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Details

WROTHAM TO FOOT'S CRAY TURNPIKE ACT, 1752.

Synopsis

An act for repairing the road leading from the royal oak on wrotham heath, to the town of wrotham...and from thence to the village of foot's cray...

Item Description

Disbound in plastic sleeve. Folio. 7.75 x 12.25 inches. [2] + 202-203 pp. Illustrated with royal arms on title page and vignette initial at start of main text, which is in black letter.

Notes

This turnpike Act establishes a trust to improve the twenty mile stretch of road from Wrotham Heath via Wrotham to Foots Cray. The preamble states that this highway 'is, by reason of the heavy Carriages frequently passing through the same, greatly in Decay; and is very bad and deep in the Winter Season; and in many Places very narrow and incommodious, so that Carriages are frequently hindered and delayed in the said Road...' The Act makes detailed provision for the collection of tolls (and exemptions from payment), the erection of milestones and gates (including side-gates from adjoining roads), the appointment of officers such as surveyors, and their powers, the authority to sell parts of the old road 'for the best Price that can be got for the same,' the use of 'Statute-work' (part of the parish highway repair system established by the 1555 Act), the penalties for evasion and for the system of financial administration and accountability required to operate the turnpike system. Around one hundred named trustees (some names are partly left blank in the text), composed of local nobility, gentry and clergy were appointed and invested with powers to oversee the administration and operation of the trust.