The Evolution of the English Turnpike Trusts: Lessons from a Case Study
T he demythologizing of transport studies begun in recent years has shifted attention from an interest in individual undertakings towards a broader and more systematic analysis of transport developments in relation to the national economy. This move towards "the New Transport History: a subject which has escaped from antiquarianism and narrative"2 may make the present return to a narrow focus seem retrograde, even wilful. Such an unfashionable step can, however, be justified on the ground that only through the analysis of comprehensive evidence on discrete ventures can the oversimplifications and distortions underlying some national assessments be revealed. In particular, it can be demonstrated from a study of the Bath Turnpike Trust that although the periodic renewal and amendment Acts pertaining to individual trusts have been almost entirely ignored in recent macro-studies, they were vitally important for the development of each undertaking and hence for the road system as a whole.3 Through this legislation the trusts were able to renew and extend their initial powers for raising capital, collecting revenue, and building and improving the roads. That is, they did not emerge fully fledged at the moment of legal inception, but were instead subject to a continuing evolution within a network which was itself undergoing change. Generalizations which fail to take into account this acquisition of additional powers by existing bodies are therefore likely to misrepresent the contributions of turnpike roads in terms of both capital investment and construction work. This view of the turnpike trusts as dynamic rather than static bodies will be examined as follows. After a short survey of the relevant literature, the typicality of the Bath Trust will be considered, and the provisions of its renewal and amendment Acts summarized. The implementation of powers relating to mileage can be easily established, and will therefore be described briefly. Provisions concerning finance present more difficulty and will be studied at greater length. It will be shown that their significance lies not only