the physical science of various times4 ,it is less to-day1 and was less in ,roman times1 than in primitive times and in the ,middle ,ages1 because we1 like the ,roman engineers1 expend a far greater economic effort upon the average of the ,road1 so that the comparative cost of the bridge is less4 ,in primitive times the bridge was something of a feat1 its construction as measured in effort was equivalent to many miles of road1 its builder a public benefactor1 and its building an event of note4 ,this is so true that in some languages which have come down but little changed from primitive times the word for 8bridge0 is found to be a foreign word1 as though the institution were not sufficiently common before the advent of some civilized conqueror to have acquired a special name2 and in all primitive societies the bridge is rare4 ,this comparatively high cost of the bridge has had certain effects on the history and in the appearance of our roads which are worth noting4 ,in the first place1 the bridge tends to be a 8gut40 ,when the throwing of a bridge was equivalent in expense to several miles of the existing road it was a great saving to make it narrow3 only one vehicle to pass at a time1 with side refuges at the piles when the passage of two vehicles in opposing directions was unavoidable4 ,again1 bridges tended1 especially in times of low economic development1 to introduce a sudden high gradient4 ,the elliptical arch was1 if not unknown1 at any rate very rare before the ,renaissance1 and where the plain semi-circular arch alone was used a flat bridge involved1 if the crossing were of any width1 a great number of piles1 and therefore an added expense4 ,the difficulty was met in the majority of cases by lessening the number of piles1 especially towards the centre1 where there was a greater depth1 consequently increasing the span there1 and consequently1 in a semi-circular arch1 increasing its height correspondingly4 ,the result was that the bridge introduced a sudden hillock into the ,road1 and that feature you find all over ,western ,europe up to quite modern times1 with many survivals remaining1 especially in ,spain4 ,in some of the very early bridges in the poorer districts1 or on the less used roads1 the exaggeration is fantastic4 ,i know of one over the ,gallego1 near ,huesca1 where the pitch is so steep that it baulks a car4 ,there were particular structures--that of ,london is an example in point--where the disadvantage of a gradient was avoided at great expense because a mass of traffic and merchandise made it worth while4 ,london ,bridge was carried on a great number of arches precisely in order to avoid this element of gradient4 ,a side-effect of this was the blocking of the stream and great difficulty for boats in 8shooting0 the arches on a tide2 but this drawback to river traffic was thought worth while as the price of a level road4 ,another reason which often led to the expensive flat stone bridge was its replacing an old wooden pile bridge4 ,the wooden pile bridge had no cause for creating a gradient4 ,on the whole it was cheaper to keep it exactly level1 and as low as possible consistent with the rise of the water4 ,where such a structure had preceded a stone bridge the habit of a level road was continued1 even at the expense of many piles and arches4 ,a third effect of the bridge upon the ,road1 also due to its comparative expense1 was the convergence of roads towards bridges1 established or even only planned4 ,you will perpetually find up and down ,europe the approaches to a town from two or more directions merged into a common road just at the entry to a bridge1 in order to save the expense of two crossings1 though at an extra expense of space and time2 thus1 ,abbeville1 ,caen 7a very striking example1 with three converging roads on each side of the bridge71 ,london--the chief example in ,europe--,saragossa1 with the two main roads from south and west converging on its bridge--all 8gather0 roads after this fashion4 ,but the effects of the bridge upon the mere trajectory of a road1 upon its surface and contour1 were far less than were its political and military effects4 ,though land armies were always tied to roads more or less1 it was possible to leave the road for short distances under stress or for the sake of strategy4 ,cavalry continually did so for great stretches1 and infantry could do so occasionally4 ,but a bridge acted like a magnet4 ,the defence of a bridge was the defence of a point which an army in force was always compelled to use1 and the term 8bridge head0--that is1 the holding of the space on the further side of the bridge1 thus commanding the passage--is an example of its permanent military function4 ,a bridge was1 for the same reason1 a natural place of toll4 ,merchandise had to use it1 and the same requirement of continual repair which often entailed a permanent post at a bridge gave the opportunity for using that post for the raising of taxation4 ,all through the end of the ,roman ,empire and the ,dark and ,middle ,ages this function of the bridge is most prominent4 iv ,but most important of all the effects of the bridge is its creation of a nodal point1 that is1 a knot or crossing of ways4 ,the bridge effects this in two fashions3 firstly by that tendency to a convergence of roads upon the bridge which ,i have just noted1 and secondly1 and much more important1 by the transverse of the bridge and the river4 ,a river is also a high road if it is in any way navigable4 ,therefore1 wherever a land road crosses a river and establishes a bridge you get a crossways of communications4 ,at such a point1 where many avenues of approach meet1 and whence opportunities of travel to different places radiate1 you have what is called in political geography a ,nodal ,point4 ,illustration3 ,,icknield ,,street in the ,oxfordshire ,chilterns ,now1 the nodal point is of such importance that it merits particular attention4 ,the nodal point1 especially if it is established by a bridge1 has two great functions in history4 ,it determines the strategy of campaigns 7and alters even the tactics of actions71 it determines the growth of towns4 ,it has been said that ,london was made by its bridge4 ,whether there was a settlement 7there probably was7 upon the gravelly hill which approached the river from the north1 before any bridge was thrown across the tidal ,thames1 we do not know2 but it is certain that the throwing of this bridge gave ,london its opportunity for development1 and what is true of ,london is true of ,paris1 of ,rouen1 of ,maestricht1 of ,cologne1 and of twenty other great urban centres in our civilization4 ,strategically1 a commander holding a nodal point retains the opportunity of moving along any one of many lines of movement1 and at the same time denies the opportunity of junction to his enemies4 ,to put it in its simplest form1 a commander holding a nodal point and concentrated there can prevent the concentration of two fractions of his enemy along any two roads radiating from that nodal point4 ,he can himself march up each of these consecutively and defeat the two fractions of his enemy in detail4 ,that is the simplest possible case1 and it can be developed into any amount of detail and intricacy4 ,the bridge is the point where the commerce up and down stream crosses the road-commerce transversely to the river-commerce1 and the nodal point of the bridge establishes a market4 ,but that nodal point has other characters even more important to civilian life4 ,it creates a point of trans-shipment1 where goods must be transferred from the water vehicle to the land vehicle4 ,in their transference you have the political opportunity of examination and toll1 and1 if necessary1 interception2 and you also have1 of course1 the whole of the middleman business of dealing with and passing through the goods--you have the depot and the warehousing and all the adjuncts of a built-up commercial centre and a market4 ,but the bridge as a nodal point has yet another occasional function which has marked all history4 ,that function it exercises when it is the lowest bridge upon a great navigable river4 ,such a bridge--the bridge of ,rome for instance1 the bridge of ,london1 the bridge of ,gloucester1 the bridge of ,newcastle1 etc4--has been the making of inland ports4 ,it must be remembered that before the advent of the railway1 or at any rate before the organization of rapid and easy road travel1 it was to the interest of sea-borne trade to penetrate into the heart of the country as far as possible4 ,you avoided the cost of trans-shipment1 and you had a much cheaper means of conveyance than anything that went by land4 ,but the first permanent bridge across a waterway blocked the further progress up-stream of sea-borne traffic4 ,therefore there was a tendency to keep this first bridge well up-stream4 ,further1 whenever it was made1 it tended to create a glut of traffic at this point of section4 ,the cargoes from the sea came here and could go no further1 and this last function of the bridge is perhaps of all its historical functions the most important4 ,even where a river is very rapid1 as the ,tiber1 the first bridge has some effect4 ,where it is tidal it is1 of course1 as in the cases we have just quoted1 of the greatest effect1 and usually on the great tidal waterways the first bridge will be found not indeed at the limit of the tide1 for there the water would be too shallow1 but in the last reaches4 ,there are cases 7,rochester is one7 where the road has proved more important than the stream1 where a bridge was imposed very low down in the tideway1 but it has there fulfilled the same function of creating a market and a town4 ,there are cases 7,antwerp1 ,bordeaux1 and ,philadelphia are examples7 where a secure harbour and good wharfage made the inland market and town in the absence of such an obstacle as the first bridge2 but in the greater number of navigable rivers1 even in so narrow a stream as that of ,seville1 the bridge makes the port and the town1 as one can see by adding to the examples already given ,nantes1 ,montreuil1 ,glasgow1 etc4 ,there is a little note on the crossing of water courses which is curious and interesting in the history of roads4 ,since the crossing is always an effort1 or1 in economic terms1 an expense1 to be avoided as much as possible1 the ,road naturally avoids a double crossing1 but1 on the other hand1 an island is a stronghold1 and even a peninsula where two rivers meet is a potential stronghold4 ,therefore you have in the history of all early ,european roads a sort of dilemma1 the first travellers debating1 as it were1 whether the occasion were sufficiently important to warrant the double crossing of the stream4 ,at ,reading1 ,lyons1 ,melun1 notably at ,paris1 and in dozens of other places1 the presence of the stronghold made it worth while for the ,road to visit the place in spite of the double crossing1 whether to an island or to the meeting of two streams4 ,but in much the majority of cases the ,road was deflected from its simplest line to a point below the meeting of two streams so as to avoid the double effort1 and the occasion explains many a deflection which otherwise would seem to have no reason4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,passability ,the ,choice of ,soils3 ,following the ,gravel or the ,chalk3 ,conditions in the ,south and ,east3 ,the ,obstacle of ,gradient3 ,the ,early ,vogue of ,steep ,gradients 8,the ,other ,side of the ,hill03 ,the ,modern ,importance of ,gradient3 ,passes or ,gaps in ,hill ,country4 i ,to the next physical factor modifying the formula of the ,road we have given the name3 ,,differences ,,of ,,surface ,,other ,,than ,,marsh ,,and ,,water ,,courses4 ,the differences of surface other than marsh or water courses affect the trajectory of a road in several ways3 first and originally in its passability to human travel on foot or with beasts of burden1 or later with wheeled vehicles1 and here the two factors were hardness and evenness4 ,but there was a great contrast in the obstacles of the ,north and the ,south of our civilization4 ,in the ,north1 and especially in ,england1 damp was the enemy4 ,for a trajectory to be used in all seasons and in all weather sand and chalk at once suggested themselves4 ,clay can be used only in the dry season4 ,the various soils determined the first trackway and impose themselves visibly upon the map of our oldest roads4 ,for instance1 the road down the upper ,wey to ,farnham is1 in its oldest form1 a deliberate picking out of long gravelly stretches in the bed of the valley4 ,on a geological map you can trace this road picking its way from gravel patch to gravel patch almost as a man crosses a stream by stepping stones4 ,it leaps1 as it were1 from one gravelly stretch to another1 and in each keeps to the gravel as long as it can4 ,for the same reason a primitive road will follow the ,south1 or sunny1 side of a wood or of a ridge of land1 so that the surface may dry as soon as possible after rain4 ,when the use of artificial material for the surface of the track became common this question of quality of soil was somewhat modified1 but its essential was retained2 for what made bad going 7in the ,north1 and particularly in ,britain7 being heavy soil1 that same kind of land1 which interfered with foot or pack-horse travel1 swallowed up material4 ,it was a less grave inconvenience than in the times before artificial material was used1 but it was still an inconvenience expressed in the shape of expense2 and nearly all the original trackways continued to take account of this factor long after the use of artificial material had been introduced4 ,the earliest of all1 of course1 follow the dry ridges1 and in particular the chalk4 ,one may say1 with slight exaggeration1 that the chalk was the essential factor in the building up of ,british communications before the ,roman civilization came4 ,if you take a geological map of ,england you may see the great chalk ridges radiating in a sort of whorl from a centre in ,salisbury ,plain1 and providing dry going to the ,channel1 the ,straits of ,dover1 and across the ,thames valley at ,streatley right on to ,norfolk4 ,another example of a road taking advantage of dryness of surface is the straight line leading to ,lincoln northwards1 everywhere following that peculiar isolated ridge1 with low-lying ground upon the left and marsh upon the right4 ,another very striking one is the ,hog's ,back1 where from one low-lying point to another 7,guildford to ,farnham7 the primitive track deliberately rises and follows the summit of a high hill between rather than the wetter ground upon the slopes1 though here there is an alternative upon the southern1 or sunny1 slope where the trackway leads through to ,st4 ,catherine's ,chapel4 ,this is a modern example of the way in which a primitive track imposes itself upon posterity4 ,to this day your motorist climbs up that roof of a house out of ,guildford and goes down the steep on to ,farnham because countless generations ago his ancestor could only be certain upon that height of dry ground4 ,in the ,south 7which does not concern this essay7 the great obstacle in the way of soil is not marsh1 but sand4 ,that is something of which we have here no experience1 but the tracks of nearly all ,western ,islam are dependent upon it4 ,drift sand is not so impassable as marsh by any means1 but it is terrible going4 ,north and ,south of ,atlas the knowledge of how this kind of soil may be avoided is half the business of establishing a primitive road4 ,an interesting case of surface 7but one which is rarely met with in this country7 common in dry countries where the rare rainfall is sudden and intense1 and where temporary water courses carve out the friable soil1 is the inconvenience due to what are called in some parts of the ,east 8nullahs0--that is1 the dry beds of such water courses or the sudden depressions made by what were formerly water courses now dried up through a change of climate4 ,the banks of these are often so steep and their depth so considerable that the making of a plain1 straight trajectory across such a country would1 even under modern conditions1 not be worth the labour expended4 ,it would mean continual bridging1 or continual embankment4 ,one of the effects of this type of surface is the inordinate winding of all the roads1 and even1 alternatively1 the absence of roads perpendicular to the fall of the land1 and the establishment of communications along the line of fall rather than across it4 ,one can see this very conspicuously in ,morocco1 where there are whole districts1 a couple of days' march across1 the trails of which are determined by this accident4 ,a special example of the same kind of thing is to be found in any hill range where a number of narrow spurs project towards the plain4 ,the ,road hardly ever runs parallel to the range across these spurs4 ,it nearly always runs down the valleys or along the plain at their foot1 and that although there be1 as there usually are1 in each valley centres of population which need to be linked up with the neighbouring parallel valleys4 ii ,,gradients4 ,the obstacle of gradient the 8minimum of vertical effort0 is the most evident of all the factors which modify the trajectory of a road2 yet it is1 upon the whole1 the most complex4 ,to determine the minimum of effort you have to find a formula consisting of many factors1 some of which ,i have already enumerated in the opening words of this essay4 ,in the first place1 you have to consider the average nature of the travel to be served4 ,the ,road used by men on foot without burdens1 by men on foot with burdens1 by pack animals1 by wheeled vehicles1 etc41 must conform itself1 on the whole1 to the least gradient useful to those who travel by it1 but that 8on the whole0 least gradient is a factor by no means easy to determine4 ,it depends not only upon the nature of the instruments of travel1 but upon habit1 upon vigour1 and to some extent upon surface4 ,it depends also on the proportionate use of the ,road4 ,you cannot sacrifice ninety-nine travellers to the special weakness of one4 ,there is also the question of durability4 ,a primitive road1 taking a very steep gradient1 will be more durable than one taking a lesser gradient round the slopes of a hill and subject to falls from above and to degradation down the slope below2 it will need less upkeep1 for it is always shorter--and this last consideration explains what would otherwise be inexplicable3 the extraordinarily steep gradients which primitive roads and even the roads of a high civilization will take4 ,one of the best examples of this in ,england is the behaviour of the ,fosse ,way in the neighbourhood of ,radstock in ,somerset4 ,here the original road was presumably a prehistoric track1 but we know that it was carefully remodelled by the high ,roman civilization4 ,it must have been used for the great mass of travel during four hundred years from the first occupation of the ,west of ,england by the ,romans about ,a4,d4 #ej to the breakdown about #dej1 and right on into the ,dark ,ages--that is1 for not less than one thousand years4 ,during the first half of this time 7and especially during the first third7 it had to carry the travel of a very full1 well-developed1 and complex society to one of the most important centres of its wealth1 the town of ,bath4 ,yet the road goes up the most astonishing gradients4 ,illustration3 ,sketch ,,iii ,somehow or other1 these gradients were normally used--but it is a puzzle to say how4 ,the modern road has frankly abandoned the effort1 and takes a long sweep round both sides of the valley at a gradient of about #a in #ab4 ,even so1 it is quite steep enough for our modern methods of travel4 ,the question of gradient is complicated1 again1 by another variable which makes the solution of the problem much more intricate than the discovery of minimum effort upon a particular gradient4 ,you have to consider not only the uphill or downhill upon a given slope1 but the type of further uphill and downhill to which your road1 once established on that slope1 is leading you4 ,it is not enough to determine your best formula under such and such conditions of travel for overcoming one side of the obstacle4 ,you have also to ask yourself whether1 having got your best uphill road1 you may not have led the traveller to an impossible position on the further side4 ,extreme cases of this one often sees in the ,jura range1 where the hills are shaped like waves in a storm3 a steep escarpment upon the eastern side1 very difficult to go up or down1 and an easy slope upon the western4 ,here you have to balance the advantage of your gradient upon the one side with the advantage of the gradient that you will find upon the other1 and1 of course1 to direct your line principally with a view to travel on the more difficult steeper side4 ,that is why you often find yourself following in the ,jura a road which goes up the easy western side by an apparently over-steep trajectory3 you wonder why the road does not take some obviously easier line which lies below you4 ,the reason you only discover upon reaching the summit and seeing the precipitous escarpment overhanging the eastern valley--your road has made for some exceptional advantage down this cliff1 some cleft1 which an easier advance from the west would not have hit4 ,a balance has to be struck between the advantage of gradients on both sides of the hill1 save in the rare cases where a range 7such as the ,vosges7 is symmetrical and gives you equal gradients upon either slope4 ,that balance is always a matter of careful calculation4 ,where it has been brought to a fine art is1 of course1 in surveying for a modern railroad1 for there the slightest differences of gradient make such a vast difference in the expense of working that the discovery of a true minimum over an obstacle of hill country is of the first importance4 iii ,there is hardly any factor in connection with the theory of the road which needs more material modification as civilization changes than this factor of gradient4 ,the sharpest contrast in the whole of history is that which ,i have just mentioned3 that of the railroads4 ,men suddenly found themselves possessed of a new instrument which enormously multiplied their power on the flat and yet was quite incapable of anything like the old gradients4 ,going level or on very slight gradients it could give them travel far more rapid and inexpensive than any that had been known before1 but one in fifty bothered it badly1 one in thirty was wholly unnatural1 and the existing gradients of one in ten1 eight1 six1 were out of the question4 ,further1 the least inclination increased all difficulties1 and the addition of inclination produced these difficulties in more than a geometrical progression4 ,the result was the revolution whose effects we see about us everywhere3 the tunnel1 the cutting1 the embankment4 ,to-day1 a couple of generations after that revolution1 there comes the new problem of the internal-combustion engine1 where the gradient again appears in a new light4 ,the motor takes gradients far steeper than the rail4 ,its difficulties are not increased in the same ratio4 ,but it cannot always deal with the horse road4 ,lynton and ,lynmouth and their ,devonshire valley form perhaps the best example of this in ,great ,britain4 ,you have here terrible gradients which were just possible for the horse vehicle and are hardly possible for the motor vehicle1 and you have the new road round by ,watersmeet attempting partially1 but not entirely1 to solve the problem4 ,a special case in this general category of gradients1 and one much more complex than appears at first sight1 is the case of the pass1 or gap4 ,men have always naturally made for any notch in a line of hills to save themselves the effort of higher climbing4 ,it began with foot travel1 and has continued right on throughout the history of the ,road4 ,in high mountains provided with low passes the use of a saddle in the range was obvious and often necessary2 but there were disadvantages even in that apparently unexceptionable rule4 ,one was the question just dealt with of the double slope3 the consideration of the other side--the most obvious pass from the one side did not necessarily lead to the best descent upon the other4 ,another was the conformation of many ranges1 which is such that the approach to the ridge is much steeper at the summit of a 8col0 or pass than it is by tracks to one side4 ,this is a paradox which people living in easy hill-lands have difficulty in appreciating4 ,the ,alps especially show roads which puzzle us 7who are of a gentler landscape7 when we follow them3 yet the principle is simple and dependent upon the geological formation of most new mountain ranges1 which present a hard core1 forming their central ridge4 ,the softer ground wears away on either side of the valley3 the ridge remains4 ,the effect is that a direct approach to the notch in the range would give impossible gradients in the last few hundred yards1 and therefore the road must gradually curve round by a side of the valley4 ,a third exceptional case is that of trajectories where the minimum of effort is only to be found by going right over the very summit of the highest hill in your neighbourhood4 ,lastly1 there is the curious case of a pass where it is to the advantage of the road to avoid the lowest passage of the range and to take a line to one side above it4 ,as examples of these last two paradoxical points ,i may quote the pass of ,sallent in the ,pyrenees and the exceedingly important road from the valley of the ,moselle to the valley of ,belfort in the ,vosges4 ,in the case of the pass of ,sallent there was an obvious notch in the range1 which was used from the very earliest times till just the other day4 ,it was through this that the armies of the ,moors poured in the eighth century for their attempted conquest of ,europe1 when they invaded ,france and nearly reached the ,loire4 ,so late as within living memory it was the regular track from the valley of the ,gallego to that of ,gabas4 ,now1 the modern road1 after careful survey1 has been constructed to cross the mountain summit somewhat to the west1 and a good three hundred feet higher than the old pass4 ,why was this8 ,it was because the notch of ,sallent had a very steep approach in the last few hundred yards upon either side1 and the minimum of effort1 at any rate for wheeled vehicles of the modern type1 was found in taking a lesser gradient to one side1 although it involved a much higher climb4 ,the case of the road from the ,moselle valley to ,belfort in the ,vosges is even more remarkable1 for one would have said at first asking that no such case could exist3 one would have said that a minimum of effort could never be reached by going over the very highest summit in your neighbourhood1 but it is so when you deal with what ,i will call a 8star0 mountain1 as will be seen at once from the following elements4 ,illustration3 ,sketch ,,iv ,here the contours are such that had the road deflected to the west or the east in order to avoid the highest summit1 it would have been compelled either to a very long detour 7involving in any case nearly as high a climb7 or to a series of steep and profound ups and downs over the spurs of the mountain4 ,the line taken from the ,moselle to ,belfort on the other side goes within a few feet of the highest point on the hill1 and is yet the line of least effort from one point to the other4 ,it is an excellent example of the way in which the formula of minimum effort1 when it is thought out1 may be quite different from what mere habit would have produced4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,obstacle ,,of ,,vegetation ,the ,special ,expenditure due to ,forest3 ,roads which ,skirt ,woodlands3 ,roads which have been ,deflected by ,forest3 ,proximity of ,material as a ,final ,main ,cause ,modifying the ,trajectory of a ,road3 ,cost of ,transporting ,material and its ,effects in ,ancient and ,modern ,times4 i ,the obstacle of vegetation1 which is our next cause modifying the trajectory of a road1 is two-fold4 ,there is the obstacle presented by forests or permanent vegetation 7which includes in some climates very high grasses7 and the obstacle presented by intermittent growths4 ,we are not1 in this country and in modern times1 well acquainted with the obstacle of vegetation to a road and with the modification of trajectory which it imposes4 ,we have no large forests left3 we have1 in common with all ,northern ,europe1 no exuberance of growth4 ,the dense population and very high road mileage of modern ,england have put this factor in the development of communication out of sight1 and it is so unrecognized that the mention of it here may seem superfluous4 ,but it is still a grave element in the calculation of a road even in the ,european world1 and a graver one in the new countries4 ,and it has had its part in framing our own system in its earlier stages4 ,in damp tropical countries it is all important1 and even in temperate climates where large forests exist it has its place4 7a7 ,forest4 ,two special expenditures attach to this obstacle3 ,first the effort of clearing a way1 second the effort of maintenance1 and particularly through the effect of wood upon surface4 ,the effort of clearing1 always an expense1 made the forest in very early times an insuperable obstacle to any great or considerable road4 ,the forest had tracks1 but the main road was compelled to skirt the denser woodland1 or at the least to take a tortuous trajectory for the advantage of natural clearings4 ,with the development of civilization that difficulty disappeared1 and it disappeared early1 although ,i can call to mind no broad primitive track through any dense woodland4 ,the ,roman roads hewed their way through forests where it was necessary1 and found in the value of the timber felled an economic compensation for the effort made4 ,but even with them1 and even with modern roads1 it remains true that the forest governs and modifies road construction4 ,there is case after case where a ,roman road1 and even a modern road1 will skirt a forest rather than be at the effort of overcoming the obstacle3 for instance1 the case of the forest of ,mormal in ,northern ,france4 ,here the main ,roman road from the centre of ,northern ,gaul to the crossings of the ,rhine cuts along the edge of the great wood like a knife1 with no growth on its western side4 ,further1 cause and effect reacting on one another1 the lack of roads preventing clearing1 and the lack of clearing keeping down habitation and so ways1 there is no great forest possessing a system of roads anywhere in ,europe4 ,all considerable stretches of woodland1 where agriculture or other economic effort has not cleared them1 have a minimum of roadway4 ,in our northern climate1 the larger stuff once felled1 upkeep is not a grave economic matter4 ,the use of artificial material1 which comes in at the very first stages of road-making1 renders the problem here even less important4 ,but in other climates1 and particularly in the tropics1 it becomes the dominating factor4 ,there are whole districts--as1 for instance1 on the ,amazon basin1 or1 again1 in ,central and ,west ,africa--where the problem of communication consists not in the cutting of the original track1 expensive as that is1 but in its maintenance2 and in the greater part of those districts even modern civilization1 with its immense material advantages1 and with its strong economic inducement to the transport of tropical material1 has been unable or unwilling to make and maintain forest roads1 at any rate for ordinary wheeled traffic4 ,with the railways it is otherwise4 ,the economic effort required for the construction of the track is such that the added expense of clearing the forest is a much smaller fraction of the whole1 and the type of bed which has to be established for the track partially solves 7but only partially7 the question of upkeep4 ,even the railway can be overcome by the vigour of tropical vegetation1 but it has a better economic basis in the densely wooded country than has the ,road4 ,one of the most curious facts in the history of roads due to the obstacle of wood is the deflection of the ,roman ,road through this cause after the decline of civilization4 ,one can find many instances of this even in ,england1 light as is the afforesting of this country1 and small as are the districts affected4 ,thus the ,great ,north ,road making for ,stamford is a broad1 unmistakable way raised high above the neighbouring country1 and looking like some great double rampart1 from the crossing of the ,welland for miles to the north and west4 ,it approaches a small patch of wood on a hill and disappears4 ,it remains lost for a mile after its destruction by the wood1 and is not found again in anything like its earlier sharpness of outline till ,stamford is reached4 ,that is because the upkeep through the wood became too difficult in the ,dark ,ages1 and men turned the obstacle by developing a new road round it4 ,another very clear example is to be found on the ,stane ,street north of ,eartham1 where the great ,nore ,wood through which the ,roman road was driven usurped it in later times1 overgrew it1 and deflected the modern road round by ,duncton ,hill4 ,we have here probably not so much a case of keeping down the new growth as of the wetness of the track when artificial material ceased to be used1 and of the difficult going thus made between the trees4 ,the occasional fall of trees across the road left unremoved1 and the danger in such times from any close cover must not be neglected4 ,but1 whatever the cause1 woodland perpetually deflects a ,roman road after the breakdown of the old civilization4 ,it deflects it almost as often as does the marsh of a river valley4 7b7 ,the obstacle to the making of a road due to intermittent vegetation is one which plays no part in our system1 and is unknown to our climatic conditions4 ,nor is it of any great effect save in a few special highly characterized regions of the world4 ,the track1 once established1 can commonly keep down even the riot of spring vegetation in open land4 ,such exceptions as there are1 due to the exceptional development of grasses1 affect no part of the world where communications need high development4 ,the factor exists1 but needs no more than a mention4 ii ,the last main cause modifying the trajectory of a road is the relative proximity of material for its construction1 using the word 8proximity0 in the wider sense to include all economic effort3 what to-day we call the 8cheapness0 of the material4 ,even in the very simplest and most primitive form of roadwork material enters4 ,there is always the necessity of hardening some bit of soft ground or of smoothing some bit of unevenness1 and from the beginning of travel you have had the transportation of material to the established road for the improvement of its surface1 for the bridging of its water obstacles or flooring of fords1 for the making of its causeways over marshes4 ,in what may be called the middle period of road construction--that is1 in periods of high civilisation1 but civilisation not provided with modern instruments--the immediate neighbourhood of material introduced a considerable modifying factor into the trajectory of a road4 ,this was often masked1 from the fact that the same soil which provided good going and therefore developed early tracks usually also provided1 in the nature of things1 good material for hardening the surface1 for the building of causeways1 and even for the throwing of bridges4 ,it was also masked by the fact that the bridge1 if it were to be built of wood1 could get its material from a considerable distance1 as the river was its avenue of supply4 ,but though transport of material has gone through a revolution in the last hundred years1 and material for road-making is now brought half across the world 7e4g4 ,colonial wood pavement71 yet the way neighbourhood of material tells can still be seen everywhere upon the road map of ,europe4 ,thus the absence of main roads in the ,fens for centuries was not only due to the necessity of continual artificial work1 embankments1 and bridges 7this would not have deterred the ,roman road-makers nor the great effort of the early ,middle ,ages from attempting a full network of roads74 ,it was rather due to the absence of hard material4 ,and you have the same phenomenon in the ,landes of ,south-western ,france1 where to this day only one great road serves an immense district whose loose and sandy soil fails to provide a cheap and sufficient material4 ,the traveller in ,holland notices the same thing3 here are roads ultimately depending upon brick paving and narrow1 where1 had there been abundant material available1 they would have been broad1 for they had to carry a great deal of traffic4 ,the alternative water traffic by their side was largely developed by the difficulty of making the road4 ,the ,romans fought this difficulty with singular tenacity4 ,they made all their great public constructions to last1 as it were1 for ever2 and they made their roads with such a strong political and military object that they would not be deterred save1 as in the ,fenlands1 by the gravest difficulties in the obtaining of material4 ,thus in such of their roads as start anywhere near a sea-beach of shingle you will find them using that material up-country for miles1 and they will make deep foundations for roads that have to cross clay1 using1 sometimes1 hard stone brought over a couple of hundreds of miles of sea and some thirty of land travel4 ,it is a difficulty which has not disappeared to-day4 ,it has been very greatly lessened by modern means of transport1 but it still appears4 ,we see it throughout modern ,europe3 for instance1 in the varying surfaces of the different soils4 ,the ideal surface of broken granite is not nearly universal even in ,england1 as one would think modern transport would have made it long ago1 over such a small area with such masses of granite close at hand and accessible by sea4 ,the relative cost of transport still makes diversity of surface the rule4 ,one can make a sort of economic barometer based on the use of granite4 ,it extends farther and farther from the sources of supply as public wealth expands1 and recedes towards them as public wealth diminishes4 ,we have a first-class example of this in the case of flint versus granite4 ,flint has its advantages over all other material in hardening a roadway4 ,it is at once hard and easily broken3 it is superficial1 and therefore cheap3 it is abundant in supply in the districts where it is used4 ,on the other hand1 it has the gravest possible disadvantage for modern motor traffic1 which is its effect upon the tyres indispensable to that traffic4 ,one could draw a graph1 ,i think1 to cover the last ten years showing the fluctuations of this material and granite upon the main roads of ,southern ,england1 and the curve would follow the opportunities of supply and of public expenditure as affected by the ,great ,war4 ,,chapter ,v ,,political ,,influences ,the ,factor of ,cost ,resulting in the 8,strangling of ,communication03 ,congestion which ,leads to ,decay3 ,a ,great ,modern ,problem3 ,the ,compulsory ,acquisition of ,land3 ,old ,roads ,serving ,new ,objects4 i ,so far we have been considering the material conditions of the ,road3 the physical circumstances which determine its trajectory4 ,but these alone do not completely account for its trace in practice or theory4 ,there is another category affecting this1 the political or moral category3 the various effects of society in modifying what1 but for them1 would be the formula of least effort4 ,these political causes of modification are of less effect than the physical1 but they merit a brief mention4 ,the political factors modifying the trajectory of a road 7that is1 the factors due to man's social action and not to material causes alone7 are three in number4 ,firstly1 the factor of cost--which is1 the economic tendency to avoid as far as possible the destruction of old economic values in the making of a road2 secondly1 legal restraints against the ,road's following its line of least resistance2 and thirdly1 the presence of a variety of objects to be served1 which variety again interferes with the simple rule of finding the trajectory of minimum effort4 ,the first of these political factors1 the factor of cost1 you find even in the primitive road1 which avoids the cultivable land if it can1 or crosses it at the narrowest point available1 and you find it at the other end of the scale in our complicated modern world1 where the ,road tends to avoid the destruction of economic values in highly concentrated town life and thus keeps narrow when it is established1 and also fails to develop new communications4 ,the effect of this political restraint is constant throughout history1 great in all periods1 but increasing cumulatively with the increase of wealth and the economic development of society4 ,there follows from this a most interesting historical phenomenon1 which ,i shall deal with at greater length in my second section--8,the ,english ,road0--because it would appear to be upon the point of recurring in this island4 ,that phenomenon is the 8strangling of communications0 in the old age of a wealthy state from the very effect of its wealth4 ,it is a paradox of profound effect which you get over and over again in the history of great mercantile cities3 their wealth--which should be their best advantage in developing and changing communication--crystallizes them4 ,their ways are laid out for a particular phase of traffic4 ,the land on either side of the streets becomes enormously valuable4 ,the traffic changes in character4 ,new ways are demanded by the new conditions1 but they are not built because the compensation required for disturbance terrifies the reformer4 ,there follows a phase during which you have heavy congestion of traffic1 and then1 unless reform comes in time1 a succeeding phase of decay4 ,it is very rare in the history of great urban centres to find the problem tackled at the right moment and solved3 to find governors of sufficient daring to take the economic plunge4 ,the ,government of ,napoleon ,,iii did so to some extent in the case of modern ,paris 7though it left a great number of congested streets unrelieved71 and there are not a few modern ,italian towns where similar action has had its effect3 for instance1 ,bari4 ,but the general rule in history is that a city having reached its highest point of wealth becomes congested1 refuses to accept its only remedy1 and passes on from congestion to decay4 ,how strong the influence is you may observe in one particular historical example where its influence is more clearly discovered than in any other--that is1 the example of the ,city of ,london after the ,great ,fire of #afff4 ,here was the finest opportunity for rebuilding that ever a ,government had4 ,it might have done what was done at ,turin and laid out a new city altogether4 ,two men of genius1 ,sir ,william ,temple and ,sir ,christopher ,wren1 produced magnificent plans with broad ways1 round places for the crossings1 and a carefully thought-out scheme of transverse streets4 ,vested interest and economic peril proved too strong for them4 ,the city was rebuilt on its old lines with narrow lanes and alleys1 courts1 tortuous trace1 the mark of all which it carries to-day4 ,there is a good side to this1 of course4 ,no one can regret the conservation of tradition4 ,everyone who knew the old ,paris mourned for the antiquity which was swept away under ,napoleon ,,iii1 and even in our slight changes in modern ,london we are shocked at the desecration they involve4 ,i confess that ,i myself have never got over the loss of ,temple ,bar1 though ,i only knew it as a child4 ,if this were the main motive at work one would criticize less strongly the hesitation to make our town streets meet the modern great change4 ,but it is not the main motive4 ,the main motive is a blunder in the science of economics4 ,it is the idea that the destruction of a number of imaginary economic values 78imaginary0 because they form no part of the total real wealth of the ,state71 to wit1 the urban site values1 is in some way an expenditure of real wealth4 ,so far is this from being the case that there is perhaps no example in all history of a congested street-system being reformed without the wealth of the city increasing after the change4 ,of the minor political questions which confront us to-day in ,england this stands in the first rank4 ,if we do not reform our main roads we shall handicap ourselves against our competitors1 but if we do not broaden and change our town streets we may rapidly strangle and atrophy our most vital centres of commerce4 ii ,the effect of the second point1 legal restraint in modifying the line of least resistance1 will be found under two forms3 the first is negative2 the lack of public powers of coercion for the acquirement of land by which a road should pass4 ,the second is positive2 legal restraint against the road through ownership or privilege4 ,this political factor in the modification of roads1 the negative and positive effect of legal restraint1 works in an opposite fashion to that we have just examined4 ,the older1 the wealthier1 the more complex a civilization the less this modifying factor is present4 ,thus in ,england for many centuries we had no compulsory power in the hands of public authority for the making of a new road4 ,such powers are1 as we shall see when we come to the story of the ,english ,road1 a comparatively modern development4 ,on this account the ,road was1 until modern legislation brought in a new system1 compelled to follow existing established ways4 ,it could not even be broadened1 let alone a new trajectory enforced2 and the only compulsory powers in the hands of the authorities were those permitting the levying of labour1 and later of money1 for repair4 ,the same is true of the second form of legal restraint1 though in lesser degree4 ,privilege 7such as the deflection of an old line of road by ,act of ,parliament in order1 for instance1 to add to the privacy of a park--there were not a few examples of this some generations ago7 and the positive legal restraint imposed by existing right of ownership obviously decay pari passu with the development of public powers for driving new roads or broadening existing ones4 ,the third political factor modifying the trajectory of roads is that of a variety of objects imposed upon communications by varied social uses4 ,as society grows more complex and at the same time wealthier1 as new centres of population arise1 new forms of travel and new needs to be satisfied by travel1 the simple formula of the line of least effort from one point to another suffers increasing modification4 ,you have to consider not only the line of least effort between two terminals1 but the due weight to be given to intervening points which do not lie precisely upon that line4 ,as a rule1 of course1 these new centres exercise their pressure or attraction automatically1 and you get a deflection arising not from plan but from gradual necessity4 ,the same thing happens with new needs 7as1 commerce replacing arms71 but it is curious to note how slowly the modification takes place4 ,we have a good example of this along the south-eastern coast of ,england4 ,our ancestors felt no attraction for living in the neighbourhood of the sea4 ,to use the shore as a recreation and the sea air as a remedy is quite a modern idea4 ,the result is that all the old roads connected with the sea as a terminal ran perpendicularly to the coast1 uniting a port to the inland country4 ,there is not a main road in ,england over one hundred years old and leading from the sea which does not start from a port4 ,for good communication connecting up a line of ports laterally there was little need4 ,the result is that to this day1 when the south coast has become one long line of great watering-places1 many of which are fully developed modern towns on a very large scale1 there is still no complete lateral communication4 ,many of the port bridges1 as ,i point out elsewhere in this essay1 are but recently established1 many sections of the line are served by imperfect1 ill-kept pieces of road2 in one or two places it fails altogether 7as round ,selsey71 while in others it is built up 7as at ,romney ,marsh7 of patchwork--old lanes running criss-cross to each other haphazard to make the modern line4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,reaction ,,of ,,the ,,road ,the ,physical ,effects of ,roads3 ,the ,way in which the ,road ,compels ,communication to follow it3 ,the ,formation of ,urban ,centres and the ,urban ,habit3 ,the ,spread of ,ideas by ,means of ,roads3 ,history ,deflected by the ,deflection of the ,road3 ,the ,example of ,shrewsbury and ,chester3 ,towns which are ,maintained by ,roads3 ,the ,road in ,military ,history3 ,results of the ,decay of ,roads3 ,the ,road as a ,boundary4 i ,so far we have considered the origin and development of the ,road3 that is1 the effect of its environment upon the ,road4 ,we must turn1 in conclusion1 to the converse aspect1 which may be called 8,the ,reaction of the ,road0--that is1 the effect of the ,road upon its environment4 ,a road once formed immediately begins to affect in some degree the physical circumstances surrounding it1 and in a very much greater degree the human relations which it subserves4 ,the physical effects of the ,road are few and may be briefly mentioned4 ,they are all connected with the action of water1 save for very rare instances where a particular cutting has precipitated a landslide and one or two other exceptions of the sort4 ,the effect of the made road upon physical circumstances is1 in fact1 dependent upon the conflict with precipitation in which it is engaged4 ,it is a general rule in all man's economic activity that the human effort is at odds with the general tendency of nature4 ,nature perpetually tends to reassert herself1 and to undo what man has done in her despite4 ,the ,road is no exception to this rule1 and the particular way in which it works you can see by examining typical cases4 ,one of these we shall come across more particularly later on when we discuss the ,roman roads of ,britain1 but it may be worth while to give its general character here4 ,the ,road1 finding a small stream1 crosses it by a culvert3 the ,road1 finding a ravine with too sharp a gradient on either side1 traverses it by an embankment2 and then1 even if there is no stream at the bottom of the ravine1 it leaves a culvert or other drain for the water accumulated after rainfall to soak through4 ,now1 when human effort slackens and the upkeep of a road is no longer sufficient the culvert gets blocked and the ,road begins to act as a dam4 ,the lake so formed will in time destroy the obstacle1 but before this the ,road will change the countryside by the creation of such a lake succeeded by permanent marsh4 ,to-day the phenomenon passes unnoticed because we are still living in a high civilization4 ,but it has affected history strongly in the past4 ,whenever civilization breaks down you begin to get a series of marshes1 with all their accompaniments of fever and the rest growing up along the roads4 ,the greatest examples of the growth of marsh during the ,dark ,ages were found in ,italy1 but there are countless examples of the same thing all over the north and west of the ,roman ,empire1 and this spreading of marsh 7due also to other causes1 such as the abandonment of drains in the fens and the breakdown of locks and sluices on river ways7 is largely caused by the special action of the ,road4 ,the same thing on a lesser scale is to be seen where a bridge falls out of repair4 ,the ruins will often half-block the current and make an overflow on either side1 where1 if the land is flat1 a wide belt of marsh spreads and the approaches are ruined2 so that what was a point of special opportunity for1 becomes a point of special obstacle to1 communication4 ii ,on the political side--that is1 in relation to its human service--the reactions of the ,road are exceedingly important1 and they are not always as clearly noticed as they might be4 ,there is a whole group of historical social phenomena which could be connected under the one heading of the 8attraction0 of the ,road1 meaning by the word 8attraction0 the way in which the ,road compels communication to follow it once it is established4 ,this attraction produces a quantity of effects countering or crossing general economic tendencies1 and it acts in countless ways4 ,one interesting aspect of this is the draining of population down on to the ,road4 ,when a map is drawn up showing the density of population we see upon it separate areas of density1 sometimes far apart1 and between them areas marked by lesser density or even void4 ,but if one should make an accurate population map of any one moment1 plotting down every individual upon it1 you would not get this effect of isolated dense districts2 you would not get the effect of an archipelago1 but of a network2 for upon the communications between these districts would be marked a dense chain of units in progress from the one to the other3 and one would at once grasp how permanent lesser nuclei arise between the two terminal towns4 ,this aspect of the ,road suggests a far more important one4 ,the ,road--in the sense of a means of communication--in proportion to its excellence differentiates human society 7a7 ,into areas of density and void2 7b7 ,into the urban political habit and the agricultural political habit4 ,this is a very important reaction of the ,road1 which must be allowed for in every historical and contemporary problem4 ,granted an urban centre1 with its special opportunities for inter-communication between human beings1 for experiment and for what may be called 8the cross-fertilization of knowledge10 the growth of such a centre is1 of course1 dependent upon many things3 its economic basis1 either as a market or as the capital of a productive area1 or1 more commonly1 as both2 the physical surroundings which may1 as in the case of ,genoa or ,venice for instance1 strictly limit that growth1 etc4 ,but among the causes affecting it1 and chief among them1 is the ,road3 the degree of excellence in communication4 ,the growth of a town is a direct function of this1 the most conspicuous example1 of course1 in the whole of history being the immense growth of ,london following on the supplementing of the old roads by the railway4 ,in direct connection with this you have a mass of subsidiary effects1 all of the highest importance to the ,state4 ,the ,road having caused the growth of the city1 after a certain point a high differentiation arises between urban and rural life4 ,the differentiation may become so great that you arrive at a clash of fundamental interests in which one of the two is defeated4 ,you certainly have had that in modern ,england during the last two generations4 ,the towns became so much the more important part of ,english life that the agricultural life was entirely sacrificed to them--and the ,road was the ultimate cause4 ,again1 you get the curious development of what may be called 8reserve0 towns3 towns like ,brighton and ,blackpool1 which are the playgrounds of the greater cities at a distance2 the large urban centre breeds1 as it were1 a lesser one after its own pattern4 ,you have got in modern times that further curious reaction due to growing excellence of communications--that is1 due to the growth of the ,road--the pulse of the great modern city4 ,crowds of human beings pour out of ,victoria or ,liverpool ,street into ,london and pour back from ,london in the evening4 ,the station of ,st4 ,lazare in ,paris is1 in ,europe1 the most striking visual evidence of this strange modern development1 great floods of human beings cascading into the city at the opening day and ebbing back at its close4 ,at bottom1 like so many other human arrangements1 this 8pulse0 is a negation of its own principles--a sub-conscious effect which a fully thought-out plan could have avoided4 ,there is no true economic basis for it1 or1 at any rate1 not for the most of it4 ,there will always be advantages1 of course1 in the central point1 and always some tendency in men to seek that central point in order to enjoy those advantages4 ,ten men may desire to seek daily the central point which has only habitation-room for one1 and that will lead to the 8pulse0 of which ,i speak4 ,but the necessity for seeking it daily is already very largely an artificial necessity and is becoming more and more artificial every day4 ,the same work can be done perfectly well at a distance as is now done in centres1 and in a roundabout way that truth is impressing itself through an economic effect4 ,the rents become so high in the crowded centre that whole groups of activities which do not really need a central position tend to disperse themselves to the outer boundaries4 ,the printing trade1 in those branches which are not hurried 7the printing of books1 for instance71 is a good example of this4 ,when men debate the probable future of our great cities they often omit one very likely development1 which is the creation of a number of suburban centres which1 if the material side of our civilization declines1 will become independent towns and the probable decay of the central nucleus out of which they all grow4 ,it is a speculation worth examining4 iii ,the reaction of the ,road upon society1 its political reaction1 has many other departments4 ,for instance1 in the communication of ideas the trace of a road will give you the advance of some religious development otherwise inexplicable4 ,i have pointed out through more than one historical allusion in other work how the spread of the ,christian religion may be directly followed along the trace of the chief ,roman roads1 and especially of the great trunk road of the ,empire running from ,egypt to the ,wall in ,northumberland4 ,you have only to make a list of names standing on that trunk road to show that it corresponds to a list of dates and names in the story of the conversion of ,europe--,alexandria1 ,jerusalem1 ,damascus1 ,antioch1 ,tarsus1 ,ephesus1 ,athens1 ,brindisi1 ,naples1 ,rome1 ,lyons1 ,autun1 ,canterbury1 ,london1 ,st4 ,albans4 ,again1 a road which for some reason has become established along an artificial line1 a line not directly dictated by the formula of minimum effort1 will 8canalize0 traffic1 so that1 even when an alternative and better way has been provided1 institutions and towns and all that goes for human activity will have taken root along the old way and all history will be deflected by the deflection of the ,road4 ,we have a very interesting example of this here in ,england in the case of the great road to the north-west4 ,in the earliest times ,chester was the one terminal and ,london the other4 ,chester was the port for ,ireland1 and1 because it was much easier going along the coast than over the mountains1 ,chester was also the base point of departure for the penetration of ,north ,wales4 ,chester was also the great garrison whence troops could be detached for the ,lancashire plain and for the western end of the ,wall4 ,nevertheless1 ,chester1 though it maintained for centuries its inevitable importance1 had a rival in the ,roman town of ,uriconium1 under the ,wrekin3 one of the very few ,roman towns which have disappeared--though it has its modern counterpart in ,shrewsbury4 ,the campaigns against the ,welsh were based for hundreds of years as much on this middle section of ,shrewsbury as on the northern one of ,chester4 ,finally1 when modern engineering made possible a direct trajectory through the mountains1 this middle ,shrewsbury section fixed the ,holyhead road1 which would otherwise have gone round by ,chester4 ,the main railway system to the north-west1 as we know1 has been compelled to follow the coast1 and but for the deflection of the ancient road round by ,shrewsbury that road would have done exactly what the modern railway does4 ,now1 why was there this strange bend westward and southward towards ,shrewsbury in the road making ultimately for ,chester8 ,it was because1 when the ,roman ,empire was at the height of its material power1 when things were working best and public works were most energetically created and maintained1 the ,romans had not fully conquered the ,north4 ,therefore their chief trouble with the ,welsh mountaineers during that earlier moment was with those of the ,central mountains rather than of the ,north4 ,they had1 it is true1 established their garrison in ,chester4 ,but in making their first great trunk road they had been compelled to choose a more southern terminal1 hence what is still called the ,watling ,street curls round by ,penkridge 7a ,roman name descended from the ,roman place-name of the ,itinerary7 and then makes westward4 ,later1 when the conquest was more complete1 a branch was thrown out from ,shrewsbury northward to ,chester4 ,long after a short cut was driven from ,penkridge to ,chester direct4 ,we have grounds for belief that this last road was of later and inferior work1 because1 though the traces of it survive1 the main work has almost wholly disappeared4 ,it stands to reason that the original trackway before the ,romans came would have run pretty directly from ,london to ,chester without going round by the ,shrewsbury district2 and1 indeed1 the course to which all the first part of the ,watling ,street points is evidence of that4 ,when the ,roman military engineers began their thorough rebuilding of the roads 7in the most permanent fashion in the world7 they were at first confined to the southern plain1 in which alone they felt secure1 and hence was that deflection round westward towards ,shrewsbury created which has affected the whole of ,english history4 ,you may next observe the ,road producing the economic effect of maintaining towns1 and especially ports4 ,a road being driven from an existing port to some inland terminus and the port later becoming less and less useful1 either through the building of ships too deep for it or silting up or what not1 the mere existence of the ,road tends to make men cling to the port in spite of its disadvantages4 ,they will1 as a rule1 from the effect of custom and of vested interest1 from the attraction of the points already established on the ,road1 expend in the maintenance of the port more energy than would have been required to build an alternative road to some new and better port4 ,the effect of this is very marked in ,northern ,france4 ,boulogne was not only the great ,roman port of the channel because it stood in the ,narrows2 it was also of such importance because it was in antiquity a very broad1 secure1 land-locked estuary1 stretching over what is now all dry land up above the town three miles towards ,pont-de-,briques4 ,centuries ago the harbour silted up1 and if it had been left alone it would be hardly serviceable at all4 ,but every effort has been made to maintain that point4 ,boulogne harbour has been steadily maintained artificially for centuries because the road led to it and needed it1 and the alternative use of the far superior estuary of the ,seine1 with the corresponding growth of ,havre1 only came quite late in history4 ,the ,road has the same canalizing effect where it overcomes an obstacle such as a broad river1 or a mountain chain1 or a belt of dense woodland4 ,for instance1 the fertile lowland fringe of ,south ,wales and the corresponding fertile land to the east of the ,severn were connected1 when primitive methods alone could be used1 by the bridge at ,gloucester1 high up the river4 ,the lower reaches were too much for the earlier engineers1 especially in the face of such a tide as runs on them4 ,as a result the whole of that line of communications remained for #bjjj years highly deflected1 and only quite recently has there been some attempt at the more natural line by the piercing of the ,severn tunnel4 ,this effect of the ,road in canalizing human effort is specially marked in the case of armies4 ,the saying 8an army is tied to the road0 is a truth which historians should always keep in mind4 ,there have been great cavalry raids in history--not often of permanent effect--which marched on a broad front1 almost free of roads1 and dependent only upon a sufficiency of forage4 ,they have come from the grazing grounds of ,asia1 as a rule1 and swept over the plains of ,eastern ,europe2 but the organized and disciplined forces which have moulded history have always of necessity followed the ,road4 ,an army is not an island4 ,it is an organism connected by a stalk with its base and dependent on this stalk for its feeding and equipment1 its passing back of its prisoners and its wounded1 and all its life4 ,all these depend upon the ,road4 ,there are even cases in history--more numerous than one might imagine--where the first creation of the ,road has been due to military action alone4 ,i believe that the ,united ,states show examples of this1 especially along the border between the northern and southern states east of the ,mississippi4 ,certainly ,europe shows them in striking fashion3 it was a military necessity which made the great roads linking up the stations on the ,rhine with the towns of ,gaul and the rest of the ,empire2 it was a military necessity which made the regular roads over the ,alpine passes4 ,you can hardly say that there was a commercial necessity for the great trunk road which struck the ,rhine at ,cologne1 and which there later created the first bridge across the river4 ,the country beyond was barbarous1 and though a large number of ,roman merchants penetrated it and a corresponding amount of trade was done1 the main necessity for ,cologne was a military necessity4 ,military necessity which drove the great road from the heart of ,northern ,france to this isolated point and so opened up the wild wooded region in between4 iv ,the negative effect of the ,road1 the effect of its breakdown1 especially at the bridges and in the causeways over marshy land1 is equally indisputable in human relations4 ,we have the typical case of ,sussex remaining heathen for one hundred years after the conversion of its neighbours1 because the main road from the north with its causeway everywhere crossing the clay and piercing the scrub of the weald fell into decay1 and because the bridge at ,alfoldean broke down4 ,it is most significant that the great battle of ,ockley was fought north of this break in communications4 ,the ,danes1 marching from ,london against the ,english army1 could get down as far south as this1 and the ,english army coming up from ,hampshire could intercept them as far south as this1 but all the ,danish attack on ,sussex1 such as it was 7and it was very slight71 came from the sea4 ,another very conspicuous example of the breakdown of the ,road and of the political effect thereof is the chaos you get in the ,balkan peninsula after the decay of the great ,roman trunk roads4 ,if the ,greek ,church is to-day separate from the ,latin ,church to the west it is due not only to the obstacle of the ,pinsk ,marshes in the north1 but to the gradual decline in the south of the main artery between ,durazzo and ,constantinople4 ,for centuries old and new ,rome communicated by the great trunk road down to ,brundusium and then across the narrow sea to ,dyracchium and ,byzantium4 ,when that traffic began to be interrupted the contrast between the east and the west was founded and increased4 ,a last minor effect of the ,road upon human society is the use of the ,road as a boundary4 ,that is a use1 of course1 which hardly ever develops in a high civilization4 ,on the contrary1 a road of its nature should run transverse to boundaries4 ,it is built to unite towns the territories of which have boundaries naturally perpendicular to the ,road4 ,the road from ,canterbury to ,london1 for instance 7the first great main road in this island71 is transverse to the ,darent frontier1 and all the great roads from the ,french-speaking to the ,german-speaking country on this side of the ,rhine are transverse to the language boundary4 ,it is in the very function of a road to be thus transverse to political limits4 ,but with the decay of civilization the remains of a great1 well-built road lend themselves at once to the idea of a boundary4 ,men need something to which they can perpetually refer which will be a permanent mark and which will be indisputable4 ,a river is thus often so chosen2 sometimes1 but much more rarely1 a range of hills1 especially where the crest is particularly steep and marked4 ,but the ,road1 when the use of documents declines and when record is with difficulty maintained--the ,road1 especially if it has been built to endure1 comes in to fulfil this artificial function4 ,here in ,england we have more examples of this than in any other part of ,europe4 ,very often you can recover a ,roman road first by noting on the map the parish boundaries running on straight lines1 which are the prolongation one of the other1 and the survival of a ,roman road used in the ,dark ,ages to define a parochial limit4 ,the ,road is thus also used as a boundary not only for parishes but for states1 not only for states but for realms4 ,the ,roman road to the north-west of ,london was part of the great boundary established between ,wessex and the ,danish territories of the north and east4 ,one could quote hundreds of cases with a little research1 but best of all perhaps is that of the boundary of ,westminster1 which dates from the heart of the ,dark ,ages4 ,the northern limit of the manor was fixed by the great ,roman military road which to this day survives and is the boundary of ,hyde ,park on the north4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,road ,,ii ,,the ,,english ,,road ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,road ,,in ,,history ,through the ,dim ,ages3 ,the ,characteristics of the ,english ,road3 ,absence of ,plan3 ,a ,local instead of a ,national ,system ,leading to the ,present ,crisis4 i ,the general theory of the ,road having been discussed1 we may next turn to the particular case of ,,the ,,english ,,road1 my second and concluding section4 ,the ,english ,road has1 as we shall see1 highly-marked characteristics of its own which are of immediate concern to us at this revolutionary moment in the economic history of the ,state4 ,the fortunes of the ,english ,road followed1 of course1 the story of all the other main ,english institutions in their outline4 ,just as you had the pre-,roman barbaric period1 then the ,roman period1 then the ,dark ,ages in the general history of the ,state1 so you had the ,british trackway1 the ,roman ,road1 and the continued use during the continued decline of the latter as material civilization fell away after the fifth century4 ,the spring of the ,middle ,ages gave you the renaissance of the ,road4 ,the ,black ,death1 which is the watershed of the ,middle ,ages1 breaks the history of the ,road just as it breaks the history of the language4 ,french dies out3 all ,england is speaking ,english in the generation after the ,black ,death1 and there is a great change throughout society4 ,that change is marked on the roads by a considerable decline in travel1 coupled with the use of better means of transport--a paradox to which our times are not accustomed4 ,but you get a good deal of that in the ,middle ,ages4 ,you have1 for instance1 a decline of wealth in the monasteries1 and yet more detailed building in the monasteries2 a bad decline in manuscript writing1 both with regard to accuracy and legibility1 and yet an increase in the amount written4 ,so far as we can judge from our very imperfect evidence1 after the ,black ,death 7the middle of the fourteenth century7 the volume of traffic upon the roads of ,england tends to get less1 and perhaps the surface also deteriorates1 though that is more doubtful4 ,the ,reformation1 and especially the dissolution of the monasteries1 is the next great date4 ,the violent revolution imposed ,a4,d4 #aecf-dj on every department of the national life affects the roads as it affects all else4 ,in general1 the ,reformation1 especially through the dissolution of the monasteries1 had the following economic effects upon ,england3 7#a7 ,customary economic action tended to be replaced1 after the change1 by competitive economic action2 7#b7 ,corporate action tended to be replaced by individual action2 7#c7 ,the principal land-owning class--the squires--became much wealthier than they had been in proportion to the rest of the community4 ,the accommodation of these three main economic facts had the general result of substituting more and more statutory duties in local affairs for customary duties1 and it affected the roads thus3 where the local community had1 in a customary fashion1 kept up the local road as part of the old social habit the new lay owner refused4 ,he was averse to the outlay1 the ,crown had less control over him1 and as he was running the whole thing on an idea of profit and loss every outlay was cut by him as much as possible4 ,there was at the same time a revolution in agriculture1 a falling off of population1 the throwing together of small holdings1 the growth of grazing1 and the decline of tillage4 ,you consequently get1 through the common action of all these influences combined1 in the middle of the ,reformation period the first interference of the central ,government by direct statute in the making and conservation of the ,english road system4 ,this famous piece of legislation 7#b and #c ,philip and ,mary1 ,cap4 ,,viii7 is familiar to all who deal with the law and history of the highway4 ,it governed the constitution and maintenance of ,english roads right down to the great modern change in the same which falls under the general term 8turnpike40 ,these are the main stages in the story of the ,road in this island up to the present moment1 when1 apparently1 another stage has opened4 ,we have for these seven chapters very different information3 on the first nothing but conjecture1 on the second a considerable body of evidence1 on the third again conjecture1 and on the fourth conjecture1 though conjecture filled in from the indirect evidence of historical event4 ,for the second mediaeval period we have even less evidence than for the first4 ,our knowledge begins to grow after the increase of wheeled traffic1 and with the early eighteenth century becomes for the first time full and detailed4 ii ,we will now follow this development4 ,the ,english ,road has a character of its own which clearly differentiates it from the other road systems of ,western ,europe4 ,so sharp is the distinction that1 since modern travel recovered the use of the road through petrol traffic1 the new type of road he discovers is1 after the language1 the most striking novelty affecting the foreigner on his arrival4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,i1 ,district of ,,typical ,,english ,,road ,,system4 ,widths exaggerated4 ,lower part of ,sketch ,i 7,part ,,ii71 ,district of ,,typical ,,french ,,road ,,system4 ,widths exaggerated4 ,same scale as above ,abroad1 the ,french model--recovered from the ,roman tradition1 remodelled in the late seventeenth century1 and vastly developed in the nineteenth--has impressed itself everywhere3 the ,road is there built up on a framework of very broad1 straight main ways1 carefully graded1 proceeding everywhere upon one plan4 ,these are connected by a subsidiary net of country ways less direct and less broad1 but all carefully planned and graded1 and these in turn by local lanes of all surfaces and gradients and gauges1 dependent upon parish rates and betraying by their irregularity their independence of the national system4 ,illustration3 ,,typical ,,english ,,lane ,here the scheme is contradicted at every point4 ,a long stretch dead straight is very rare3 when it is found it is due to some accident of local choice4 ,the surface differs not as between the main road and local road1 but indiscriminately3 a small parish way will often have a better surface than the main road it joins4 ,the gauge is haphazard3 the main road between the capital and some great port will go through the most surprising changes in breadth1 here appearing as the narrow high street of a suburb1 and there1 a few miles on1 spreading to #ej feet upon an open heath1 then again turning abruptly round the sharp right-angle corners and between the irregular frontages of a village4 ,the ,english roads are far more numerous1 the mileage of good road surface to the hundred square miles far greater1 than abroad4 ,yet not one of them is planned throughout4 ,they all twist1 the lesser ones winding perpetually and usually without any reason of their own1 compelled to such anomalies by the custom of older paths1 by enclosures1 by encroachments4 ,for the most part these roads1 from the most important to the least1 are 8blind10 that is1 bounded by obstacles which mask the approach of corners and conceal the country on either side3 a very pronounced national characteristic1 due mainly to the use of hedges upon the more fertile land4 ,the grading is never continuous--the main roads in which this feature has been most thoroughly looked to yet have astonishing exceptions of #a in #i1 #a in #h4 ,the bridges are of varying strength1 half of them bearing warnings that they are dangerous to heavy vehicles4 ,when we seek the origin of this strange mixture of serviceable and unserviceable in the ,english road system we discover it in the political history of the country4 ,the ,english hedged roads yield their more pleasing landscape1 they have more length to the square mile than those abroad1 they are haphazard in gauge and gradient 7only half planned71 they have such excellent surface 7and that independently of their importance71 such a strange assortment of bridges1 such abrupt and blind corners--all because the ,road1 like every other institution1 is a function of society1 and because ,english society proceeded on special political lines of its own after the ,reformation4 ,like the road systems of every other country1 that of ,england arose from the great ,roman military ways4 ,it went through exactly the same phases of decline as those of the neighbouring ,continent1 it had the same new development in the ,middle ,ages1 it ran through open fields mainly4 ,a man put down on an ,english road of ,henry ,,viii or ,elizabeth's day would have marked no great distinction between its character and those of a ,flanders or a ,breton or a ,provenal road1 or the roads of the ,rhine4 ,but with the seventeenth century the profound change which had worked for a hundred years throughout all ,english life appeared in the ,road4 ,the monarchy fell4 ,a national road system became impossible4 ,the local landlords took command of society4 ,the local road was the only basis for development4 ,commons were enclosed1 co-operative village farming gradually disappeared1 the hedges everywhere increased in number1 cutting up the old open fields4 ,any extension of communication could only come through the linking up of tortuous village ways4 ,then came the industrial revolution1 the exploitation of better surface through the turnpike1 the epoch of ,telford and ,macadam4 ,lastly1 the huge increase of the great towns in the middle and later nineteenth century1 the coming of the internal combustion engine1 and the present crisis4 ,for we have come to a crisis to-day in the history of the ,english ,road4 ,it must be changed--or supplemented--under peril of such congestion as will strangle travel and interchange3 that is the interest of the subject to-day4 ,i propose1 therefore1 in what follows to consider1 first1 how this particular character in the ,english ,road developed3 what were the agencies which gradually made it so different from the road of the neighbouring ,continent3 next1 to sketch very briefly and only in its bare outline the history of the ,english ,road1 and to conclude with an examination of the reforms which we should undertake and the crisis in travel and the use of the ,road which has led to that duty4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the 8,,blindness0 ,,of ,,english ,,roads ,the ,two ,causes ,governing the ,development of ,english ,roads--,waterways and ,domestic ,peace3 ,the ,relation of the ,english ,road to ,military ,strategy4 i ,of many of the features of the ,english ,road we can determine the origins at once1 for they are of common knowledge4 ,the 8blindness0 of the ,english ,road is due to the enclosures and the consequent increase in hedges since the seventeenth century1 coupled1 as ,i have said1 with the dying out of 8champion0 or 8co-operative0 open-field farming4 ,it is in part due1 also1 to that which has also been alluded to and has affected the ,english ,road in all its aspects 7surface1 variation of gauge and gradient1 tortuousness1 etc471 the government of the squires following on the defeat of the monarchy nearly three hundred years ago4 ,i shall touch on this again when ,i come to the history of the ,english ,road4 ,but1 apart from these obvious and well-known causes1 two causes much less familiar--and yet of the first importance--two causes peculiar to this island in all ,europe1 have governed its development3 waterways and domestic peace4 ,the ,english road system has been so powerfully affected by these two agencies--the one physical1 the other political--as to have become wholly differentiated by them from the systems of the ,western ,continent4 ,the natural feature then is the omnipresence of waterways throughout the island2 and the political feature is domestic peace--that is the absence since the modern development of roads began 7during the last #bej years7 of strategical necessities on a large scale4 ii ,i will take these two things in their order4 ,the way in which the whole history of ,england has been modified by the presence of water is a topographical point of capital importance to the understanding of the national life4 ,there is no other large island in the world which has rivers in anything like the same proportion as we have1 either in number or in disposition4 ,most of the large islands have no navigable rivers at all4 ,sicily has none1 ,iceland has none1 nor ,crete1 nor ,cyprus1 nor ,sardinia1 nor ,corsica4 ,not only have we a host of navigable rivers1 but they are so disposed that they penetrate the very heart of the country4 ,the ,trent1 for instance1 is the most arresting thing upon the map4 ,it looks almost as though it had been specially designed to make the inmost heart of ,england penetrable to commerce and travel in the east4 ,the ,thames1 in the same way1 goes right into the heart of southern central ,england2 and even the ,severn1 the rapidity of which has militated against its modern use1 had a considerable use in the past and was an artery in the ,middle ,ages1 even for upward traffic1 to the neighbourhood of ,wenlock ,edge4 ,the great rivers alone1 however1 do not account for the most of this character4 ,it is the mass of small but navigable streams1 both tributary to the main systems and isolated along the coast1 which have so profoundly affected our history4 ,if you take one of those outline maps of ,england with the waterways only marked1 such as are sold for use in schools1 and plot out the highest point upon a stream to which a fairly loaded boat can penetrate1 you will be astonished to find how small a central area is left out4 ,one might say that the whole of ,england1 outside the hill country of the ,pennines1 the ,lakes1 and the border1 is so penetrated by water carriage that if there were no roads at all its life could1 under primitive conditions1 be carried on by waterways alone4 ,now this universal presence of waterways1 which meant every opportunity for internal traffic and also for approach from outside the island1 has had two effects upon the ,road4 ,first1 it has made for diversion--that is1 for the modification of the ,english ,road from a direct to an indirect and sinuous line4 ,secondly1 it has interrupted what would otherwise be main lines of travel in the necessity under which men found themselves of turning aside for the lowest bridge upon each stream4 ,as to the first of these points1 it will at once be observed that unless you have some strong compelling motive for driving a simple straight line you will1 in a country of many rivers1 avoid such a scheme and seek for the cheapest crossing of each water4 ,you must seek a ford1 or narrow1 or a place with specially hard banks1 and not merely take haphazard that part of the stream which lies on your direct line1 and seeing that such numerous waterways involve also long numerous flats along the streams1 valley floors subject to flood or formed of boggy soil1 the tendency to diversion in a road system under such conditions is intensified by the marshes which abound in a country so watered4 ,if you look at the ,roman road system you will see how1 for the considerations which ,i will deal with later1 it usually2 if not always1 neglects special opportunities and takes the water as it comes1 preferring an expensive straight line to a cheaper winding line2 but everything done since the ,roman road system has been affected by the perpetual consideration of the easiest river crossings inland1 while the same influence has deflected the road round the greater estuaries and ports4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,ii ,the lowest bridge over a river is a point of transformation4 ,it stops traffic from the sea going any higher4 ,but to carry on your journey from the sea as far as possible is obviously an economic advantage1 especially in early days of expensive and slow road traffic4 ,therefore a nation dealing with the sea and largely living through sea-trade casts its first bridge as far up stream as possible1 and that is exactly what you find upon all the rivers of ,england for centuries4 ,even to this day the tendency to build bridges lower down than the old first bridge is checked1 in spite of the very strong motive we have in the development of the railway system4 ,take a map 7,sketch ,,ii71 and look round the coast and see how true this is4 ,the lowest old bridge of the ,tyne was at ,newcastle2 of the ,trent1 ,i believe1 at ,gainsborough2 of the ,thames1 of course1 right up inland at ,london2 of the ,stour1 at ,canterbury2 of the ,sussex ,ouse1 at ,lewes2 of the ,arun1 at ,arundel2 of the ,exe1 at ,exeter4 ,the deep arms of ,plymouth ,sound were unbridged until the railway came2 so ,fowey river and the ,fal1 unbridged to this day2 the ,severn is not bridged at all till ,gloucester1 nor was the ,dee till ,chester4 ,now this had the effect everywhere of checking a direct road system and deflecting the ways everywhere to suit the convenience of the ports4 ,and there again we find1 for reasons which will be given in a moment1 the ,roman roads directly crossing estuaries1 but every subsequent road system going round them4 ,take two examples4 ,the ,roman road to the north1 which runs all along the ridge of ,lincolnshire1 strikes the ,humber where that stream is from #bjjj to #cjjj yards wide1 crosses by a ferry1 and continues on the far side4 ,the ,roman road system of ,kent did the same thing over the ,wansum when that stream was--as ,rice ,holmes has proved--a broad estuary #cjjj yards across1 with ,richborough as an island in its midst4 ,the ,roman road from ,dover and the one from ,canterbury met at a point opposite ,richborough1 whence a ferry took people across to ,richborough4 ,again1 the ,roman road to the lead mines of the ,mendips ends at the wide mouth of the ,severn1 and is carried on again on the far ,welsh side4 ,but every road system since has gone right round by ,gloucester1 and the inconvenient effects of this1 as road travel develops and water carriage declines1 are very noticeable to-day4 ,in all that southern coast of ,devon between ,lyme ,regis and the ,exe1 if you want to get round to the maritime south-western bulge of the county you must make an elbow through ,exeter4 ,similarly the ,sussex coast1 now so crowded1 has only been linked up quite recently by bridges3 the one at ,shoreham was built within living memory1 the swing bridge at ,littlehampton is an affair of the last few years1 as also the swing bridge at ,newhaven of this generation4 ,for #aejj years no one could proceed along that coast continuously from1 say1 ,portsmouth by ,littlehampton1 ,shoreham1 ,seaford 7later ,newhaven71 ,hastings1 ,rye1 without turning inland to cross at ,arundel1 at ,bramber1 at ,lewes1 at ,robertsbridge4 ,one of the subsidiary effects of this interruption was the comparative ease with which the coast could be attacked from the sea1 for the difficulty of rapid concentration upon any one point1 in the lack of lateral communication1 handicapped the defending force by land4 ,all through mediaeval history the ,sussex coast was raided from the sea4 ,so much for the effect of waterways1 the main physical cause of diversion in the ,english ,road4 iii ,the political cause of diversion has been1 as ,i say1 the negative effect of an absence of grand strategy in modern times4 ,there has been no grand strategy in this country since the ,romans1 because there has been no fighting of a highly-organized type within the island during the whole of its post-,roman history4 ,there was a great deal of barbaric fighting in the ,dark ,ages1 and a great deal of feudal fighting in the ,middle ,ages4 ,even in the beginning of modern organized warfare you had 7on a very small scale1 it is true7 the civil wars4 ,but since then--that is1 during the whole of the period in which modern road systems have developed 7#affj onwards7--there has been no necessity for strategical considerations to affect the ,english road system at all1 and1 therefore1 no political force strong enough to compel direct roads was present in opposition to the strong economic motive for diversion4 ,the result is an anomaly that might well become serious if we had to depend upon our road system under the threat of invasion4 ,look1 for instance1 at the two great handicaps1 the ,humber and the ,thames4 ,a force standing up to meet a threatened landing which might be directed against ,kent or against ,east ,anglia would be divided into two sections1 deprived of road communication save round through ,london4 ,during the ,war a temporary bridge was thrown across the ,thames 7in the neighbourhood of ,tilbury1 if ,i remember aright71 but1 of course1 with a gate for traffic4 ,in normal times you could not have such a thing4 ,the water traffic is too great and too confused4 ,but what you could have would be a tunnel1 and though the necessity for it may never arise it is also true that should it arise we shall bitterly regret not having driven that tunnel4 ,the same remark applies with even greater force to the ,humber4 ,an attempted landing on the north-east coast of ,england1 threatening alternatively the ,lincolnshire and ,yorkshire coasts1 would find the defending force cut in two1 and were the strategics of this position to become acute we should regret the lack of a road tunnel under the ,humber1 just as we should regret the lack of a road tunnel under the ,thames4 ,the third principal case1 that of the ,severn1 is partially met by a railway tunnel--the ,severn ,tunnel1 far below ,gloucester4 ,a road tunnel would hardly suggest itself here4 ,there is not a sufficient 8potential0 for it on either side of the stream4 ,but here again it might well happen that under the particular circumstances of war we should regret the absence of it4 ,this negative factor1 the absence of a strategic 8driving motive10 has also left the windings of the internal road system at the mercy of the easiest crossings of the rivers1 and we see how different the thing would have been under a strategic scheme4 ,consider the ,roman contrast4 ,the ,roman roads of ,britain were principally military4 ,the whole scheme of ,roman government was military1 and the life of all that civilization was founded on the army4 ,with the marching of men rapidly and easily from place to place as the main motive of the builders1 the roads follow those great straight lines which1 while duly seeking a formula of minimum effort1 never sacrificed to it directness of plan4 ,as we have seen1 even at the great estuaries ,roman engineers preferred a supplementary ferry to continue the road rather than deflecting it round by the first bridge4 ,in this connection1 however--that of estuaries--there is one case which is puzzling3 the case of the ,thames4 ,an explanation can1 ,i think1 be found1 though at first it looks anomalous4 ,the ,romans dealt with the estuary of the ,severn and of the ,humber by ferries2 they dealt by long bridges with lesser obstacles4 ,in the same fashion they carried the north road over the ,trent by a direct line without deflection for a special crossing4 ,they carried it across the ,tyne at deep water approached steeply4 ,they carried it across the ,thames at ,staines with a sole regard to the direction of their road and without considering special opportunities of crossing4 ,they did the same at ,dorchester2 and instances could be multiplied all over the kingdom4 ,but apparently they did not attempt to attack the ,thames estuary4 ,when one considers the nature of the early fighting during the first conquest of the island by the ,romans this is astonishing4 ,all the campaigns began in ,kent1 and the more serious of them were carried on into ,east ,anglia4 ,the great rising under ,nero was an ,east ,anglian rising1 and the ,roman armies beaten there had to be rapidly reinforced from ,kent4 ,for #djj years troops poured in1 under any special emergency1 from ,dover1 came up through ,kent1 and any immediate necessity of reaching a point east of ,london necessitated a dtour by ,london ,bridge3 though time might be vital1 the deflection was suffered4 ,why did the ,romans not solve the difficulty and establish at least a ferry across the lower ,thames8 ,of course1 they may have done so4 ,you can never argue from the absence of traces to-day that a ,roman road did not exist1 for it is astonishing how thoroughly time eliminates such things4 ,there are whole great towns like ,aquilea and ,hippo of which not even the foundations remain to-day4 ,even in ,england1 where ,roman survival is most marked1 two towns1 ,silchester and ,uriconium1 have gone save for a few ruins2 and there are great stretches of ,roman road in every country of ,western ,europe which have mysteriously and wholly disappeared without leaving a trace of the tremendous work undertaken to build them2 for instance1 the miles after ,epsom racecourse4 ,still1 it does look as though no direct ,roman line connected ,canterbury1 for instance1 with ,colchester4 ,and ,i say again1 how are we to account for it8 ,i think the explanation lies in the disposition of the marsh lands on the lower ,thames4 ,if you take the map of the ,thames below the ,isle of ,dogs and mark upon it all that must have been primeval marsh 7including much that is still marsh7 you will see that wherever hard land is found upon one bank it is faced by extensive swamp upon the other4 ,there was no good position for a permanent crossing even by ferry1 and in the whole military history of ,england we only know one doubtful case in which a junction was effected from south to north1 which is in the pursuit of the defeated ,british army by the ,romans in ,a4,d4 #dc under ,aulus ,plautius4 ,if1 as is probable 7though not certain71 that battle took place at ,rochester1 then the pursuit was carried on by a direct crossing of the lower ,thames2 but with that exception ,i can call to mind no military action in the whole of our history where the lower ,thames did not prove a permanent obstacle4 ,it is an amusing speculation to think what would have happened to the road system of ,england if strategic necessity had appeared again during the modern period4 ,the thing is purely hypothetical1 but ,i might make a few suggestions4 ,in the first place1 we should certainly have had a road linking up the southern coast2 next1 we should certainly have had some form of continuous traffic over the lower ,severn and the lower ,thames and the ,humber2 next1 without doubt1 there would have been pierced a broad1 continuous1 and fairly direct road from the plain of ,yorkshire to the plain of ,lancashire across the ,pennines2 next1 we should have had1 of course1 a broadening of all the ways leading to the main ports4 ,that would have been essential1 and particularly to the ports of the ,straits of ,dover4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 the whole thing is a dream1 because not that strategic motive1 but now a purely economic motive is compelling us to revise our system4 iv ,apart from these two main causes of waterways1 and of the absence of strategic necessity causing the diversion of the ,english ,road1 and apart from all other causes of local government which have led to such extraordinary diversity1 lack of regular gradient1 lack of regular gauge1 etc4 7as distinguished from the road system under the monarchical and centralized governments of the ,continent1 and especially of ,france71 we have certain other elements which have stamped the ,english ,road with its particular character4 ,they may be briefly recapitulated without developing any one of them4 ,we shall meet most of them again in the historical sketch of the ,english ,road4 ,there is the dampness of the climate2 there is the extraordinary diversity of soil within a comparatively small area1 so that road-making material continually differs within a few miles--for ,england is1 of all ,european countries1 that in which there is crowded upon a small space the greatest1 sharpest1 and most frequent diversity of soil and landscape2 there is the increasing density of population in modern times1 which has had a profound effect upon our road system4 ,there is the political factor of ,parliament2 for since the defeat of the monarchy in the seventeenth century no direct order could be immediately obeyed until there quite recently grew up the new powers of administration4 ,between1 say1 #affj and the ,premiership of the late ,lord ,salisbury we may say that any important public right1 including the making of a new way and expropriation of land for it1 fell under no immediate authority but had to be referred to the lengthy and expensive process of a ,committee1 called ,parliamentary1 through which the oligarchy of ,great ,britain worked4 ,all these things have affected the development of the ,english ,road1 but most of all1 let it always be remembered1 these two main causes1 which have been1 in my opinion1 far too little recognized--the waterways1 peculiar to this island1 and the absence of modern strategic necessity1 also peculiar to this island4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,five ,,stages ,the 8,potential0 in ,political ,geography ,examples3 ,the ,primitive ,trackways3 ,the ,roman ,road ,system3 ,the ,earlier ,mediaeval ,period3 ,the ,later ,mediaeval ,period3 ,the ,turnpike ,era4 i ,let us next turn to a very rough sketch of the development of the history of the ,english ,road3 the stages through which its development has passed1 measured1 not from cause to effect1 but in time4 ,before turning to this ,i would first define the use of a certain word already used which will recur and may be unfamiliar to some of my readers4 ,it is a word taken as a metaphor from physical science1 and one of the utmost value in political geography4 ,it is the word 8potential40 ,we talk of the 8potential0 between two commercial centres1 or between a capital and a port1 or between a mineral producing region and an agricultural region1 or between a region whence barbarians desire to invade fertile civilized land and the centre of the fertile civilized land which desires to defend itself1 etc41 etc41 and our use of this word 8potential0 is drawn from the doctrine of physical science that energy in open shape1 energy at work1 is given its opportunity by the tendency of two points to establish a communication3 the tendency of two separate situations to establish unity1 the tendency of a hitherto 8potential0--that is1 only 8possible10 not yet 8actual0--force to realize itself4 ,for instance1 you will have a highly charged electrical area tending to discharge itself by the line of best conduction4 ,you will have a head of water creating a 8potential03 a reservoir a hundred feet above the valley has to be connected with the floor of the valley by a tube to turn the potential energy into actual energy and to drive a turbine4 ,now1 in the development of the road system we metaphorically use this word 8potential0 in just the same fashion4 ,for instance3 there was originally no bridge across a river because the people in the town on one side of it had no particular reason to cross to barren land upon the other4 ,the town gradually developed into a holiday resort4 ,the only place for a good golf links was on the far side of the river1 and visitors who lived in the town during their holidays wanted to go during part of the day to the golf links4 ,a 8potential0 was established4 ,thus there has always been a most powerful 8potential0 between ,london and ,dover1 between the great commercial centre of the island and the port nearest to the ,continent4 ,that is a 8potential0 which has worked throughout the whole of ,english history4 ,we can watch other potentials at work in different periods arising and dying out again4 ,for instance1 during the ,norman and early ,angevin period there was a very strong 8potential0 between the middle north coast of ,france and the coast of ,sussex1 with a corresponding development of traffic4 ,the principal people in ,england were also great land owners and officials on the coast immediately opposite4 ,that 8potential0 died down until the revival of modern steam traffic4 ,again1 there is a 8potential0 to-day between any coal field and any centre of consumption of wealth distant from that coal field4 ,so there is between any coal field and any great port4 ,again1 you will have a strategic 8potential40 ,a particular point of no economic value may be of the utmost strategic value4 ,the holding of it may make all the difference to the defenders of the frontiers1 and in that case a 8potential0 exists which is the driving motive for a road between the capital and the point in question4 ,with this note in mind we can proceed to some sketch of the history of the ,english ,road4 ii ,the development of the ,english ,road up to the present turning-point in its history1 following1 as we have seen1 the political story of the island1 falls into five divisions4 ,a4--,first came the primitive trackways1 the chief of which must have been artificially strengthened1 and some of which may have been1 in sections at least1 true roads up to the ,roman invasions4 ,b4--,next came the ,roman road system1 which was presumably developed in the second century of our era4 ,this is the framework of all that followed4 ,all our roads from that date 7eighteen hundred years ago7 to modern times have sprung from and have grown in connection with this original set plan or framework4 ,that is true1 no doubt1 of all western countries1 but it is especially true of ,england4 ,the ,english road system is the product in every age of the great ,roman scheme1 the relics of which are more marked in ,england than they are anywhere else in the world4 ,this point is the master point of the whole story4 ,it is a point upon which popular history has completely lost its way4 ,popular history represents the ,roman occupation of this island as an accident1 a sort of interlude between the native ,british period and a later and separate 8,english0 period which arose upon the invasion of the country by ,german tribes from beyond the ,north ,sea4 ,that is not the history of ,england at all4 ,the history of ,england is the history of a ,roman province4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,earliest ,,road ,england began by being1 like everything else in the ,north and ,west1 barbaric4 ,it was civilized from the ,mediterranean and made a part of the ,roman ,empire--that is1 of one common civilization--one great state stretching from the ,grampians to the ,euphrates1 and from the ,sahara to the ,north ,sea4 ,this civilizing imprint of the ,roman ,empire ,britain has never lost4 ,our civilization fell into decay1 as did that of the whole of the rest of ,europe4 ,the decay was not due to the pirate raids from ,north ,germany and ,holland any more than it was due to the raids of the ,scottish ,highlanders1 which were just as frequent and violent1 or the raids of ,irish pirates from the west1 which were at one moment so severe as to put up a separate realm on the west coast of this island4 ,the history of ,england is continuous1 and its foundation1 from which we get all our institutions1 more than half our language1 all our ideas and religion and the rest of it1 is in the #djj years of high civilization between the landing of the ,roman armies and the breakdown of the imperial system in the ,west4 ,the ,roman ,road is the true and only root of the road system of ,britain4 ,all our local roads can be found developing slowly from the ,roman roads of the district which had preceded them1 and it is nearly always possible to trace the causes which led to each particular local system4 ,in each you find the ,roman ,road is the backbone of the affair1 and the later local roads existing only as developments of and changes from this basic ,roman plan4 ,c4--,the third division is one for which we have little direct1 but plenty of indirect1 evidence1 and the remains of which are with us upon every side4 ,it is the growth in the ,early ,middle ,ages1 presumably from about the ,angevin period1 of the mediaeval road system which was the deflection and extension of the old ,roman road system4 ,at the end of the ,empire1 during the ,dark ,ages 7i4e4 from the fifth to the eleventh century71 though the ,roman road system had remained the only available one1 it had decayed1 and numerous modifications of it had already appeared2 but with the ,early ,middle ,ages those modifications seem to have grown prodigiously1 and the indirect network of local roads would then seem to have arisen4 ,d4--,the fourth chapter is even more obscure4 ,it is a partial decline1 only affecting certain districts1 and affecting some much more than others3 a decline which corresponds more or less to the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century4 ,it went with the flooding of the fen lands1 with the breakdown of central authority1 the increase of local interests1 and so on4 ,e4--,the fifth chapter is the great revolution in road planning and construction which may be called the turnpike era3 beginning early in the eighteenth century and flourishing at its close4 ,the turnpike system continued to develop with continual changes through three or four generations4 ,it survived the competition of the railroads4 ,it was vastly improved by the new local legislation of from forty to twenty years ago4 ,it left us with the road system we now enjoy1 which must1 under the pressure of quite recent changes1 be modified if our communications are to be saved1 or1 at any rate1 to keep pace with the present conditions of travel4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,trackways ,the ,three ,divisions of the ,british ,pre-,roman ,road ,system--,the ,system of which ,salisbury ,plain was the 8,hub03 ,the ,system ,connected with ,london3 ,cross-,country ,communications--,the ,three ,factors which ,have ,determined ,travel in ,britain4 i ,the origin of the trackways is1 of course1 unknown1 and can only be guessed at by inference2 but their character1 and especially the geographical causes which determined their trace1 we can establish on the largest lines with some accuracy4 ,we must not lose ourselves in that kind of speculation which has been so dear to the academies1 and which is usually very futile4 ,as to the order in which the development took place we have no evidence whatever3 for instance1 as to the date of the founding of ,london1 or of its size before the ,roman occupation2 nor have we similar evidence with regard to any of the centres of ,england for the uniting of which roads would arise4 ,but we have relics of the trackways before us4 ,we have the geographical conditions almost unchanged1 and we have the indication of ,roman roads clearly based upon particular existing trackways1 and therefore suggesting what the scheme was before the ,roman engineers set to work4 ,roughly speaking1 the ,british pre-,roman road system fell into three divisions4 ,there was1 first of all1 a division 7possibly the earliest to develop of all7 which had for its 8hub0 ,salisbury ,plain1 and from that centre a whorl1 rather than a wheel1 of diverging approaches to the coast4 ,there was1 secondly1 the system turning upon the crossing of the ,thames at ,london as a 8hub40 ,it is this second system which was so largely developed in the historical period and which still governs our main roads and railways to-day4 ,thirdly1 there was the series of cross-communications1 of which the most important by far was the track leaving the ,exe and making for the ,humber4 ,the ,british trackways formed along these three systems discovered and used the best passages of the rivers1 some of which the ,romans changed1 to which they added a certain number1 but which1 in the main1 they retained4 ,they also indicate1 though less certainly1 the town centres which have remained through the centuries the same1 and they were also determined by the main centres of agricultural population and1 to a much less extent1 by the presence of mines4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,iii1 ,probable scheme of ,,main ,,original ,,trackways in ,,barbaric ,,england ,the system of which ,salisbury ,plain appears to have been the 8hub0 we presume to be the earliest because it was dependent almost entirely upon surface3 good going over dry land4 ,it is to be presumed that the earliest system would be that prevalent when men were less able to give artificial aid to the ,road1 to harden it1 to construct causeways or approaches2 when they were less able to drain marshes2 when they had not yet cleared forests4 ,now1 of all the soils which make up the surface of ,britain chalk is the best surface for this purpose4 ,it has two characters which give it this character4 ,in the first place1 it is self-drained and always passable even in our wettest seasons2 and1 in the second place1 it does not carry tangled undergrowth1 and even its woods 7which are not as a rule continuous7 are commonly of beech--the easiest of all woods to pass through in travel1 from the absence of scrub beneath the branches4 ,it so happens that the chalk is1 in this country1 distributed in great continuous lines and compact areas which lend themselves admirably to the development of an earlier track system4 ,you can follow chalk with little interruption from the open central space1 ,salisbury ,plain1 south-eastward to the ,channel1 to the ,dorset coast 78,dorset0 from the country of the 8,durotriges10 a ,british tribe whose name survives in that of the modern county#a71 and the first in order of the tracks led there4 ,the chalk could equally be followed to the neighbourhood of ,southampton ,water4 ,a third line led along the confused ,hampshire chalk to the definite ridge of the ,sussex ,downs1 and so to the harbours of the ,sussex coast and of ,kent4 ,the fourth1 with some interruption1 led along the north downs to ,canterbury1 whence tracks would radiate to the ports of ,kent4 ,a fifth followed the ,berkshire ,downs and the ,chilterns1 and so led on to the ,wash and earlier parts of the ,norfolk coast1 which have now apparently disappeared in erosion4 ,the sixth line led with more difficulty 7and has been more obliterated by later ,roman work7 directly westward to the mines of the ,mendips1 and to the borders of the ,severn estuary4 ,it could not take advantage of the chalk beyond ,wiltshire1 but it had fairly dry going along the ridge of the ,mendips4 ,the seventh1 it must be presumed1 though the traces are largely lost1 used the height of the ,cotswolds2 but here the soil1 being oolitic and not chalk1 was much less favourable and the extension northward ceased earlier4 ,this system1 then1 we regard as the earliest of all4 ii ,the second system1 as ,i have said1 seems to have been connected with ,london1 but here the later track of the ,roman engineers and the continuous development of nearly twenty centuries has left us little to go on save conjecture4 ,there are points in that conjecture1 however1 which are fairly certain4 ,but there seems to have been1 from the earliest time1 communication between north and south on the lowest crossing of the ,thames4 ,now1 the lowest permanent crossing of the ,thames1 even before a bridge1 was in the neighbourhood of ,london4 ,the crossing of a river is determined by the hardness of the land upon either bank1 as we have seen1 more than by any other factor4 ,the lower ,thames everywhere had extensive marshes either upon one side or the other1 and usually upon both4 ,at ,grays1 ,tilbury1 ,erith1 etc41 the hard ground approached right up to one bank1 but was always countered by extensive marshes on the other1 or by marsh behind gravel1 forming a sort of island of hard land which could not be used for continuous travel4 ,the first good crossing-place was at ,lambeth1 and it is generally assumed that the earliest of all the tracks took the stream here1 for the alignment of the main approach from ,kent through ,canterbury1 ,rochester1 and ,shooters' ,hill does not point at the centre of ,london1 but at ,lambeth4 ,this1 it is presumed1 was the track followed by what is now ,park ,lane1 and so ultimately north-westward by the ,edgware ,road and its continuations to ,chester1 with a branch thrown off through the pass between the marshes of the ,mersey and the ,pennine range in the district of ,manchester1 and so on through ,lancashire4 ,but at some very early stage there was established a crossing below ,lambeth in the neighbourhood of ,london ,bridge1 even before that bridge came into existence4 ,it is true that there is here a belt of marsh on the right bank1 but the considerable gravelly hill on the left1 or north1 bank there would give an opportunity not to be lost4 ,it had three great advantages3 it was a large area of dry land for settlement2 it had defences all round it--marshy land to the north1 the ,fleet to the west1 the ,lea to the east2 it had a considerable area for the drawing up of boats1 and a steep shore for wharfage4 ,under these conditions1 whenever men could first construct a causeway it would have been worth while to have been at that labour across the ,southwark marshes in order to establish a permanent crossing by ferry1 and later by a bridge1 upon the site of ,london ,bridge4 ,at any rate1 from that centre--,london ,bridge--at some very early period you get trackways radiating4 ,there is the main one1 in the first place1 through ,canterbury to ,dover and the ,kentish ports4 ,next1 there is the eastern one to ,colchester1 along which the chief ,roman invasion marched to the capture of that town1 which was the capital of the enemy4 ,illustration3 ,,welsh ,,section1 ,,holyhead ,,road iii ,next1 we may presume 7for evidence is lost1 especially under the later ,roman work7 there was a track towards the centre of ,norfolk4 ,next there was some great road going northward east of the ,pennines1 following the dry land which skirts the ,fens and reaching the great fertile plain of ,york1 and so on northward through ,durham up to the crossings of the ,tyne4 ,where this original main track went we cannot say4 ,we know the trace of the ,roman road which followed it4 ,we may presume that the divagations and modifications of this road of the ,dark ,ages and the ,middle ,ages1 which ultimately built up our main road to the north1 reverted in some degree to the original track4 ,but the whole thing is guess-work4 ,one thing seems fairly certain3 this eastern road to the north 7the twin to the great north-western road by ,chester to ,lancashire7 must have split about half way to ,york1 one branch making directly to the plain of ,york itself1 the other obviously running along the inevitable ridge which points right north through ,lincolnshire to the ,humber4 ,there is here no bridge possible4 ,it is not too broad for a ferry4 ,but though the ,roman road1 superseding the earlier trackway1 went on northward1 it is a fair guess that the original trackway stopped at the river4 ,of cross roads we have fragments1 of course1 in the ,pennines1 but we know nothing of their history4 ,it is clear that the main cross communications between the peopled area of the ,yorkshire ,plain and that of the ,lancashire ,plain must have gone over by ,shipley--the obvious gap in the chain4 ,but more we cannot tell4 ,that is the natural way1 and there was1 so to speak1 no avoiding it4 ,what was mainly used further south we cannot tell4 ,it was a tangled land4 ,there is no clear and certain trace of cross communications which must have existed across the ,midlands south of ,trent4 ,we do not know what great patches of wood may here have determined the windings of an original road4 ,there are no serious obstacles 7it is high land and dry1 with no marshes or large watercourses71 but there was less reason for continual traffic here from east to west than there was for traffic from north to south2 therefore there was less 8potential0 than was created by the traffic on cross communications further south4 ,the original system of tracks radiating from ,salisbury ,plain was simple4 ,they led1 in radiating lines straight and curved1 directly to the lower ,thames1 to the ports of the ,channel1 to the southern estuaries1 to the north-east--that is1 to the ,wash--and to the north direct by the ,cotswolds4 ,but true cross communication was lacking to this set1 and was provided by the great road from the ,exe to the ,humber1 which still survives in the form of the ,fosse ,way4 ,it runs throughout the whole of our history1 from very long before the first records nearly to the present day1 and is to-day traceable throughout1 and used in many places as a hard road4 ,this main track was one of the dominant factors in the character of ,english travel4 ,it has decayed under modern conditions because its 8potential0 has gone4 ,there is no driving power to-day urging travel from south-west to north-east1 and it is only in partial experiments and the linking up of separate lines that even our railway system serves that end4 ,but before modern times the ,fosse ,way played a very great part4 ,for some reason there was a perpetual necessity for passing from the south-west--,devon and ,dorset--to the north-east coast4 ,two permanent potentials1 that between north and south and that between east and west1 help to explain the ,fosse ,way4 ,england has always tended to fall into two cross divisions--a northern and a southern one1 separated at first by climate 7the northern more rude1 the southern more gentle71 then by agricultural conditions1 the northern far less peopled1 the southern more peopled and more wealthy2 and to an eastern and western division separated by type of landscape1 to some extent by climate1 always to some extent by soil1 difference in race1 emphasized whenever an invasion came from the ,welsh lands on the one side or from the ,north ,sea on the other4 ,the ,fosse ,way broke both those cross divisions and was a sort of 8reinforcement0 7as they say in modern concrete71 taking the strain of cross tension across the island4 iv ,in this short sketch of what were in some cases certainly1 in others only presumably1 the original ,british main tracks we have to note three factors which have always determined travel in ,britain3 the centres of internal economic production1 the ports1 and the ,channel crossings4 ,before the modern industrial system the economic centres of production were the wheat lands1 and these were the open land of which ,winchester was the centre1 the ,dorchester centre1 ,somerset1 certain separate centres in the ,midlands 7separated by great woods which have disappeared and their exact site not certain71 the ,cheshire ,plain1 the ,lancashire ,plain1 the great ,yorkshire ,plain1 and last1 and most important of all1 ,east ,anglia--the central ,eastern plain 7,essex in particular7 was the granary of the early time in ,england4 ,tracks connected all these places3 they also connected the centres of population with the ports4 ,every one of the tracks makes ultimately from port to port4 ,you have a connection through ,london 7earlier perhaps1 as we have seen1 through ,lambeth7 between the port of ,kent and the north-western ports 7of which ,chester is the great original example and ,liverpool the modern72 between the north-eastern ports of the ,humber and the ,tyne1 and the south-western ports at ,southampton ,water and ,poole 7which was of great early importance1 and whence we shall find a ,roman road starting74 ,further west the mouth of the ,exe was a more important approach to ,britain in the past than it is now4 ,you have also the estuary of the ,severn1 ill provided with natural harbours but forming in its upper reaches a harbour of its own1 with the peculiar advantage of the lower ,avon1 with a secure pool at ,bristol approached by the curious and exceptional gorge at ,clifton4 ,lastly1 you have the great port formed by the crossing place at ,london1 made1 as we have seen1 by the tendency of early travel1 right up to the appearance of railways1 to penetrate a country as far as possible by its waterways and to carry cargoes well inland1 because water carriage was so much cheaper than land transport4 ,the third factor--that of river crossing--also has its effect1 though a lesser one1 upon the trace of the old ,british ways4 ,if1 for instance1 you carry along any one of the tracks which follow the chalk you will see how carefully the water crossings were picked4 ,it is the characteristic of chalk that the rivers lie transverse to it1 cutting gorges through the hills1 and each of these crossing places was chosen where hard land approached from either side4 ,the chalk 7and the sand associated with it7 provides at certain points in the valleys twin spurs approaching the water on either side2 hence you have the track along the north downs crossing the ,wey at ,st4 ,catherine's ,chapel 7and alternatively by ,guildford72 and1 again1 the ,mole at ,pixham1 near ,dorking1 and the ,medway at ,snodland 7with an alternative at ,rochester74 ,the southern track along the ,hampshire and ,sussex ,downs takes the ,arun at a similar advantage and opportunity at ,houghton1 and alternatively at ,arundel4 ,it takes the ,adur at ,bramber1 the ,ouse at ,lewes4 ,this vague sketch of the old trackways is all that we can lay down so far as their main lines are concerned1 and it is very imperfect1 but we must bear it in mind in order to understand the ,roman system1 which was largely based upon those trackways and which superseded them4 ,there was one kind of soil1 and one only1 which could compete with the chalk as good going for primitive travel1 and that was sand4 ,had we sand in continuous lines in ,britain it would have given a dry passage for the trackways1 and here and there advantage is taken of it by such trackways4 ,but sand1 in point of fact1 is not to be found in these continuous lines4 ,it comes in patches1 and hence we cannot talk of any one of the great trackways as dependent upon a sandy soil4 ,the chief exception that ,i can call to mind in this respect is the run of the old ,pilgrims' ,way--a prehistoric track from the neighbourhood of ,farnham to the crossing of the ,mole1 near ,dorking4 ,though chalk lay on the main direction1 it seems to have preferred the southern dry sand to the chalk immediately north of it1 and it keeps to the sand until the cessation of that formation a short distance west of the ,mole4 ,there is here a curious piece of political geology which has been1 ,i think1 of great effect upon the history of ,england4 ,had the ridges of sand through the weald of ,sussex been continuous1 the weald would have been developed early4 ,its iron industry would have furnished a basis for export1 and it would have become one of the centres of population4 ,there are ridges of sand which you can trace all the way through the weald from close by the ,hampshire chalk in the neighbourhood of ,midhurst right away to the valley of the ,rother4 ,but they are not continuous1 and the interruptions are formed of deep clay1 impossible to pass in winter4 ,the result of that lack of continuity has been that no such track ever developed through the weald of ,sussex4 ,sussex1 therefore1 owing to the stiff clay of its weald1 remained cut off from the rest of ,england1 and that throughout all the ,dark ,ages4 ,it falls out of the national history4 ,indeed1 the linking up of ,sussex with the north was only effected by the ,romans at the cost of great labour through the artificial causeway of the ,stane ,street between ,chichester and ,london2 and after the breakdown of western civilization in the fifth century there was no regular approach to the southern coast from the ,thames valley in a direct line4 ,the traffic either went westward down towards ,southampton1 ,hampshire1 ,dorset1 and ,devon or eastward to the ,straits of ,dover4 ,the ,norman ,conquest and the rule of the ,angevins restored ,sussex to something of its rightful place in ,english communications because the coast of that county lay immediately opposite the centre of the foreign region which then governed ,england1 but the interlude was not lengthy4 ,in the later ,middle ,ages and on to quite modern times 7to the middle of the eighteenth century7 the interruption due to the clay made itself felt again1 and only the railway and great increase of population have been able between them to restore direct and frequent communication between the ,thames valley and this part of the southern coast4 ,,footnote3 #a ,our shires were probably originally ,british1 and later ,roman1 divisions4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,making ,,of ,,the ,,roman ,,road ,the ,great ,initiative3 ,the ,mark of the ,roman ,military ,engineer3 ,the ,theory and ,practice of the ,straight ,line3 ,modifications of the ,straight ,line3 ,how it was ,carried ,out3 ,the ,method of ,odds and ,evens4 i ,the making of the great ,roman roads was the one great initiative in the story of ,english communications3 it originated all that followed1 and there was no new real development1 no essentially new departure between the planning of that military scheme and the coming of the railway4 ,it can only be compared to what the future may have to show if we find ourselves able to reform our roads as they should be reformed for the new conditions of modern travel1 and even this change would not be anything like as great as the change made by the throwing of those great highways to stand for ever across a country which had hitherto been half barbarous4 ,the ,roman ,road had a structure and character of its own which it has retained to the present day1 so that even where it was only the straightening and the strengthening of an old trackway upon which it was founded it would follow the mark of the ,roman engineers throughout all that remained of its course4 ,it was essentially a piece of building1 and in this the ,roman ,road differed from every other form of communication before the modern railways4 ,it had to be of this kind on account of two things which the ,roman military engineers particularly desired to serve1 both of them connected with the military character of the west4 ,first1 they wanted a platform1 raised1 as a rule1 above the surrounding country1 so that troops passing along it should be the less liable to attack3 so that a view could be had from it over the immediate surroundings1 which were cleared3 and so that any sudden stroke against a marching column could be checked4 ,the raising of the way had other objects1 of course--it kept the surface dry1 for instance--but the main object was that of security upon the march1 and the same object was one of the reasons for making the roads as a rule in straight lengths or limbs1 sometimes two1 three1 or even four days' march in extent4 ,a road was planned without windings1 so as to be safer from ambush and surprise1 and where it had coupled to its straightness its elevation above the surrounding country the chance of ambush or surprise was almost eliminated4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,iv1 ,the ,,roman ,,road ,,scheme ,but the habit the ,roman military engineers had of driving their roads in these great straight limbs1 which are still so clearly marked1 served many other purposes besides this military one of which ,i speak4 ,it has been condemned as a waste of effort1 for it is clear that a winding road1 avoiding steep gradients and turning difficulties of marsh or wood1 requires less effort to construct1 mile for mile1 than an artificially straight one2 and that even when you have allowed for the extra length of a winding road1 the formula of least effort will never give you a long straight4 ,but your straight road has the great advantage of rapid planning4 ,the ,roman engineers1 especially in the north--that is1 in ,belgium1 ,gaul1 and in ,britain--were working under campaign conditions1 or in countries but recently occupied4 ,they were under an imperative necessity of providing good communications as quickly as possible1 and for that object the straight road was obviously the best4 ,once you had determined the two points which you had to join1 you established a track between them and carried it over all but the worst obstacles1 taking all but the worst gradients4 ,if you met marsh1 you built a causeway2 whenever you came to a river crossing1 you threw your bridge2 when you came to a sharp1 narrow ridge you made a cutting4 ,all that meant labour1 but as in any case you were intending to make a great built1 constructed1 raised structure along the whole trajectory the extra labour involved in a straight trace was not proportionally as heavy as it would be for one of our ephemeral modern roads4 ,in other words1 the ,roman engineers set out upon a plan necessarily expensive4 ,they set out to make a great public monument1 as it were2 and the extra expense of its straightness did not weigh in the bill4 ii ,a modification of this tendency to straight lines is found proceeding from three causes4 ,first1 where and when an established track already existed and the ,roman work was only required to harden and strengthen it4 ,even there the ,roman engineers would straighten portions which were too winding to fit in their scheme4 ,but1 apparently1 where the track was fully established they tolerated a good many curves1 especially if their work came some time after the conquest1 when the land was settled4 ,the second modification of the plan is to be found in hilly countries4 ,in the mountains or very hilly regions the ,roman engineers of necessity gave up the straight line1 and as these regions were also the districts where on the heights large garrisons were least necessary they were the better able to abandon their general military plan4 ,if you look at a detailed map of the ,roman road system in ,gaul or ,britain you will see how the moment it comes to a broken district the straight lines are replaced by a waving trace such as you would have in a modern ,english road4 ,for instance1 beyond the ,fosse in ,dorsetshire and ,devon the ,roman coast road is as winding as any modern road can be4 ,the same is true of the crossings of the ,apennines1 and1 of course1 of the crossings of the ,alps and the ,pyrenees4 ,it seems to be equally true of the ,ardennes gorges1 but the trace here is often so much obliterated that it is difficult to say exactly how the ,romans dealt with that mixed problem of wood and ravine4 ,the third modification was that of gradient4 ,the ,roman ,road would take a very steep gradient indeed2 but there was a limit1 and when the slope was too steep the road diverged or zig-zagged1 or took a combe in a great curve1 or swept round the base of a hill4 ,we have examples of all these points upon the map of ,england1 the best of which1 ,i think1 are the great sweep of the ,stane ,street on ,bignor ,hill in ,sussex and the great loop round ,down ,barn1 north of ,andover1 on the road from ,winchester to ,glo'ster4 ,the greatest ingenuity was shown by the planners of the ,roman roads in the choice of trace4 ,granted that you were to make a trajectory of many days' march in large straight limbs1 each limb had to be thought out very carefully1 straight though it was1 to yield something like a minimum of effort4 ,you had to make your turning-points1 or hinges1 in the system at places where the straight lines joining them would cross water or hilly country to the best advantage1 and it is astonishing with what skill these terminal points of the straight limbs were chosen4 ,for instance1 that one road of them all which has been most certainly of purely military use and designed to join ,chichester with ,london 7all of which ,i have worked out some years ago and on which ,i have written a monograph71#b has its first bend from ,chichester1 just after the end of the first day's march at the crossing of the ,arun on ,burgh ,hill4 ,the angle of the bend is one of seventeen degrees1 the direction is north by twenty-two degrees east4 ,now1 this direction of the two limbs which join at ,burgh ,hill exactly secures two things essential to the minimum of effort4 ,one plain straight from ,chichester to ,leith ,hill would have involved heavy effort in gradients and water4 ,this plan of two limbs meeting at the ,arun crossing gives every advantage3 7#a7 ,it makes the road cross the intervening range of the downs just where1 by a slight curve1 a reasonable gradient can be used2 7#b7 ,it makes it cross water and marsh at the narrowest point between ,hardham and ,pulborough1 and at the same time just avoids the double water crossing of the ,arun and the ,rother4 ,it is true that there is here something of a coincidence1 but it was plan and survey which discovered that coincidence4 iii ,how were these great straight limbs plotted out8 ,that is a question which has been fully debated but not yet settled4 ,where two ends of a trajectory were in sight one from the other the matter was simple enough2 but what was the method used when the straight line exceeded the horizon3 when it was carried on1 for instance1 for more than thirty miles1 as is the case over and over again in the great north-eastern road from ,paris to ,cologne1 and in the road from ,amiens to ,boulogne8 ,what was the method when1 even for lesser distances1 one end of the trajectory could not be seen from the other on account of intervening hills1 or where in flat land forests were sufficient to impede the view8 ,one theory has been that of smoke signals1 a method which has been found of use1 ,i believe1 in barbarous countries in our own day4 ,we must1 ,i think1 certainly reject it in such a climate as ours4 ,such signals could only here be used upon a few days in the year1 specially picked1 and the ,roman engineers would not have depended upon the caprice of the weather4 ,there has also been suggested 7,i adopted that suggestion myself in the monograph of which ,i have just spoken7 the use of high movable platforms1 but ,i now think that this also should be rejected on account of its clumsiness1 and of the fact that in an uncleared country it would often be quite impractical4 ,the most probable method was suggested to me by a correspondent some years ago1 based upon his own experience in the planning of roads in new countries4 ,it is the method of odds and evens1 and requires some description with the aid of a simple plan4 ,suppose that you have to construct a straight line from ,a to ,b1 ,a and ,b not being visible one from the other1 and the distance between them being considerable4 ,if you have plenty of men with which to work 7and the ,roman military commanders did not lack these71 you will proceed as follows3 ,you send out your men from either end1 in two chains as it were1 each individual easily in sight of his next neighbour1 but not nearer to him than is necessary for the observation of signals4 ,these chains of men are either directed from the two ends of the line1 or1 if you can work only from one end1 you send them out from that end1 instructing the head of the chain when he comes in sight of the other end to work towards it and establish himself there4 ,at the end of the process1 whether you have been working with two lines approaching each other from either end and joining hands in the middle1 or from one end only1 you will end up with a line which will certainly not be straight--on the contrary1 very irregular--but which will at least join your two goals4 ,probably1 if you had been working from both ends1 ,a and ,b1 you would have something like sketch ,,vi2 while if you be working from one end only--,a--the head of your column would probably be widely out at the conclusion of your experiment4 ,your column would have to double back sharply on to its goal when at last it was caught sight of1 and you will have some such trace as on sketch ,v4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,v ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,vi ,at any rate1 having established this rough winding line1 you next make the men number themselves as a line does when it is dressing1 by odds and evens1 or by ones and twos1 so that the first1 third1 fifth1 seventh man1 etc41 counting from one end make one lot1 or all the ones make one lot1 if you are going by ones and twos--and the second1 fourth1 sixth1 eighth man1 and so on1 make another lot4 ,you bid one of these sets--say the odds--to face towards one goal--say ,b--and the other set to face towards the other goal--,a4 ,lastly1 you bid them space themselves out so that any individual of one set can at least clearly see his fellow in the same set along the direction to which he faces1 and the man of the other set in between4 ,for instance1 ,no4 #ci1 looking south towards ,b1 must be able to see ,no4 #cg1 who is facing the same way as he is1 and must at the same time be able to see ,no4 #ch1 who is facing towards him2 similarly1 ,no4 #ch must be able to see ,no4 #dj clearly1 and ,no4 #ci in between4 ,it is clear that in thick1 8blind0 country 7as1 for instance1 in woods or in tumbled land7 your men will have to stand fairly close together4 ,but in open country they can be at considerable distances--up to half a mile or more2 so long as every unit can see the next unit of the same set clearly1 and have his signals received by the unit of the other set in between1 the conditions are satisfied4 ,your line being thus instructed 7and1 as anyone may discover in practice1 it is not a very long business once the first rough chain has been established71 the numbers of each set signal to the intervening numbers of the other set alternatively to move to right or left until a straight line is locally established4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,vii ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,viii ,for instance1 in sketch ,,vii you begin with the 8evens10 looking northward4 ,no4 #ch1 looking north towards ,no4 #dj1 sees that ,no4 #ci 7who faces him1 looking south7 is somewhat too much to the east and does not stand properly between him and ,no4 #dj4 ,he signals to ,no4 #ci to move westward as along the dots until ,no4 #ci is at a new position1 shown by the dotted circle exactly between ,no4 #ch and ,no4 #dj4 ,next1 ,no4 #cf signals to ,no4 #cg1 who is too much to the west1 until ,no4 #cg is exactly between himself and ,no4 #ch4 ,when this has been done all along the line by the evens the order is given to the odds to repeat the process from their new positions4 ,no4 #ci1 looking southward from his new position at the dotted circle1 sees that ,no4 #ch is too far to the east to be in perfect alignment with ,no4 #ci's next odd neighbour ,no4 #cg1 at whom he is looking1 southward4 ,no4 #ci signals1 therefore1 to ,no4 #ch1 who is looking northward1 to move westward1 and ,no4 #ch does so until the signal stops him1 when he is just in line between the new positions of ,no4 #ci and ,no4 #cg4 ,it will be evident that after this first stage of the process the original irregular line between ,a and ,b will have been much straightened4 ,you have but to repeat the manuvre half a dozen or a dozen times to get the whole body of men into a strictly straight line between the two extremities many miles apart1 and that although those in the middle cannot see either extreme and neither extremity can see the other4 ,in theory this method can be used for an indefinite extent of country4 ,in practice it seems to have been used 7if it were indeed that upon which the ,roman engineers relied7 for spaces sometimes as great as a three days' march1 and quite often as great as one day's march or more4 iv ,the scheme of ,roman roads1 following in the main these great straight limbs1 covered the whole country1 and was for the most part completed1 we may presume1 by the end of the second century4 ,it must not1 of course1 be imagined that these great military ways were the only means of communication in ,roman times4 ,many historians have fallen into that grotesque error1 with the result that history becomes meaningless to their readers4 ,these great ways were only the main arteries1 which were linked up in all the intervening spaces by a mass of local ways not specially constructed or engineered--most of them presumably aboriginal1 and also maintained presumably by a local authority4 ,,footnote3 #b ,the ,stane ,street4 ,constable and ,co4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,dark ,,ages ,the ,decline of the ,roman ,road3 ,the ,period at its ,occurrence3 ,gaps3 ,roman ,roads which ,fell into ,disuse3 ,the ,relationship of the ,modern to the ,roman ,system3 ,watling ,street3 ,stane ,street3 ,the ,short ,cut ,between ,penkridge and ,chester3 ,peddars ,way3 ,the coming of the ,new ,civilization in the ,twelfth ,century4 i ,the next phase in the development of the ,english ,road is the very gradual breakdown of the great ,roman ways4 ,the ,dark ,ages--that is1 the #ejj or #fjj years between the fifth and the tenth or eleventh centuries--formed the period during which this process took place4 ,the ,roman ,road in ,england suffered the fate of all our ancient civilization4 ,it very slowly declined and coarsened1 but it remained the one necessary means of communication4 ,we have no dates and no contemporary record after the fourth century for ,britain1 but we have the analogy of ,northern ,france1 in which we know that the upkeep and repair of the great ,roman roads continued until well into the seventh century1 and we have the evidence of the ,roman roads as they now stand before us1 with the result of their very gradual and only partial breakdown in a use of centuries4 ,we have also the fact that much the most of the great battles took place on or near the ,roman roads until the twelfth century1 that most of the new great monastic and other houses were built near them1 or on them1 and that the ports most commonly used in the ,dark ,ages were nearly always ports with a ,roman road serving them4 ,we can thereby roughly judge 7although we have no direct evidence7 what happened to the system4 ,in the first place1 the ,roman ,road was so solidly built that centuries of neglect did not entirely destroy its usefulness4 ,sections of each road disappeared3 some from causes which are easily explicable1 some under the most obscure conditions the causes of which it seems impossible to discover4 ,every great ,roman road in ,europe1 and even those in ,britain 7which are better preserved than those in the most part of the ,continent7 shows these gaps4 ,sometimes a whole great section of road will almost entirely disappear--more often it is a stretch of a few miles4 ,thus the whole of the short cut through ,penkridge to ,chester1 which certainly existed and some elements of which can be reconstituted1 has disappeared2 so that most maps of ,roman ,britain erroneously mark the connection between ,london and ,chester as going round by ,shrewsbury4 ,as an example of a short part utterly disappearing1 one can take any one out of hundreds2 the best example near ,london 7typical of many others7 is the gap in the ,roman road between the ,epsom racecourse and ,merton4 ,the road is evident as a clearly marked high embankment above the steep rise at ,juniper ,hill near the ,dorking road to within a mile of ,epsom racecourse4 ,then it suddenly ceases4 ,there is no change in the soil4 ,it is on chalk before and after its disappearance2 and yet1 just here1 at about a mile from ,epsom racecourse1 it completely and totally disappears4 ,there is no trace even of its foundation left from thence onwards northwards until you get to the site at ,merton 7which was state land and almost certainly the last camp and halting-place on the road before ,london74 ,how the road crossed the marshes of the ,wandle we can only conjecture1 as we can only conjecture where it lay exactly between ,epsom and those marshes4 ,why it should disappear in the marshes is evident enough4 ,the causeway sank in4 ,why it should disappear under the plough to the south of the marshes1 as ,roman roads nearly always do on arable land1 can also be explained4 ,but why it should wholly disappear on the last mile or two of chalk is inexplicable4 ,one theory put forward is that in the great wars of the ,dark ,ages portions of the road were deliberately destroyed to impede the progress of an enemy1 just as a railway may be destroyed in modern warfare4 ,but this theory will hardly hold water4 ,the gaps that have disappeared thus1 often come just where you have the best soil for marching independently of artifice1 and where1 therefore1 an interruption of them would least incommode an advance4 ,for instance1 they are perpetually found on high chalk2 and1 further1 the disappearance is hardly ever connected with a defensive position4 ,from the point of view of the development of the ,english road system much the most interesting point in the fate which befell the ,roman roads is to be found at the crossings of rivers1 especially of rivers which have marshy banks or flow through wood or sodden valleys4 ,the neglected ,roman embankment across the marsh fell out of use in the ,dark ,ages4 ,probably the bridge first broke down1 and the barbarous time had not the energy or skill to repair it2 then the mere process of time caused the swallowing up of the ,roman viaduct1 unrelieved by repair1 in all marshy land4 ,it is difficult to affirm a negative1 but ,i can recall not one example of a long ,roman viaduct still wholly in use across such an approach to water4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,derelict ,,road ,,scottish ,,highlands ,what happened1 then1 in these sections was this4 ,the bridge and the viaduct disappeared in the ,dark ,ages--that is1 some time between the fourth and the eleventh centuries4 ,sometimes this gap led to the complete isolation of the district immediately concerned4 ,the best example ,i know of this is the breakdown of the crossing of the ,arun at ,romans ,wood1 in the county of ,sussex4 ,there the ,roman road was a hard causeway over very thick clay land1 quite impassable for armies in winter1 and rapidly overgrown by oak scrub and thorn when neglected4 ,the result of the breaking down of the ,roman bridge at the 8,romans ,wood0 crossing was to isolate ,west ,sussex4 ,there was no other way from the north1 for the clay and thorn scrub rapidly arose and obliterated the road4 ,it was in use as far south from ,london as ,ockley2 but the breakdown of the bridge at ,alfoldean broke the continuity further on1 and that1 ,i believe1 is one of the reasons why ,sussex was so isolated as only to be converted to the ,christian religion a hundred years later than the rest of the country4 ,but to return to the behaviour of the ,roman ,road in the marshy approaches of a river4 ,i say that the embankment having been swallowed up and the bridge broken1 the men of the ,dark ,ages had to find for themselves some new way of crossing1 and it is interesting to note that they here fell back upon the primitive methods common before ,roman civilization came4 ,they abandoned the straight line and picked their way by the driest bits they could find1 so that the new crossing of the marshy district grew up sinuous and haphazard4 ,later1 when the new road system developed with the ,middle ,ages1 this new road was often straightened and a new bridge thrown across the river upon its line2 but1 save for a very few exceptions1 the ,roman approach had disappeared4 ,there are scores of examples of this up and down the country4 ,the most prominent usually bear such names as ,stamford1 ,stanford1 ,stafford1 ,stratford1 ,stretford1 etc41 all of which come either from the word 8street0 or the word 8stone10 coupled with the word 8ford40 ,they thus signify that in the valleys of the river the 8going0 or passage had been hardened artificially with stone derived from ,roman work4 ,a very good example of the way in which the newer track replaced the older one is to be found at ,stamford1 in ,northamptonshire4 ,the accompanying sketch shows the trace of the ,roman road from its leaving ,burghley ,park to the old crossing of the river and beyond4 ,there are still broken traces of the old embankment on the north side of the stream1 but it is clear that this straight line across the marsh broke down1 that a new way was picked out and slowly hardened1 and a new bridge built to suit it4 ,what the men of the ,dark ,ages did here was to keep to the drier patches to the east where a ford crossed the river1 and then curve round again westward1 again to join the road on the heights north of the river4 ,this new passage took over the name of the 8,stone0 ford1 where the old road had crossed4 ,a bridge was thrown in due time across the new ford1 and the town shifted towards the new bridge and acquired its new name from the crossing4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,ix ,one form of the ,roman ,road1 and one only--a very rare form--never disappears3 it is the cutting through hard sand4 ,here and there in ,england--,i know not how often1 but ,i have myself found few traces of them2 ,i should doubt if there were much more than a dozen--you get a clear cutting upon a ,roman road serving no modern or useful purpose1 and almost certainly dating from the construction of the way4 ,there is the trace of the one at ,ashurst1 near my home--that with which ,i am most familiar and which ,i have measured most carefully4 ,if the cutting be made in dry sandy soil of fair consistency and hardness1 it can remain almost indefinitely with an unmistakable outline4 ,there may naturally have been many other cuttings originally in softer or more yielding soils which have got filled up1 but the only ones ,i know are through sand1 which soil also tends to form those sharp ridges through which a cutting might suggest itself as more economical than a too steep gradient4 ii ,the ,roman ,road not only disappears through causes which ,i have called inexplicable and under the obvious influence of marsh or of cultivation1 it also fell into disuse1 even where it did not disappear1 for reasons both explicable and inexplicable4 ,there are cases where the falling into disuse is frankly not to be explained1 though these ,i have found mainly upon the ,continent4 ,for instance1 in the road from ,rheims to ,chalons you have the ,roman road running almost parallel to the later road1 the later trace having been made for no reason that we can discover--not serving any new towns or villages--a mere duplicate of the old way4 ,but there are more cases where the disuse of a section of the ,roman ,road can clearly be explained by the need for visiting centres of population1 production1 and commerce4 ,the ,roman system for the serving of places off the main straight road was by side roads perpendicular to the main road4 ,the relics of these you still see on many of the ,continental roads--a direct perpendicular lane or avenue joining up the chteau and its dependencies or the neighbouring town with the main highway4 ,when the ,dark ,ages came and the main roads degraded1 the by-lanes and paths which had grown up as offshoots to them and which led to the estates and villages and towns and ports and quarries1 etc41 to one side or the other of the ,road came to be used more frequently4 ,the main travel between distant towns was less1 the local travel grew more important in proportion4 ,and as this development proceeded sections of the ,roman ,road tended to fall into disuse4 ,the local roads would be maintained and the section of main road would be left unrepaired4 ,we have seen that the main cause of the breaking down of the ,roman ,road was marsh and the crossing of river valleys4 ,not only was this process true of natural marshes1 especially at the sides of a river1 it was true of a special case which is reproduced over and over again on the map of ,england1 and for which ,i will take as a particular example a very fine case near ,norton ,park1 in ,northamptonshire4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,x ,here the ,watling ,street1 the great ,roman road from ,london to the north-west1 crossed the valley of an insignificant stream2 there was no marsh originally1 and there is none to-day4 ,there was only a small running of water1 over which a culvert was thrown4 ,the stream ran under the main ,roman embankment through this culvert4 ,now1 when the ,dark ,ages came and the roads fell into disrepair the first things to go1 naturally1 were the culverts4 ,they got blocked up4 ,once they got blocked up the water dammed up on the higher side and began to undermine the embankment4 ,by the time this had made the road1 though still standing1 impassable1 travel had found a new way1 usually down the stream away from the mere thus formed4 ,further centuries and the recovery of civilization cleared the ground3 the embankment either was washed away or swallowed up in the mere and its subsequent marsh1 the stream resumed its original course1 the dry ground reappeared1 but the trace of the ,roman road upon either side across the depression was lost for ever and there was substituted for it the modern road1 making a curve out of the direct line and only recovering it again after the obstacle had been passed4 iii ,the gradual decay of the ,roman ,road in the ,dark ,ages was not everywhere the same1 and the consequence is that the remaining fragments of ,roman roads are connected in different ways with the modern road system which gradually grew out of them4 ,there are four types--overlapping1 of course--of the fate attaching to the ,roman roads of this country4 ,they are1 as ,i have said1 the root of all our road system4 ,all ,english roads subsequent to the period of the ,roman occupation have grown out of the great network laid down for ever by the ,roman engineers4 ,but the fortune which the original road suffered1 the way in which a modern system developed from it1 were not uniform4 ,there were four divergent developments1 which ran thus3 7#a7 ,the ,roman ,road is preserved as a basis of the modern road1 and remains a main artery3 of this the great example is the ,watling ,street1 in the first few days' marches north-west of ,london4 7#b7 ,the ,roman ,road remains clearly the basis of the system of local roads which developed from it1 and1 though disappearing in sections1 is1 upon the whole1 preserved2 of these the great example is the ,stane ,street road from ,chichester to ,london4 7#c7 ,the ,roman ,road1 having produced a system of local roads based upon it1 has almost entirely disappeared and has left the local system alone to witness to its original importance1 just as filigree work remains after you have melted away the core of wax upon which it was built4 ,examples of this are very difficult to discover1 precisely because the original country has gone4 ,but the process can be followed here and there by a careful examination1 and ,i think that1 upon the whole1 the best example is that of the series of roads which grew up out of the short cut between ,penkridge and ,chester4 7#d7 ,the ,roman ,road remains1 in some parts at least1 but1 its original purpose having been such that it was of no continual use in the ,dark ,ages1 the local system of roads can only indirectly be referred to it4 ,of this the great example is the famous ,peddars ,way1 running through ,east ,anglia4 iv 7#a7 ,the preservation of the ,watling ,street as an example of a continuously used ,roman road for several days' march north-west of ,london is due to various causes4 ,in the first place1 it was very little interrupted by marsh4 ,it ran everywhere on dry land1 and the main cause of breakdown--the swallowing up of a causeway after the destruction of its bridge--did not affect it4 ,but this is the least of the causes which have preserved this piece of road4 ,second1 and more important1 was the establishment along it of set stations which remained inhabited1 and the chain of which was not interrupted by active warfare4 ,watling ,street here presents very interesting evidence of what really happened during those early pirate raids which are generally1 but erroneously1 called the ,anglo-,saxon ,conquest4 ,they did not so seriously disturb the life of the country as to break down this main artery of communication4 ,it lies transverse to the raids1 and yet it was maintained4 ,and in this connection we must also note the continued importance of ,london4 ,great ,roman towns suffered1 of course1 from the pirate raids between 7somewhat before7 the year #ejj and the year #fjj1 as did all the rest of the island4 ,they suffered not only from those raids of pirates across the ,north ,sea1 but also from the raids of pirates from ,ireland1 and also from the raids of ,highlanders coming over the wall from the north4 ,but though they suffered they kept their place in the national scheme4 ,no province in the ,roman ,empire lost less of its town sites in the ,dark ,ages than did ,england4 ,no part of ,europe has so large a number of old towns based upon ,roman foundations3 and ,london was the chief of them all4 ,london may have been disturbed by the raids--it probably was4 ,there was probably a certain amount of looting from time to time1 and a good deal of fighting outside its walls1 but it always maintained its permanence1 its character of being the economic centre of the island4 ,it is particularly noticeable that every great ,roman road out of ,london has remained intact1 and ,watling ,street beyond others4 ,the third cause of survival was probably the excellence of the original construction1 though here we must hesitate a little because we cannot but note that the ,great ,north ,road to ,york1 which was quite as important and which was twin to the north-western road1 has suffered very grievous modification indeed4 ,but there can be no doubt that the construction of the ,watling ,street was very thorough1 and that this expenditure of economic effort preserved it through the ,dark ,ages as much as anything did4 ,oddly enough1 what is in most cases the strongest motive of all for the preservation of a road was here entirely absent1 and that is what ,i have called the 8potential0 between the two terminals4 ,when there is a long and continued motive for joining up two terminal points the ,road has a cause of survival superior to any other4 ,there was1 and remains to this day1 an extremely strong 8potential0 of this kind between the ports serving the ,channel straits1 with their nucleus at ,canterbury1 and the economic capital inland at ,london4 ,it therefore1 as the ,roman road between the one terminal and the other1 remained permanent throughout the centuries1 with the exception of the deflection towards the ,thames which grew up in the ,dark ,ages to serve the landing places at ,gravesend4 ,but such a 8potential0 is entirely lacking for the north-western road communication--so far as we know--to go between ,london and ,chester4 ,the trade with ,ireland ceased almost during the early ,dark ,ages4 ,the north-western road led nowhere4 ,if it was preserved1 therefore1 as it has been preserved1 it must have been due to other causes which escape us4 ,there it runs1 however1 still almost uninterruptedly used1 from the ,marble ,arch in ,london to ,oakengates in ,shropshire1 and in places still acts as part of the main artery leading from south-east to north-west4 v 7#b7 ,,stane ,,street4 ,the ,stane ,street 7which ,i must be excused for quoting so continuously as ,i know it in great detail7 is1 ,i think1 the leading example of a road still remaining for the most part and clearly showing how the later systems were built up upon a ,roman backbone4 ,i will take the liberty of recapitulating here my argument1 developed at greater length in my monograph on this ,way4 ,the original motive of the ,stane ,street was the connecting of the ,chichester ,harbours1 and indirectly of ,portsmouth ,harbour1 with ,london by a road which should overcome the difficulties of the ,weald4 ,the ,weald is a mass of stiff clay1 impassable to general traffic for six months of the year unless one uses artificial means4 ,left to itself it turns rapidly into a waste of oak and thorn scrub3 save in the dry months1 there is no going over it in its natural state for armies or bodies of wheeled vehicles4 ,its watercourses are numerous1 muddy1 difficult of approach1 and soft at bottom4 ,it produces nothing save in moments of high civilization1 when it can be heavily capitalized by draining and penetrated by expensive artificial communications4 ,the supply of good water is rare and capricious4 ,the ,weald was1 therefore1 the great obstacle between the south coast and the ,thames4 ,because it was such an obstacle the ,romans drove their first great road from the main harbour of ,portsmouth to the capital round westward by ,winchester1 ,silchester1 and ,staines2 but they needed a supplementary road1 for two reasons4 ,first1 they wanted a short cut to serve ,portsmouth and the lesser inlets collectively called ,chichester ,harbours 7,bosham appears to have been an official port throughout the ,dark ,ages72 and1 secondly1 they wanted to be able to reach quickly for purposes of travel and commerce the very fertile sea plain of which ,chichester is the capital4 ,therefore did they construct the most purely military and most direct of all the ,roman roads in the island1 the ,stane ,street4 ,it ran from the east gate of ,chichester in a direct line to the crossing of the ,arun at ,pulborough1 with a camp at the end of this first day's march to defend it2 thence it made in another great straight limb for the shoulder of ,leith ,hill1 with a camp at the second crossing of the upper ,arun at ,romans ,wood2 thence by a series of much shorter limbs to the third camp at ,dorking2 thence over the ,mole at ,burford ,bridge and over the ,epsom ,downs past the racecourse to the fourth camp at ,merton1 and thence to ,london ,bridge--a five-march stage4 ,in the ,dark ,ages the ,weald became impassable again1 the causeway on the ,arun marshes broke down and was swallowed up4 ,the bridge at ,alfoldean broke down1 and ,sussex was isolated from the north4 ,further1 with the absence of any exit for direct and rapid communication between ,chichester and ,london the meaning went out of the road between ,dorking and ,merton4 ,merton was close enough to ,london to give the road vitality again1 and between this and ,london it was never lost4 ,it runs to this day1 and is the main line of tramways upon which people still travel from ,streatham and ,balham to the ,borough4 ,it is only deflected at the end by the intricacies of the ,southwark streets4 ,now1 if you look at the present scheme of roads surrounding this original ,roman core they look at first as though they had no connection with it1 but when you examine them in detail the way in which they grew up out of the ,roman road is clear4 ,every deflection can be accounted for1 and the development of the local systems from the original continuous backbone becomes evident4 ,illustration3 ,part ,,ii1 ,sketch ,,xi ,first you have all ,sussex south of ,pulborough ,marsh1 and again south of ,alfoldean ,bridge1 isolated4 ,what happens8 ,there remained no reason for using the ,stane ,street as a continuous line4 ,it now led nowhere4 ,when it meets with its first great obstacle going north1 the woods near ,eartham1 it makes for the next centre of population--,petworth1 where there was a fortified post going back to some very early time4 ,the wood deflects the road towards ,duncton ,hill 7,i have quoted this example in my section on vegetation in the earlier part of this essay74 ,beyond ,petworth it had little function1 so this first ten miles of the ,stane ,street becomes the parent of the local ,chichester-,petworth road which grew up out of it1 leaving a gap where the woods intervened4 ,next you must note the local roads beyond this gap4 ,pulborough ,bridge probably survived1 but the causeway could not be kept up1 or was ill kept up4 ,in its original line1 when it served the camp at ,hardham1 it ran over a wide part of the marsh4 ,in the ,dark ,ages men picked their way over the narrowest part of the marsh and then followed the hard bank above the ,arun-flooded levels1 linking up the villages as far as ,bignor4 ,but there the use of the road ended4 ,the 8potential0 was from ,pulborough to the nearest seaport1 which was then ,arundel4 ,and all that the ,roman road did in this section was to throw out this bow or curve of lateral road eastward between ,pulborough and ,bignor1 the line of main local travel being diverted from ,bury over ,arundel ,hill and so seaward4 ,in the section north of ,pulborough the ,roman road still served a few scattered homesteads in the ,dark ,ages up to ,billingshurst at least1 but again it led nowhere because the bridge at ,romans ,wood was broken down and the high weald beyond was a mass of scrub growing on stiff clay4 ,the road petered out and began again with harder going near ,ockley4 ,but it was not used over the shoulder of ,leith ,hill1 because that trace subserved no local use and yet compelled the traveller to steep gradients4 ,travel was deflected round the base of the hills to ,dorking1 linking up the more populated part where the water springs were4 ,this new trace1 growing up obviously out of the ,roman road1 opens up to the eastward for a mile or two of the way until it joins up in the heart of ,dorking itself1 where the third camp was1 out of which the town of ,dorking has grown1 and where in the churchyard the ,roman road can still be traced passing through4 ,from ,dorking onwards one might have imagined that it would have survived all the way to ,london4 ,why did it not do so8 ,it was a matter of gradients and of centres of population4 ,in the ,dark ,ages1 when there was little necessity for making a direct line between ,dorking and ,london--no continual marching of great ,roman forces1 no conveying of orders from a centralized government--men took the easier way4 ,they abandoned the up-and-down of the spur of land lying immediately north of ,dorking and went round by its base to save the trouble of the little climb4 ,they used the ,roman bridge 7which apparently survived at ,burford71 but the very steep leap up on to the ,epsom ,downs they abandoned1 especially as the further progress of the road over the chalk connected no centres of population4 ,the way curled round by ,michelham and ,leatherhead and came round to ,epsom--all places suitable for centres of population with low water levels and no heavy gradients in between4 ,the ,roman road on the high waterless chalk above was left abandoned4 ,what happened between ,epsom and ,merton has been already described4 ,there is only one divergence in this section1 which is where the road of the ,dark ,ages deflected somewhat to the left and was used to avoid the low wet ground below ,clapham ,common4 ,for the rest it maintained its use4 ,illustration3 ,,ermine ,,street ,,near ,,royston 7#c7 ,the best example ,i know1 as ,i have said1 of a ,roman road the evidences of which have nearly disappeared1 but round which local roads have grown and which can still be identified as the core of these1 is the short cut between ,penkridge and ,chester4 ,it is very puzzling why the ,roman road should here have disappeared4 ,it is perhaps best to be explained by the continual fighting between the ,eastern and the ,western troops1 which must have ravaged all that country between the first of the raids and the full conversion of ,england to civilization and the ,christian religion which was the work of the seventh century4 ,but1 whatever the cause or circumstances1 the phenomenon is quite plain4 ,the local roads developed for purely local purposes on either side of the original ,roman line1 and that line1 since there is no longer required any continuous traffic along it1 disappears4 vi 7#d7 ,lastly1 we have the ,peddars ,way4 ,it has presented a very difficult problem to all historians1 but ,i think a solution is to be guessed at1 though not to be too strongly affirmed4 ,the ,peddars ,way runs as a main artery right through ,suffolk and ,norfolk4 ,its origin was clearly ,stratford ,st4 ,mary's1 on the southern edge of ,suffolk1 and it was built to link up that water crossing with some harbour now disappeared on the ,wash4 ,its use has dropped out2 local roads are only concerned with it in a short section1 and men argue thus3 why was it ever made1 and1 if made1 why did it fail as a means of communication8 ,i think the answer is military4 ,the ,peddars ,way never linked up any centres of population4 ,it goes through land where men have never built cities or even large villages4 ,but what it would do as a military road1 what ,i think it was designed to do1 was the holding of all that solid block of ,east ,anglia which apparently exactly corresponds with the territory of the ,iceni4 ,for we must remember1 as ,i have said above1 that our county system is probably ,roman in origin1 and most of it corresponds to tribal divisions earlier even than the ,roman administration4 ,it is a point that has often been denied1 but those who deny it fail to remark the analogy of the ,continent1 the evidence of ,kent1 ,sussex1 ,dorsetshire1 and ,essex1 apart from the striking list of that mass of counties which all centre round a ,roman town or a town grown up as the suburb of a ,roman town--,leicestershire1 ,worcestershire1 ,huntingdonshire1 ,gloucestershire1 etc4 ,the ,peddars ,way cuts right across ,east ,anglia through its very centre1 so that a chain of stations along it commands the whole territory4 ,it further divides that territory into two--a territory which was the scene of a great revolt in the beginning of the ,roman occupation4 ,it continued to subserve a certain function to the very end1 because from it as a base one can radiate to threatened points upon the coast when the pirate raids began in the middle of the ,roman occupation4 ,when1 in the ,dark ,ages1 the whole island fell into districts1 fighting one against the other1 each with its local king1 the whole a chaos and a welter1 the ,peddars ,way entirely lost its meaning and value4 ,there was no longer one government or one army4 ,there was no need for the controlling of a subject populace1 for the populace had ceased to be subject save to its local chiefs4 ,such few men as still came over the ,north ,sea were not1 until the ,danish invasion1 enemies1 and as the ,peddars ,way served no line of villages or of towns it fell completely out of use4 ,there is one very curious puzzle about this famous road1 and which has never been settled1 and to which ,i offer no more than an attempt at solution4 ,we are fairly certain that one of the great ,roman stations for the repelling of raids lay at ,brancaster1 upon the ,wash4 ,yet the ,peddars ,way does not make for ,brancaster1 but for a point about four miles to the east along the coast4 ,why is this8 ,there has been suggested a ferry across the ,wash1 but that hypothesis cannot be entertained4 ,the distance is one of eleven miles over very difficult water1 and leading to no important district4 ,we have1 ,i think1 the key to the position in the presence of a harbour which has been destroyed by erosion4 ,all that coast has been modified perpetually during the last two thousand years through the vagaries of the sea4 ,of the great harbours of the ,middle ,ages1 ,dunwich to the south has disappeared1 ,orford is blocked and is decayed4 ,yarmouth1 on the other hand1 has grown up from a shingle bank into a town1 and ,breydon ,water has changed from an estuary into a land-locked broad4 ,i cannot doubt that there was some harbour at the end of the ,peddars ,way which the sea has destroyed4 ,brancaster1 the military post1 was established near it1 but not actually within its confines1 for some local reason1 the character of which we have now lost4 ,we must remember that ,brancaster is a late fortification and the ,peddars ,way was settled before ,brancaster came into being4 vii ,we must imagine this process of gradual local development continuing uninterruptedly throughout the ,dark ,ages1 the ,roman roads serving local purposes gradually ceasing to have continuous use save for the ,fosse ,way1 the ,watling ,street1 and one or two of the other greater roads3 the local ways1 very ill maintained1 growing up out of the ,roman system4 ,when the ,dark ,ages came to an end1 and when the mediaeval civilization succeeded it--that is1 in the five great centuries between the ,conquest and the ,reformation--this new system of local ways was hardened and became the national system which we still inherit4 ,when ,i say the mediaeval system ,i mean the system which must have had its origin1 or1 at any rate1 its mainspring1 in the twelfth century1 and which substituted for the use of the decayed ,roman roads a competing system of roads no longer identical with them1 though originally based upon them as a framework4 ,here again we have no direct records1 but we have indirect evidence sufficient for our purpose4 ,the twelfth century was the moment when civilization was arising again everywhere throughout the west1 and nowhere more strongly than ,britain4 ,that was true of the architecture and town life and education1 and of letters1 and1 we may justly presume1 of the road system as well4 ,again1 from that date onwards you begin to get sites unconnected with the old ,roman road system1 and their number increases rapidly as the ,middle ,ages advance4 ,again1 we learn from any amount of evidence the comparative rapidity of travel after the ,dark ,ages1 and that even over roads which certainly were not ,roman4 ,we can trace it in the marching of armies1 the transport of grain and other provisions1 and the travel of individuals4 ,we may take almost any district in ,england and discover for ourselves by a little study how the mediaeval road system1 which continued to develop until the change in its use by the turnpike1 grew up out of the ,roman ,road1 and we can thus show how the ,roman road system is at the foundation of all our ,english ways4 ,there was no regular plan or order in all this4 ,local usage1 local necessity developed the tortuous network1 and has left its stamp upon the face of ,england4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,wheeled ,,traffic ,,and ,,the ,,modern ,,road ,the ,transition from the ,horse to the ,vehicle3 ,the ,distinctive ,mark of the ,later ,seventeenth ,century3 ,the ,turnpike ,system and the ,making of the ,modern ,english ,road3 ,the ,underlying ,idea of the ,turnpike and its ,effects for ,good and ,ill3 ,its ,decline and the ,first ,emergence of the ,general ,national ,system in #ahaj3 ,thomas ,telford and ,his ,work3 ,the ,movement ,connected with the ,name of ,macadam3 ,the ,coming of the ,locomotive and its ,results on ,canals and ,roads4 i ,the next great change came with the change in local government to which ,i have alluded4 ,it gave us the first ,acts of ,parliament1 taking the place of the old customary upkeep of the roads1 but acting1 oddly enough1 at a period during which the road was declining everywhere4 ,even the civil wars did little to amend what had become a badly decayed scheme of communication4 ,one of the reasons for this was that the great arm of the civil wars was the cavalry1 and cavalry is not tied to roads as infantry is4 ,another and better reason was the comparatively small numbers engaged4 ,the civil wars loom large in our political history because they marked the destruction of the monarchy and the beginning of aristocratic government1 but in military history they are no very great affair3 a sort of local epilogue to the ,thirty ,years' ,war and the great religious struggle upon the ,continent4 ,what did make a difference was the sudden increase of wheeled traffic with the end of the seventeenth century4 ,there has been a great deal of exaggeration in this matter4 ,sundry historians have written as though wheeled traffic were unknown until very modern times4 ,that1 of course1 is nonsense4 ,but the distinctive mark of the later seventeenth century and early eighteenth was the gradual substitution of ordinary passenger traffic by wheel instead of on horseback4 ,the public vehicle comes in much at the same time as the private vehicle1 developed by the new great landlord class for their convenience in their country rounds4 ,as has been the case with the internal combustion engine in our own time1 the instrument preceded the change in the road4 ,as wheeled traffic for passengers becomes more common you get increasing complaints on the condition of the roads and increasing motive for improving them1 and out of that grows the turnpike system1 which1 with its later development1 has carried us on to the present day4 ,illustration3 ,,toll ,,house ,,on ,,the ,,bath ,,road ii ,,the ,,turnpike ,,system1 by a process which originated in small beginnings and ended with a revolution in general communications1 made the modern ,english ,road4 ,it sprang from that character in the economic society of ,britain 7closely connected with the new aristocratic government of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries7 whereby1 in the destruction of the monarchy1 individual action became supreme4 ,the same force which had forbidden great national roads to rise1 to wit1 the absence of a central all-powerful authority 7such as was the ,french monarchy just over the ,channel1 with its great roads planned and constructed throughout the whole realm on one model7--which had maintained local diversity and local usage and kept back the proper development of the road--made for a change which should be due to private enterprise4 ,we all know of what value this individualist and aristocratic economic system was to the expansion of ,english trade overseas1 and how it is at the foundation of what is to-day called 8the ,empire40 ,in domestic affairs it meant1 of course1 the sacrifice of the interests of the community to a comparatively small wealthy class1 but that did not prevent this wealthy class from acting very efficiently under the opportunity for gain within its own sphere4 ,the mass of ,englishmen became1 and have remained1 impoverished1 but the total wealth of the country and its population have vastly increased4 ,the idea of the turnpike was to give a small body of capitalists the right to exploit certain sections of road4 ,they would improve the surface and broaden the gauge where necessary1 etc41 but they would put up gates where they could charge for the passage of all and sundry and thus earn the interest upon their money4 ,they had also powers to borrow4 ,they had certain powers for using the public rates1 etc41 and in general1 through this system1 the roads of the country were more and more given over to what we call to-day capitalist exploitation3 for although very often the sections of road thus exploited were short they formed an interruption to general travel4 ,popular resentment against such an innovation was1 of course1 bitter1 especially when it extended to large areas4 ,there were periods of riot in which the toll-gates were destroyed1 and there was something like a little civil war in the matter in ,south ,wales1 but the interests of the wealthier class were supreme1 the populace was suppressed1 and the system continued4 ,it also vastly extended4 ,while it had the social disadvantages just mentioned1 it had the economic advantage of creating bit by bit longer and longer sections of really good road up and down the country4 ,to the turnpike system we owe that development of the ,english roads which made ,english coaching and gave us1 in the generation before and during the ,napoleonic wars1 on the whole1 the best system of local communications in ,europe1 though we still grievously lacked continuous national communications between distant centres4 iii ,the date to which must be referred the great change in this respect--the date from which we must count the growth of general national communications continuous throughout the island--is the year #ahaj4 ,the turnpike system did indeed die slowly and only much later4 ,it lingered on to well within living memory1 and those who are curious to watch the rise and decay of institutions may even argue that some relics of it remain among us still4 ,but in practice #ahaj is the date of the first experimental change which was ultimately to produce the road system of to-day4 ,if we consider the use and character of the ,road1 its texture and appearance1 its effect upon the landscape1 its connection with society as distinct from the legislation connected with it1 #ahaj is much more of a pivotal date than such dates as #aeee or #ahbb1 which mark the political changes in the statutory powers of dealing with roads4 ,already stage coaches driven from the box1 and every year increasing the rate of travel1 had been upon the road for a generation--for twenty-six years2 and already great lengths of turnpike trust roads had come to a sufficient excellence of surface to permit travel at an average rate over those branches of ten miles an hour4 ,but1 as ,i have said1 there was not as yet one continuous piece of road designed to connect two important termini1 of equal value throughout1 and ordered in all its length towards that one end of making equable and rapid transit possible between the two extremities4 ,that is the point4 ,the thing had not existed in this island 7save in the 8four ,regal ,ways07 since the breakdown of the ,roman central government in the fifth century4 ,what happened in #ahaj1 and what makes it such a memorable date1 is the appointment1 under the pressure of the ,postmaster-,general1 of a stonemason who had risen to the practice of road engineering--,thomas ,telford--to the overlooking of the ,holyhead ,road4 ,the initiative came from the ,post ,office ,department3 the administrative and engineering genius came from ,telford4 ,incidentally1 we should remark1 as one of the innumerable examples of unforeseen and exceedingly important side developments in history1 the fact that this great revolution in ,british roads ultimately derived from ,pitt's ,act of ,union with ,ireland1 which was already nine years old4 ,it was the necessity of communication between ,london and ,holyhead1 and especially of postal communication1 which did the business4 ,telford had been in the employment for some years past of the ,highland ,roads ,commission4 ,he had therefore proved his capacity1 and from it he was appointed to a ,government position in the re-establishment of the ,holyhead ,road after the affair had been examined by a ,parliamentary ,committee in this year 7#ahaj74 ,it was not only ,telford's skill1 it was still more his energy and intense application to detail which wrought the change4 ,his nominal masters were ten ,commissioners and three ,ministers at their head2 his real chief was ,parnell1 later ,lord ,congleton4 ,but it was ,telford1 by his ceaseless travelling and investigation and overlooking of everything1 who pushed the thing through4 ,the whole distance to be reorganized was one of #aid miles4 ,of this the larger part1 #aji miles1 fell under seventeen ,english ,trusts2 the remaining #he miles were under six ,welsh ,trusts1 the latter with far less local traffic to provide them with income1 and1 it would seem1 also of less general efficiency4 ,telford's task may be appreciated when we remember that the new policy gave him no direct statutory power to override trusts4 ,each one had to be argued with1 bargained with1 and persuaded4 ,this at least was true of the ,english ,trusts and the six ,welsh ,trusts4 ,the ,commissioners1 or rather ,telford and ,parnell1 despaired4 ,the trusts controlled so very much the larger part of the trajectory that it was necessary in some way to dispose of them4 ,more than seven years passed before this could be done4 ,but ,parnell succeeded in persuading them1 by industrious attendance before various meetings1 to accept an ,act of ,parliament which cast them all into one body of fifteen1 and they were1 by statute1 compelled to employ a professional civil engineer1 who was1 of course1 ,telford4 ,the #he remaining miles were taken over1 scientifically divided into sections under assistant surveyors and foremen below them1 and by #ahcj1 after the labour of twenty years1 the whole thing was done4 ,a suspension bridge had been thrown over the ,menai ,straits1 ,holyhead ,harbour had been improved4 ,these1 with the reconstruction of the road1 had drawn from ,parliament grants of three-quarters of a million4 ,from that moment there existed at least one complete road in ,britain1 uniting two definite termini and everywhere making possible the rapid travel at the time4 ,the tolls were1 of course1 maintained4 ,their cost was increased by one-half4 ,the anomalies1 complexities1 and corruptions involved in the system were no more done away with on the ,holyhead ,road than on any other1 except in so far as a closer supervision helped to alleviate things and in so far as amalgamation of trusts also helped4 ,but1 at any rate1 there was at least one continuous and excellent road from the capital to a distant port1 and we have the date #ahcj for the completion of the great task which was begun in #ahaj4 iv ,contemporary with this first great complete model of a road in ,england went the movement connected with the name of ,macadam4 ,it was far less of a revolution than has since been represented4 ,the ,continent had made experiments similar to those of ,macadam long before him1 and what he effected over here was no more than an improvement1 for it was not wholly novel4 ,the real point of ,macadam in our road history is his intense devotion to his task4 ,he was one of those men who1 having seen clearly a principle which others have also seen1 and which1 indeed1 should be obvious1 so emphasizes it and represents it that he brings it into practice where other men would have abandoned it4 ,the obvious principle which ,macadam grasped and reiterated to weariness was the principle that perpetual legislation and experiment in the type of vehicle best suited to a road was of less importance than the surface and weight-carrying capacity of the ,road4 ,get the best road you can first1 and after that discuss the traffic along it4 ,in certain technical details posterity has criticized it--in its insufficient allowance of foundation1 for instance2 in its postulate that a well-drained natural surface was sufficient to bear anything in the way of road traction4 ,such criticism can only be conducted by experts1 but it is certainly true that ,macadam transformed the surface of the ,english ,road1 not perhaps by any special or novel conception of his own either in the material or in the sizes of that material1 but rather in the unique insistence with which he carried on his whole task4 ,just as the ,post ,office had been the ,government department for using ,telford1 so the ,board of ,works was the ,government department backing ,macadam4 ,these two men between them1 and these two departments between them1 had remade the ,english ,road1 and the system was fairly launched towards such a change as would perhaps have given us a completely transformed road system1 the value of which we should have appreciated when the new traffic of the internal combustion engine presented us with the problems of the present day4 ,for instance1 ,telford himself had suggested--and there was nearly achieved--a reformed stretch of the ,great ,north ,road between ,peterborough and ,york on a straight line1 avoiding the windings of the old trace1 and twenty miles shorter3 worthy to rank in every way with the great roads of the ,continent4 ,this1 had it been realized1 might well have proved only the first of a great number of similar constructions1 until we should have had all the great centres of ,england united in the same fashion and a habit of broad1 straight1 and excellent roads established4 ,unfortunately1 a great historical accident intervened to sidetrack the whole business4 ,it was an example of the way in which the advantages of spontaneity and inventiveness1 making normally for the benefit of the community as a whole1 will1 if there is no central direction1 do incidental hurt which has later to be repaired1 if at all1 at great expense of energy4 ,the reason we have to-day the innumerable narrow winding roads of ,england1 the lack of any general system1 the absence of any system of good roads from ,london to the ports 7to this day half the exits from ,london are blocked by absurd 8bottle necks10 the most notorious of which1 of course1 is that on the ,west road1 which is now at last being remedied71 is that the ,english genius produced the locomotive4 v ,stephenson's great revolution was begun in #ahbi4 ,the great ,holyhead ,road was completed in #ahcj4 ,the coincidence of dates is significant4 ,england developed immediately an immense system of railways4 ,not only was she twenty years ahead of the rest of the world in the business1 but she alone1 for a long time1 could produce railways4 ,the railways on the ,continent had to be built often by ,english engineers and always upon an ,english model4 ,the transformation which this effected in the national life was so rapid that it warped judgment4 ,men began to talk as though the road would fall out of use4 ,it was the same sort of exaggeration as led people about ten years ago to tell us that shortly horses would no longer be seen in the streets of ,london or even on the country roads4 ,the introduction of the railway had two deplorable effects upon the economic life of ,england1 each of which was grave1 and one of which we must1 if we can1 immediately remedy on peril of decline4 ,neither of them can be remedied save at a new expense of energy3 7#a7 ,it killed the canals1 7#b7 ,it killed all the schemes for widening1 straightening1 and rebuilding the national road system2 while upon the ,continent1 and especially in ,france1 the great broad1 straight roads of the eighteenth century formed the model continuously applied1 so that the most recent examples to-day are in the same tradition as those of two hundred years ago and yet amply fulfil their function4 ,here the whole story of our roads from the middle and the end of the nineteenth century and on to the beginning of this century is the story of improving the surface while keeping to the old winding and narrowness4 ,here and there we have had extensions of space which create really new roads in the neighbourhood of towns1 especially as exits from towns1 but nowhere as yet have we a complete scheme for the remodelling of a road in the fashion whereby1 a century ago1 the great ,holyhead ,road was remodelled4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,future ,a ,new ,vehicle ,compelling us to ,make ,new ,roads3 ,arterial ,roads for the ,new ,traffic3 ,the ,five ,necessities of these ,roads3 ,ways and ,means3 ,a ,national ,fund3 ,taxation according to ,fuel ,used3 ,the ,question of the ,land ,contiguous to the ,new ,roads4 i ,we have come to the point where some great initiative is imperatively needed for the re-establishment of communications corresponding to modern needs4 ,but while all feel this1 no one as yet has1 ,i believe1 thought out the main elements of the scheme4 ,we cannot remake all the ways of ,england1 nor even change the main part of them to suit the new kind of traffic4 ,we have been 8taken aback10 as they say in sailing1 and 8caught all standing40 ,our charming1 narrow1 hedged1 tortuous lanes1 our haphazard county communications1 even our main ways1 have suddenly proved grossly inapt to the new traffic2 and our towns1 unaffected by the great ,continental movement 7which ,i have heard called the 8boulevard0 movement7 of the middle nineteenth century1 are in the same case4 ,if we cannot--and obviously we cannot--remodel the whole thing1 what can we do8 ,so far as ,i can see1 we can proceed upon certain main principles1 with which ,i propose to conclude4 ,i distinguish between the problem of the street traffic in the towns1 with which ,i am not concerned1 and that of the main road4 ,as it seems to me1 what we need is1 and that immediately1 a certain number--quite a large number--of great arterial roads very broad and straight with a special surface1 confined to motor traffic alone4 ,these1 including circular ways round the towns to avoid the present unnecessary and congested passage through the towns1 would act as ditches act in a fen4 ,they would gather towards them the main streams of traffic1 as such ditches gather towards them and drain the moisture of a fen4 ,that having been done1 the remaining difficulties upon the by-roads would be cut down to a quarter or less of their present evil4 ,i will develop this4 ii ,it is clear that our new vehicle1 the internal combustion engine1 will compel us to new roads1 just as the vehicular traffic for passengers at the beginning of the seventeenth century compelled the creation of the turnpike4 ,far-seeing men grasped this the moment that the internal combustion engine appeared in our lives4 ,i have myself heard the details of an idea which very nearly materialized and which was on the point of becoming law--an experimental road to be driven from one great centre to another1 to be reserved entirely to the new traffic and to be made specially for these new necessities4 ,private interest defeated the scheme1 and in my opinion that defeat was a very bad thing for the general development of the country4 ,but though the first attempt failed1 the very fruitful and sensible idea underlying it is worth describing4 ,a very few great arterial roads joining up the main centres of population would have far more effect upon our present difficulties than their mere mileage would seem to warrant4 ,there could be no question of stopping the new form of traffic upon the ordinary roads remaining1 which in length might be twenty or fifty times those of the new roads4 ,but it would be of such advantage for long-distance travel to use the great arteries that at the expenditure of greater mileage you would find the new traffic seeking them at the nearest point upon one side and clinging to them for as long as possible4 ,suppose1 for the sake of hypothesis1 a simple case4 ,suppose a great arterial road to be built joining the heart of ,london and the heart of ,birmingham in a straight line3 it would pass just by ,tring and ,buckingham and then on through the gap between ,leamington and ,warwick4 ,a man living at ,windsor and desiring to reach ,coventry1 and using the new method of fast travel1 would seek this main road at its nearest point and leave it again at the nearest point to his terminus4 ,it would be a less picturesque1 but a much safer and quicker way of doing his business4 ,it would add a dozen miles to his total trajectory1 but it would save a much more than corresponding amount of strain and expense of energy in following the series of narrow and winding roads most nearly connecting the two points4 ,the same would be true of any other trajectory not directly served by the new roads4 ,the advantage of safe and rapid travel on a first-class surface of very broad gauge1 free of horses and pedestrians1 would make people take a 8,z0 to include as much as possible of such a road rather than cling to the shorter line4 ,the final effect would be the relief of congestion upon the typically narrow winding roads which cover the surface of ,england4 ,they would be relieved1 in the case we have quoted1 not only of the great mass of urban traffic between ,london and ,birmingham2 they would be also relieved of the very considerable local traffic--not entirely relieved1 of course1 but relieved in a proportion large enough to make a very sensible difference to modern communications4 ,though the thing still remains pure theory and though the political and social obstacles to it are very serious indeed 7any trajectory you name in this crowded island would destroy much which all our people--let alone the owners--love to preserve71 yet it is worth while to analyse the conditions of such roads1 because only thus can we establish the main rules which1 under whatever modification1 must ultimately govern the change that should come4 iii ,we need five things3 7#a7 ,a very strong foundation1 upon which depends-- 7#b7 ,a permanently good surface2 7#c7 ,the avoidance of sudden curves 7in which is included the avoidance of obstacles hiding the approaches to any curve72 7#d7 ,great width2 7#e7 ,a fifth point1 almost as important as these first four1 the necessity for the providing of crossings4 ,the great arterial road reserved to the internal combustion engine would be1 for people who had to cross it1 an obstacle a great deal worse than a railway4 ,our forefathers protected in all sorts of fashions the road crossing the railway at a level crossing--by insisting on gates and an attendant1 by compelling the road1 if possible1 to pass above the railway upon a bridge1 and so on4 ,more attention was paid to this point in ,england than in any ,continental country1 and we benefit by the results of that care to-day4 ,but the arterial road would be far more dangerous4 ,it would have a continual stream of very rapid vehicles in both directions1 and the scheme had better not be envisaged at all if the cost of providing for cross traffic is not faced4 ,the problem is by no means an easy one4 ,it means1 necessarily1 embankments for bridges1 or tunnelling1 at every crossing1 and these will have to be more numerous than the road crossings3 they will have to serve rights of way and private approaches as well4 ,i think it will be found1 when the scheme is first attempted1 that this obstacle will prove the most serious of all4 ,it is for experts in the science 7of which ,i know nothing1 and allusion to which ,i have therefore kept carefully out of this essay7 to decide what these details of surface1 width1 foundation1 etc41 mean in practice3 their expense and character4 ,they know from experiments made what materials and foundation may be best1 what minimum width suggests itself 7,i have occasionally heard the minimum width of #ajj feet suggested72 but whatever the detailed practice1 when the experts set to work on the new motor roads it must be with these five main provisions before them4 ,there are minor considerations4 ,you have1 with the new traffic1 to consider a gradient somewhere between the old road gradient and the railway gradient4 ,there1 again1 it is for experts to determine what the maximum useful gradient should be4 ,the trouble in our present road system is that in any trajectory you will have one or two places where the new traffic is perilous4 ,there are even exceptional points in ,england where it is almost prohibited by excessive gradients4 ,another point in connection with such great arterial roads is the capital one of exit from the great urban centres4 ,it is of little use to relieve traffic1 to diminish the strain and expense of energy connected with it1 and the peril1 and all the rest of it1 between two urban centres if the exit and entry from and into each are blocked4 ,now1 the trouble here is a purely economic trouble4 ,urban sites have a special value1 even in the outskirts4 ,they are not1 as a rule1 sites to which anyone is attached1 but the cost of buying them up has made reformers hesitate to drive the arterial ways which are so urgently needed4 ,once your great road has reached the inner ring of a large town its traffic disperses and there is no need for continuing its dimensions4 ,but the new system can be of no real service if1 on the approach to a great town1 we retain the narrows and guts which disfigure1 for example1 the western road out of ,london4 ,it might even be said that from the political standpoint it would be better to begin with the assurance of good exits and entrances than with the planning of the ,road as a whole4 ,at present we have1 in the particular case of ,london1 one1 and only one1 good entry4 ,that is the entry from the north-west4 ,all the others are hopelessly congested4 iv ,there will occur in connection with all this discussion of the necessity for a modern change in the ,road the point of ways and means4 ,somebody must pay4 ,how shall the payment be made8 ,it has already become a matter of politics4 ,pretty well all that can be said upon it has been said1 but as yet there is no agreement4 ,i would maintain 7very tentatively1 hardly as more than a suggestion7 that we shall never get a satisfactory settlement until we found ourselves upon three main principles3 7#a7 ,the making of a few great arteries1 coupled with the making of proper exits from the great towns and of by-ways round the urban centres1 is a national concern4 ,you cannot1 in the present state of society1 regard it as local1 nor even as chiefly concerning the direct users of the ,road1 for even these1 who are apparently the people upon whom the burden should most justly fall1 develop by their travel the district through which they pass4 ,i suggest1 therefore1 that you must start in this case with the fundamental principle of a national fund1 and a national fund not proceeding from ear-marked receipts alone1 but also drawn from general taxes4 7#b7 ,the second principle which ,i should suggest is that in so far as you tax travel for the purposes of this fund you should tax it not by any complicated combination of weight1 power1 fuel1 and so forth1 but through some one factor alone1 otherwise you will be perpetually remodelling your scheme and as perpetually causing a grievance4 ,now1 the most obvious factor is fuel4 ,one way and another1 the fuel a man uses for his machine is the nearest test to the use he makes of the ,road4 ,a heavy weight needs more fuel1 great speed and consequently greater wear and tear needs more fuel1 and greater horse-power needs more fuel4 ,the curves are1 of course1 not parallel4 ,you can get equal speeds between heavy and light for nearly the same consumption of fuel4 ,one type of machine will do more harm to the road surface for every gallon of fuel than another1 and so on4 ,but if you want to have easy revenue simplicity in taxation is vital3 surely the taxation of fuel is the simplest and most direct method4 ,it is easily collected4 ,it does away with all chance of confusion4 ,it can be imposed at source and in bulk1 and it has that invaluable quality which has been often lost sight of in the last two generations3 that it is paid gradually and at will and yet paid inevitably4 ,so long1 of course1 as a false distinction is maintained between the commercial and the private use of vehicles you will have gross anomalies and injustice4 ,to draw the line between economic waste in the use of the modern internal combustion engine and what is part of the general and normal life of the community is impossible4 ,it would be better were the distinction to be wholly removed4 ,we do not ask a man who takes a ticket from ,birmingham to ,london whether he is going for fun or folly1 for business or necessity4 ,men pay the same price for the ticket whatever the motive of their journey4 ,it is an absurd anomaly as things now stand that the man who travels in a little ,ford car from one town to another with1 say1 two members of his family--and travels therefore much more cheaply than he could upon the railway--should pay the rent of a house for the privilege of having his car1 while the heavy vehicle of a tradesman who is distributing advertising matter--sheer economic loss to the community--should tear up the road for nothing4 7#c7 ,the grant for the new roads should include the purchase1 if not of a continuous belt along each side1 at least of blocks of land1 especially in the neighbourhood of existing communications1 near railway stations1 near villages or other centres now established1 etc4 ,the price to be determined by arbitration upon the old price basis before the scheme of the ,road was developed4 ,if this were done the great difficulty for certain purposes 7not residential1 but other7 of using these sites would accrue to the public purse and would gradually relieve the cost of construction4 ,this project touches1 of course1 upon one of those political theories which have been debated1 as have all political theories in our time1 with too much violence and with too much generality4 ,if it be contended that we here introduce the principle of the 8single tax0 and of the nationalization of land1 ,i can only say that nothing is further either from my thoughts in this essay or from my general politics--as any number of my public pronouncements suffice to prove4 ,but we have here a very special case4 ,these new roads1 if we drive them 7as we ought to drive them soon7 between the main points of the island1 will1 unless some such scheme is adopted1 make a direct and immediate present of millions to the chance owners of land upon their trajectory4 ,it would be a gross case of actual endowment at the expense of the community4 ,conversely1 the reservation of land on either side of the way for the purpose of helping to pay for the new scheme would be of direct advantage to the community and of disadvantage to no one4 ,at any rate1 just as we must soon have a reform of the road system or suffer decline in our communications and therefore in our national life1 so we must soon settle a reform in the matter of road maintenance and road taxation4 ,for the new main arteries that should be built we must depend upon the general resources of the community1 while for special taxes upon traffic we must establish as soon as possible a simple and universal system4 ,i need not add1 for it is obvious1 that such a scheme of new roads would involve a certain amount of individual hardship4 ,it is impossible to avoid that1 but it is in the temper of this nation to compromise closely and in detail upon all such things4 ,nor need it be added that the scheme would have to proceed by trial and error1 and could only be1 at first1 tentative and applied experimentally to one or two chosen trajectories4 ,but ,i think that it is upon these lines that the problem can be solved4 ,,index ,,abbeville1 bridge at and road convergence1 #be ,,act ,,of ,,union 7,pitt's7 and effect on the ,holyhead ,road1 #ahg ,,adur1 ,,river1 crossing of at ,bramber1 #acj ,,alexandria1 #gj ,,alfoldean ,,bridge1 #gf1 #aec2 effect of breakdown of1 #aff2 and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,alps1 the1 passes of1 #dd2 ,roman roads in1 #ach ,,angevins1 the1 and ,sussex1 #acb ,,antwerp1 #ca ,,antioch1 #gj ,,apennines1 the1 ,roman roads in1 #ach ,,aquilea1 #ajc ,,ardennes1 the1 ,roman roads in1 #ach ,,armies1 necessity of road for1 #gd-f ,,arterial ,,roads confined to motor traffic1 need for1 #aie ,,arterial ,,road1 example of a typical1 from ,london to ,birmingham1 and how used1 #aif-g ,,arterial ,,roads1 five essentials of1 #aih-bjj2 problem of exit from dense urban centres1 #bjj-ja2 suggested finance of1 and legislation regarding1 #bja-e ,,arun1 ,,river1 effect of marshes of1 #ag-ah2 lowest bridge over1 at ,arundel1 #ig2 crossed by the southern track1 #acj2 crossing of at ,houghton1 #acj2 at ,burgh ,hill1 #aci2 at ,romans ,wood1 #aec1 #aff2 at ,pulborough1 #aff ,,arundel1 road from ,pulborough to1 #ag1 #ah2 crossing of ,arun at1 #ig1 #ii1 #acj ,,arundel ,,hill1 #afi ,,ashurst1 ,roman road on sand at1 #aef ,,athens1 #gj ,,aulus ,,plautius1 #ajd ,,autun1 #gj ,,avon1 ,bristol1 the1 and ,british trackways1 #abi ,,balham and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,balkan ,,peninsula1 the1 political chaos due to decay of ,roman trunk roads1 #gf-g ,,bari1 road planning in1 #eh ,,bath and the ,fosse ,way1 #ci ,,beech1 woods1 and chalk1 #aai ,,belfort1 #dd1 #de1 #df ,,belgium1 ,roman road building in1 #acf ,,berkshire ,,downs1 the trackway on1 #abj ,,bignor and ,stane ,street1 #ach1 #afi ,,billingshurst and ,stane ,street1 #afi ,,black ,,death1 the1 a date in ,english road history1 #ha-b ,,blackpool1 a 8reserve0 town1 #fh ,,board ,,of ,,works and macadam1 #aij ,,bordeaux1 #ca ,,borough1 the1 and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,bosham during the ,dark ,ages1 #afe 8,,boulevard0 movement1 #aid ,,boulogne1 harbour of1 #gc ,,boundary1 road as a1 #gg2 instanced1 #gg-h ,,bramber1 causeway at1 #ah2 crossing of ,adur at1 #ii1 #acj ,,brancaster1 ,roman station at1 and ,peddars ,way1 #agf ,,breydon ,,water1 change from estuary to a broad1 #agf ,,bridge1 the1 and road development1 #ab2 building of at different periods1 #bb-c2 significance of term in some languages1 #bb-c2 cost of and effect1 #bb-c2 architecture of1 #bc2 function in making inland ports1 #cj-ca2 marshes created by disrepair of1 #fe1 #aeh-i2 at ,cologne1 #ge2 lowest on river1 effect of1 on sea traffic1 #if-g2 normal origin of1 #bj2 instanced at ,london1 ,cologne1 ,rouen1 ,isle of ,paris1 #ba2 of piles1 #ba2 of boats1 #ba2 object of1 #ba-b2 high gradients of some1 #bc-d2 effect of change from pile to stone1 #bd2 convergence of roads towards1 #be2 military importance of1 #be2 payments of toll at1 #bf2 creation of a nodal point at1 #bf-ca2 on ,english roads1 #hi ,,bridge ,,head1 the term1 #be ,,brighton1 a 8reserve0 town1 #fh ,,brindisi1 #gj1 #gg ,,britain1 its place in the ,roman ,empire1 #aac ,,burford ,,bridge and ,stane ,street1 #agj ,,burgh ,,hill1 #aci ,,burghley ,,park1 near ,stamford1 #aed ,,bury1 #afi ,,caen1 bridge at1 and road convergence1 #be ,,canterbury and ,christianity1 #gj2 lowest bridge over ,stour at1 #ig2 and ,richborough1 #ih2 and ,colchester1 #ajc2 and the early trackways1 #abj1 #aba1 #abb2 as nucleus of ,channel ports1 #afc ,,chalk1 road courses over1 #cd-e2 characteristics of1 #aai2 distribution in ,england1 #aai-bj2 and the early trackways1 #aai-bj1 #acj1 #aca ,,chalons1 disuse of ,roman road from ,rheims to1 #aeg ,,channel1 ,english 7see ,english ,channel7 ,,cheshire ,,plain1 the1 #abh ,,chester1 terminal of north-west road1 #gj1 #aba2 ,roman garrison town1 #ga2 road from to ,penkridge1 #gb1 #adh1 #afa1 #agc2 bridge at1 #ig2 and early trackways1 #abi ,,chichester and ,stane ,street1 #acb1 #aci-dj1 #afj1 #aff2 harbours and ,stane ,street1 #acb ,,chilterns1 the1 early trackway on1 #abj ,,christian ,,religion1 spread of1 along ,roman roads1 #gj2 in ,west ,sussex1 #aec ,,clapham ,,common and ,stane ,street1 #agc ,,clay1 effect of weather on1 #aa-ab2 road courses over1 #cc2 ,roman road-building on1 #ed2 in the ,weald1 effect of on communications1 #aca-b1 #afe2 and on ,west ,sussex during ,dark ,ages1 #aec ,,clifton ,,gorge1 #abi ,,climate1 dampness of ,english1 #aje ,,coast ,,roads1 features of on south coast of ,england1 #ih-i ,,colchester1 #ajc2 trackway from ,london to1 #abb ,,cologne1 bridge at1 #ba1 #bi1 #ge2 ,roman road from ,paris to1 #adj ,,constantinople1 #gg ,,cost1 factor of in influencing number1 size1 and course of roads1 #ef-fj2 and the 8strangling of communication10 #eg ,,cotswolds1 the early trackway on1 #abj1 #abf ,,crete1 #ic ,,cyprus1 #ic ,,damascus1 #gj ,,danes1 the1 in ,sussex1 #gf ,,darenth1 ,,river1 #ai ,,dark ,,ages1 the1 use of ,roman roads in1 #adg-h2 disappearance of sections of road during1 #adh-ej2 breakdown of ,roman river crossings during1 #aej-ee2 ,roman roads on ,continent during1 #aef-g2 formation of disrepair of roads during1 #aeh-i2 pirates' raids during1 #afb-c2 disuse of ,peddars ,way in1 #age2 and the growth of a local road system1 #agg ,,dee1 ,,river1 bridge over1 at ,chester1 #ig ,,devon1 roads along south coast of1 #ih1 #ach2 and the ,fosse ,way1 #abg2 and traffic during ,dark ,ages1 #acb ,,dorchester 7,oxon71 bridge over ,thames at1 #ajb2 a wheat-growing centre1 #abh ,,dorking and ,stane ,street1 #aff1 #afi-gj ,,dorset1 trackway from ,salisbury ,plain to1 #aai2 derivation of name1 #aai2 and the ,fosse ,way1 #abg1 #ach2 and traffic during ,dark ,ages1 #acb ,,dover1 ,roman road to ,richborough from1 #ih2 port for ,roman troops1 #ajc2 and ,london1 #ajh2 early trackway through ,canterbury to1 #abb2 ,straits of 7see ,straits of ,dover7 ,,down ,,barn1 near ,andover1 loop in road at1 #ach ,,downs1 ,sussex1 ,wiltshire1 c41 7see under these names7 ,,duncton ,,hill and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,dunwich and coastal erosion1 #agf ,,durazzo1 road from ,constantinople to1 #gg ,,durham1 #abe ,,eartham and ,stane ,street1 #ea1 #afg ,,east ,,anglia1 ,roman campaigns in1 #ajb2 wheat growing in1 #abh2 and ,peddars ,way1 #agd-e ,,edgware ,,road1 site of trackway1 #aba ,,egypt1 ,roman trunk road from to ,northumberland1 #gj 8,,enclosure10 effect of on roads1 #ij ,,england1 north and south1 tendency of division into1 #abg-h ,,english ,,channel1 the1 and the ,chalk ridges1 #ce1 #abf ,,english ,,roads on south coast1 #fb2 phases in the history of1 #ha-d2 characteristics of1 #hd-ia2 and the ,french road compared1 #hd-f2 the1 effect of political history on1 #hi-ij2 and the ,industrial ,revolution1 #ij1 #ia2 the1 8blindness0 of1 #ib2 diversion and interruption of by waterways1 #ic-i2 effect of absence of strategy on1 #ii-aje2 the1 and dampness of climate1 #aje2 and diversity of soil1 #aje-f2 and increasing density of population1 #ajf2 and legislation1 #ajf2 the1 effect of 8potential0 in its development1 #ajg-i2 its five stages of development1 #aji-ae2 ,british pre-,roman trackways1 #aaj1 #aaf-cb2 the1 and the ,roman road system1 #acc-df2 during the ,dark ,ages1 #adg-gg2 during the ,mediaeval period1 #agg-h2 the1 turnpike system of1 #ahc-e2 #ahaj a pivotal date of1 #ahe-f2 and ,telford1 #ahf-i2 improvement of surface of1 by ,macadam1 #ahi-ia2 effect of railroads upon1 #aib-c2 the1 present need for new arterial roads 7q4v471 #aid-e ,,ephesus1 #gj ,,epsom and ,stane ,street1 #agj ,,epsom ,,downs1 #agj ,,epsom ,,race-,,course1 gap in ,roman road between ,merton and1 #ajc1 #adi ,,erith1 #aba ,,exe ,,river1 importance of bridge at ,exeter1 #ig-h2 trackway from to ,humber1 #aag1 #abf1 #abi ,,exeter and the ,exe1 #ig-h ,,fal1 ,,river1 #ig ,,farnham1 road to in ,wey ,valley1 #cd2 to ,guildford1 #ce2 and the ,pilgrims' ,way1 #aca ,,fens1 the1 former absence of main roads in1 #ec-d2 and trackway to the north1 #abe ,,ferries1 use of by ,romans1 #ajb ,,ferry1 the1 rather than ford precedes bridges1 #bj-ba ,,fleet1 ,,river1 #abb ,,flint1 use of in road construction1 #ee2 disadvantages to motor traffic1 #ee ,,ford1 and the bridge1 #ab1 #bj2 etymology of term1 #ai2 significance of as particle with 8stone0 and 8street0 in place-names1 #aed ,,forest1 influence of on course of road1 #dg-ea2 of ,mormal1 #di2 in the tropics1 #di2 and the railroad1 #ej2 and the ,roman road1 #ej-ea ,,fosse ,,way1 the1 gradients of in ,somerset1 #ch-i2 survival of early trackway from ,exe to ,humber1 #abf-g2 alluded to1 #ach2 use of in ,dark ,ages1 #agg ,,fowey1 ,,river1 #ig ,,france1 ,northern1 ,roman roads in1 #adg-h ,,french ,,road1 the1 characteristics of1 #hd-f ,,fuel1 taxation of2 simplest method of collecting a road tax1 #bjb-c ,,gabas1 valley of1 #dd ,,gainsborough1 bridge at1 #ig ,,gallego1 #dd2 bridge over near ,huesca1 #bd ,,gargano1 isolation of by marsh1 #ae ,,gaul1 military roads of1 #ge-f2 ,roman road building in1 #acf-g ,,genoa1 #fg ,,glasgow1 #ca ,,gloucester1 bridge of1 #gd2 function of in making an inland port1 #cj2 and the ,severn crossing1 #ih2 road from ,winchester to1 #ach ,,gradients of bridges1 #bc2 factors determining1 #cg-h2 of the ,fosse ,way in ,somerset1 #ch-i2 of the roads in the ,jura1 #dj2 and of the ,vosges1 #da2 of railroads1 #da-b2 and the internal-combustion engine1 #db2 at ,lynton and ,lynmouth1 #db2 of the mountain pass1 #dc-f2 of ,english roads1 #hi2 straightness of ,roman roads modified by1 #ach ,,granite1 use of in road construction1 #ed-e ,,gravel1 road courses over1 #cc-d2 example in ,wey ,valley1 #cd ,,gravesend1 #afd ,,grays1 #aba ,,great ,,north ,,road1 #ej1 #afc1 #aia ,,guildford1 #ce1 #acj ,,hampshire1 chalk ridge of1 #aai2 ease of communication through1 #acj-ca ,,hampshire ,,downs1 #acj ,,hardham and ,stane ,street1 #aci1 #afh ,,hastings1 #ii ,,havre1 #gd ,,highlands ,,roads ,,commission and ,telford1 #ahg ,,hills1 effect of on course of roads1 #g-aa ,,hippo1 #ajc ,,hog',s ,,back1 the1 track over1 #ce ,,holland1 roads of1 #ec-d ,,holmes1 ,,rice1 #ih ,,holyhead ,,road1 the1 #ga-b2 and ,telford1 #ahf-i2 completion of1 #aib-c ,,houghton1 #acj ,,huesca1 bridge near1 #bd ,,humber crossed by ,roman road1 #ih1 #ajb2 strategical consideration of1 #ajj-ja1 #ajd2 trackway from ,exe to1 #aag1 #abe-f1 #abi ,,hyde ,,park1 #gh ,,iceland1 #ic ,,iceni1 the1 #agd ,,industrial ,,revolution1 the1 and the turnpike road1 #ij ,,internal-,,combustion ,,engine and gradients1 #db2 makes a crisis in road building1 #ia2 and the need for new roads1 #ahj1 #aie-f2 danger of crossing roads confined to1 and solution of difficulty1 #aih-i ,,ireland1 ,chester once the port for1 #gj ,,iron ,,industry1 the ,wealden1 #aca ,,islam1 ,western1 influence of drift sand on roads of1 #cf ,,italy1 marshes created by the ,road in1 #fe ,,jerusalem1 #gj ,,juniper ,,hill1 near ,dorking road1 #adi ,,jura1 the1 gradients of roads in1 #dj ,,kent1 ,roman road system in1 #ih2 ,roman campaigns in1 #ajb-c2 early trackways through1 #abj-bi2 approach to ,london from1 #aba ,,lambeth1 crossing of ,thames at1 #aba2 and early trackway1 #abi ,,lancashire1 effect of marsh on1 #ae2 plain of1 #aje1 #abf2 communication of with main trackway1 #abb ,,landes1 the1 scarcity of roads in1 #ec ,,lea1 ,,river1 #abb ,,leatherhead and ,stane ,street1 #agj ,,legislation1 road1 #fj-fa1 #hc1 #ajf1 #aae1 #ahf-h2 suggested for arterial roads1 #bja-e ,,leith ,,hill and ,stane ,street1 #aci1 #aff1 #afi ,,lewes1 lowest old bridge at1 #ig2 and the south coast road1 #ii ,,lincoln1 #ce ,,lincolnshire1 #abe ,,littlehampton1 swing bridge at1 #ih-i ,,liverpool1 #abi ,,liverpool ,,street ,,station1 #fh ,,locomotive 7see ,railroad7 ,,london1 crossing of ,thames at1 #ae2 plans for rebuilding after ,great ,fire1 #eh-i2 growth of due to railroads1 #fg-h2 and spread of ,christianity1 #gj2 potential between ,dover and1 #ajh2 centre of a series of trackways1 #aaf-g1 #abj-b1 #abi2 and ,stane ,street1 #acb1 #afe-f2 and ,watling ,street1 #adj1 #afb-d2 road entries into1 #bja2 and ,chester1 #gj1 #gb1 #adh2 lack of potential between1 #afd ,,london ,,bridge1 old1 #ba2 avoidance of high gradient and result1 #bd2 convergence of roads to1 #be2 effect of on development of the city1 #bi2 function of in making an inland port1 #cj2 lowest old bridge on the ,thames1 #ig2 and necessity of detours by ,roman troops1 #ajc2 advantage of site of1 #abb ,,lyme ,,regis1 #ih ,,lynton ,,and ,,lynmouth1 gradients at1 #db ,,lyons1 double crossing of streams at1 #cb2 spread of ,christian religion to1 #gj ,,macadam1 #ij2 and the improvement of road surface1 #ahi-ij ,,maestricht1 #bi ,,manchester1 #abb ,,marble ,,arch and ,watling ,street1 #afd ,,marsh1 effect of on course of roads1 #g-aj2 impassability of1 #ad-ae2 divided ,lancashire from ,southern ,england1 #ae2 ,thames estuarine1 #ae2 protected ,venice1 #ae2 and ,russian ,church1 #ae2 and ,russian ,revolution1 #ae2 isolation of ,gargano due to1 #ae2 effect of on course of road from ,pulborough to ,arundel1 #ag2 and ,eastern and ,western ,european civilisation1 #ae2 at ,bramber1 #ah2 created by roads1 #fd-e2 ,pinsk1 #gf-g2 of ,thames estuary1 #aba-b2 effect of on ,roman roads1 #ajc-d2 formation of during ,dark ,ages by disrepair of ,roman road at river crossings1 #aeh-i ,,marshes1 disappearance of section of ,roman roads in during ,dark ,ages1 #adi-ee ,,material for road construction1 influence of proximity on course and number of roads1 #ad1 #eb-e2 diversity of in ,england1 #aje-f ,,medway1 the1 #ai2 crossing of at ,snodland1 #acj2 at ,rochester1 #acj ,,melun1 double crossing of streams at1 #cb ,,menai ,,straits1 suspension bridge over1 #ahh ,,mendips1 lead mines of1 #ih2 trackway to1 #abj ,,mersey1 ,,river1 marshes of1 #abb ,,merton1 gap in ,roman road between ,epsom race-course and1 #adi2 and ,stane ,street1 #aff-gj ,,michelham and ,stane ,street1 #agj ,,middle ,,ages1 the1 and bridge building1 #bb2 and the bridge as a place of toll1 #bf2 road system of1 #aad1 #aed1 #agg-h ,,midhurst1 #aca ,,military ,,roads1 ,roman roads designed as1 #acc-g2 in ,u4,s4,a41 #ge2 on the ,rhine1 #ge2 ,alpine1 #ge ,,mole1 ,,river1 #ai2 crossing of by ,pilgrims' ,way1 #aca ,,montreuil1 #ca ,,morocco1 effect of 8nullahs0 in1 #cf-g ,,moselle1 valley of1 #dd-f ,,motor ,,vehicle1 the 7see ,internal-combustion ,engine7 ,,naples1 #gj ,,nero1 #ajb ,,newcastle1 bridge of1 #ig2 function in making an inland port1 #cj ,,newhaven1 swing bridge at1 #ii ,nodal ,points1 definition of1 #bf2 creation of by bridges1 #bf-i2 and military strategy1 #bi2 and markets1 #bi-cj ,nore ,wood and ,stane ,street1 #ea ,,norfolk1 trackway to1 #abe2 and ,peddars ,way1 #agd ,,norman ,,conquest1 the1 and ,sussex1 #acb ,,northumberland1 ,roman wall in1 end of road from ,egypt1 #gj ,,norton ,,park 7,northants71 example of marsh formation through breakdown of culvert1 #aeh-i2 map1 #aei 8,,nullahs10 effect of on road building1 and example in ,morocco1 #cf-g ,,oakengates 7,shropshire7 and ,watling ,street1 #afd ,,ockley and ,stane ,street1 #aec-fi2 ,battle of1 #gf ,odds and ,evens1 method of in planning long stretches of straight road1 #ada-e2 sketch plans1 #ada-c ,,orford1 decay of1 #agf ,,ouse1 ,sussex1 crossing of at ,lewes1 #ig1 #acj ,,paris1 effect of bridge on development of1 #bi2 road planning of under ,napoleon ,,iii41 #eh-i2 ,st4 ,lazare ,station1 #fh2 ,roman road from to ,cologne1 #adj2 ,island of1 bridges of1 #ba ,,park ,,lane1 site of trackway1 #aba ,,parliament1 #fa1 #ajf ,,parnell 7,lord ,congleton7 and the ,holyhead road1 #ahg-h ,,passes1 ,alpine1 roads due to military necessity1 #ge2 mountain1 gradients of1 #dc-f2 of the ,alps1 #dc2 ,pass of ,sallent1 #dd-e2 from ,valley of ,moselle to ,belfort1 #dd-f ,,peddars ,,way1 #afa2 problem of its building1 #agc-d2 disuse during ,dark ,ages1 #age2 its terminal point on the ,wash1 #age-f ,,penkridge1 ,roman road to ,chester from1 #gb1 #adh2 local system developed from1 #afa2 disappearance of1 #agc ,,pennines1 the1 #aje1 #abb2 trackways of1 #abe-f ,,peterborough to ,york1 ,telford's suggested reform of road from1 #aia ,,petworth and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,philadelphia1 #ca ,,pilgrim',s ,,way1 the1 #ai1 #aca ,,pinsk ,,marshes1 the1 #ae1 #gf-g ,,pirates1 raids of on ,england during ,dark ,ages1 #afb-c ,,pixham1 near ,dorking1 #acj ,,plymouth ,,sound1 #ig ,,polish and ,russian civilisations1 differences due to marsh1 #ae ,,poole1 #abi ,,population1 effect of increasing density on road system1 #ajf ,,ports1 preservation of unsuitable by roads1 #gc2 instanced in ,boulogne1 #gc-d ,,portsmouth1 #ii ,,portsmouth ,,harbour and ,stane ,street1 #afe ,,post ,,office and appointment of ,telford1 #ahf 8,,potential10 definition of term1 #ajg-h2 as applied to development of road system1 #ajh-i2 change of instanced in ,fosse ,way1 #abf-g2 example of in ,channel ports1 #afc-d ,,primitive ,,societies and bridge building1 #bb-c ,,public ,,authorities1 powers of with regard to road construction1 #fj-fa ,,pulborough1 #ag1 #aci2 and ,stane ,street1 #aff-i ,pulse1 the1 of a modern city1 #fh-i ,,pyrenees1 the ,pass of ,sallent in1 #dd2 ,roman roads in1 #ach ,,railroad1 effect of gradients on construction of1 #dj-b2 and forest regions1 #ej2 and growth of ,london1 #fg-h2 effect of on development of road system1 #aib-c ,,reading1 double crossing of streams at1 #cb ,,reformation1 ,,the1 in ,england1 economic effects of1 #hb-c ,,rheims1 disuse of ,roman road to ,chalons from1 #aeg ,,rhine1 ,,river1 #ge ,,richborough and the crossing of the ,wansum1 #ih ,,river ,,crossings1 effect of on course of roads1 example1 #g-aj2 general effect in ,england1 #ic-i2 on the ,thames1 #aba2 and ,british trackways1 #abi-cj2 fate of ,roman roads at during the ,dark ,ages1 #aej-ec2 instanced by ,arun at ,romans ,wood1 #aec2 new crossings made1 #aec-d2 during ,middle ,ages1 #aed2 significance of particle 8street0 or 8stone0 in place-names at1 #aed2 instanced by ,stamford 7,northants71 #aed-e ,,road1 ,,the1 purpose of1 #d2 trajectory or course of1 #d2 statement of formula for1 #e1 #f1 #aa-ac2 effect of surface and gradient1 #e2 weather and surface1 surface and type of load1 gradients and character of traffic1 #f2 difference between civilian and military needs1 #f2 experimental growth on planning1 #g2 instanced1 #g-ab2 design or growth1 #aa2 physical factors influencing course of1 #ab2 and the bridge1 #ba2 avoids a double crossing1 #cb2 influence of soils on course of1 #cc-g2 and the factor of gradient1 #cg-df2 influence of forest on course of1 #dg-ea2 influence of intermittent vegetation on course of1 #ea-b2 proximity of material for1 #eb-e2 effect of cost on course of1 #ef-fj2 the powers of public authorities regarding1 #fj-fa2 influence of privileges upon1 #fa2 physical effects of in creating marsh1 #fc-e2 compels communication to follow it1 #fe-f2 and density of population1 #ff2 and the growth of towns1 #fg-h2 cause of differentiation between rural and urban life1 #fg-h2 and 8canalization0 of traffic1 #gj-gf2 and the communication of ideas1 #fi-gj2 instanced by spread of ,christian religion1 #gj2 effects of decay or breakdown1 #gf-g2 use as a boundary1 #gg-h2 and idea of 8potential10 #afc-d ,,road ,,maintenance1 #hc-d ,,road-,,making1 modern1 conflict of principle regarding1 #aa ,,roads1 arterial 7see ,arterial roads72 convergence of at bridges1 #be2 ,english 7see ,english roads72 military 7see ,military roads72 ,roman 7see ,roman roads7 ,,robertsbridge1 #ii ,,rochester1 #ca1 #ajd1 #aba1 #acj2 and ,watling ,street1 #adj ,,roman ,,empire1 extent of1 #aac ,,roman ,,road1 the1 and forest1 #ej-ea2 ,london to north-west1 used as a boundary between ,wessex and the ,danelagh1 #gh2 as a boundary in ,westminster1 #gh2 recovered from parish boundaries1 #gh2 and the ,humber1 #ih2 to lead mines of ,mendips and the ,severn1 #ih2 the1 in ,britain1 military nature of1 #acd-e2 straightness of1 #acf-g2 straightness of1 modified by existing tracks1 #acg2 by hilly country1 #acg-h2 by steep gradients1 #ach2 the planning of1 in straight limbs1 #ach-adj2 on hard sand1 permanence of1 #aee-f2 the1 divergent developments of our modern road system from1 #afj-fa2 system1 #ie2 and streams1 #ig-h2 system of ,kent1 and the ,r4 ,wansum1 #ih2 system in ,england1 #aaj-ad2 map1 #ace ,,roman ,,roads1 and spread of the ,christian religion1 #gj2 in ,balkan ,peninsula1 #gf-g2 military basis of and resulting directness1 #aja-b2 and ferries1 #ajb-d2 during ,dark ,ages1 breakdown of river crossings on1 #aej-ed2 instanced in ,stamford1 #aed-e2 map1 #aee2 use of in ,dark ,ages1 #adg-h2 sectional disappearance of1 #adh2 instanced in ,penkridge to ,chester1 ,epsom race-course to ,merton1 #adh-i2 theories to account for disappearance1 #adi-ej2 during the ,dark ,ages1 sectional disappearance of on the ,continent1 #aef-g2 ,watling ,street1 #gb1 #aeh1 #afa-d2 ,stane ,street1 #acb1 #afd-gc2 ,penkridge to ,chester1 #agc2 ,peddars ,way1 #agc-f ,,romans1 ,,the1 and bridge building1 #bb2 and the bridge as a place of toll1 #bf2 as road builders1 #ec-d2 and ,wales1 #ga-b ,,romans ,,wood1 crossing of ,arun at1 #aec1 #aff1 #afi ,,rome1 #gj1 #gg2 bridge of1 and function in creating an inland port1 #cj ,,romney ,,marsh1 #fb ,,rother1 the1 valley of1 #aca1 #aci ,,rouen1 bridge at1 #ba1 #bi ,,russian and ,polish civilisations due to marsh1 #ae2 ,orthodox ,church1 the1 and the ,pinsk ,marshes1 #ae2 ,revolution and the ,pinsk ,marshes1 #ae ,,rye1 #ii ,,st4 ,,albans1 #gj ,,st4 ,,catherine',s ,,chapel1 #ce1 #acj ,,salisbury ,,plain and the chalk ridges1 #ce2 centre of a system of trackways1 #aag-bj1 #abf ,,sallent1 ,pass of1 #dd ,,sand1 road courses over1 #cc2 drifts in ,western ,islam1 #cf2 in ,sussex ,weald1 discontinuous nature of1 and influence on iron industry1 #aca-b2 hard1 permanence of ,roman roads cut in1 #aef ,,saragossa1 bridge at1 and road convergence1 #be ,,sardinia1 #ic ,,seaford1 #ii ,,selsey1 #fb ,,severn1 bridged at ,gloucester1 #gd2 tunnel1 #gd2 use of in ,middle ,ages1 #id1 #abi2 crossing by ,roman road1 #ih2 strategical consideration of1 #aja2 estuary of1 and the ,romans1 #ajb2 traffic over lower1 in event of invasion1 #ajd ,,shipley1 #abf ,,shires1 origin of1 #aai 7note71 #agd ,,shooters' ,,hill1 #aba ,,shoreham1 #ah2 bridge at1 #ih-i ,,shrewsbury and the ,holyhead road1 #ga-c2 and ,roman road ,london to ,chester1 #adh ,,sicily1 #ic ,,silchester1 #ajc1 #afe ,,snodland1 #acj ,,soils1 effect of on course of road1 #cc-g2 diversity of in ,england1 #aje-f 7see also under ,chalk1 ,gravel1 ,clay1 and ,sand7 ,,southampton ,,water and the trackway from ,salisbury ,plain1 #aai1 #abi2 traffic to during ,dark ,ages1 #acb ,,spain1 high-gradient bridges in1 #bd ,,stage ,,coaches1 #ahf ,,staines1 #ajb1 #afe ,,stamford and the ,great ,north ,road1 #ej2 instance of new track replacing older one on river crossing at1 #aed-e2 map1 #aee ,,stane ,,street1 example of hindrance of vegetation at ,nore ,wood on1 #ea2 and the ,wealden clay1 #acb2 curve on at ,bignor ,hill1 #ach2 example of ,roman road as basis of modern local system1 #afj2 motive of1 #afd-e2 and the ,weald1 #afe2 stages of1 #aff2 development of local systems from1 #afg-gc2 the1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,belloc's references to1 #aci1 #afd ,,stephenson and the railroad1 #aib 8,,stone10 significance of1 coupled with 8ford0 as a particle in place-names1 #aed ,,stonehenge1 #ai ,,stour1 bridge over at ,canterbury1 #ig ,,straightness ,,of ,,roman ,,roads1 characteristics1 #acd-g2 modifications of1 #acg-h2 planning1 #ach-dj2 method of planning1 #aci-de ,,straits ,,of ,,dover1 #ai1 #ce1 #aje1 #acb 8,,strangling ,,of ,,communication10 #eg ,,strategy1 ,,military1 and the ,english road system1 #ii-aja2 7see also ,military roads7 ,,stratford ,,st4 ,,mary',s1 origin of ,peddars ,way1 #agd ,,streatham and ,stane ,street1 #afg ,,streatley1 ,thames valley at1 #ce 8,,street10 significance of1 coupled with 8ford0 as a particle in place-names1 #aed ,,suffolk and ,peddars ,way1 #agd ,,surface 7see under ,soil1 ,chalk1 ,clay1 ,gravel1 ,sand7 ,,sussex1 effects of decay of main road in1 #gf2 coast of1 #ih2 trackways through1 #abj2 ,downs1 #ag1 #acj2 ,weald1 the1 sand ridges in1 #aca2 iron industry in1 #aca2 clay in1 #aca2 isolation of from the ,north1 #aff2 ,west1 isolation of during the ,dark ,ages due to breakdown of ,roman bridge over the ,arun1 #aec2 coast1 an example of road diversion due to waterways1 #ii2 and raids1 #ii ,,telford1 ,,thomas1 #ij2 and the road from ,london to ,holyhead1 #ahf-i2 and the ,great ,north ,road1 #aia ,,temple ,,bar1 #ei ,,temple1 ,,sir ,,william1 #ei ,,thames1 ,,river1 and its crossing at ,london1 #bi1 #ig1 #aba-b2 provides easy means of penetration into ,england1 #id2 strategical considerations of1 #ajj-ja2 and the trackways1 #aag1 #abf2 and communication with south coast1 #acb1 #afe2 and ,gravesend during the ,dark ,ages1 #afd2 estuary of1 effect of marshes in1 #ae1 #ajb-d ,,tiber1 ,,river1 current of1 #ca ,,tilbury1 temporary bridge at during the ,great ,war1 #ajj2 hard approach to ,thames at1 #aba ,,toll1 payment of at bridges1 #bf ,,towns1 problem of road congestion in1 #eg-fj2 8reserve10 #fh ,,trackways1 ,,british1 ,,pre-,,roman1 the ,pilgrim's ,way1 #ai2 the first stage of road development1 #aaj2 ,exe to ,humber1 #aag1 #abf-g2 from ,salisbury ,plain1 #aag1 #aah-bj1 #abf2 from ,london1 #abj-bb2 to centre of ,norfolk1 #abe2 to the ,tyne1 #abe2 by ,shipley1 #abf2 and position of wheat lands1 #abh2 and the ports1 #abi2 and river crossings1 #abi-cj2 and chalk1 #acj-ca2 and sand1 #aca-b ,,trent1 ,,river1 #ic-d1 #ajb2 old lowest bridge over1 #ig ,,turin1 rebuilding of1 #ei ,,turnpike ,,system1 #aae1 #ahj2 made the modern ,english road1 #ahc2 basis of1 #ahd2 early resentment against1 #ahd2 not a national system1 #ahe ,,tyne1 ,,river1 crossing of by ,romans1 #ajb2 and the trackways1 #abe1 #abi ,u4,s4,a4 and military roads1 #ge ,,uriconium1 #ga1 #ajc ,,vegetation 7see ,forest72 intermittent1 influence of on course of road1 #ea-b ,,venice1 protection by marsh1 #ae2 limitation of growth by marsh1 #fg ,,victoria ,,station1 ,london1 #fh ,,vosges1 the1 gradients of roads in1 #da2 ,valley of ,belfort in1 #dd-e ,,wales1 ,roman campaigns in1 #ga-b2 ,south1 riots against turnpikes in1 #ahd ,,wall1 the ,roman 7,hadrian's71 #gj-ga ,,wandle1 ,,river1 marshes of1 disappearance of ,roman causeway in during ,dark ,ages1 #adi ,,wansum1 ,,river1 crossed by ,roman road1 #ih ,,wash1 ,,the1 trackway to1 #abj1 #abf2 and ,peddars ,way1 #agd-e ,,water ,,courses1 first crossings of1 fords1 #ah-bj2 taking-off places1 #ah-ai2 effect of rate of current1 #ai-bj2 ferries1 #bj2 bridges1 #bj-cb2 double crossings at1 #ca-b 7see also ,river ,crossings7 ,,watling ,,street1 at ,penkridge1 #gb2 between ,rochester and ,london1 #adj2 at ,norton ,park1 #aeh2 as the basis of a modern road1 #afj2 causes of preservation of1 #afa-d2 use of during ,dark ,ages1 #agg ,,weald1 the1 as an obstacle to communication1 #afe-f ,,welland1 ,,river1 #ej ,,wenlock ,,edge1 #id ,,westminster1 northern boundary of1 a ,roman road1 #gh ,,wey1 ,,river1 and ,pilgrim's ,way1 #ai2 road in ,valley of ,upper1 #cc2 crossing at ,st4 ,catherine's ,chapel1 #acj2 at ,guildford1 #acj ,,wheat ,,lands and early trackways1 #abh ,,wheeled ,,traffic1 sudden increase of at end ,,xvii century1 #ahj ,,wiltshire1 #abj ,,winchester1 and the ,pilgrim's ,way1 #ai2 as centre of wheat growing1 #abh2 to ,gloucester1 road from1 #ach2 to ,london1 ,roman road from1 #afe ,,wren1 ,,sir ,,christopher1 #ei ,,yarmouth1 growth of1 #agf ,,york1 ,telford's suggested reform of road to ,peterborough from1 #aia 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled consecutively through the document4 ,illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are mentioned4 ,punctuation has been made consistent4 ,variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication1 except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected4