Liskeard Turnpike Roads (updated 24th Sept 2013)
This town-centred Trust was created in 1761
to turnpike the roads in
J House of Commons - Reports
Taphouse through
19th Jan
1761;
A Petition of gents of
Cornwall taking note of Bill for repairing roads from east end of West Taphouse
Lane, thru parishes of Broad Oak, St Pinnock, Liskeard, thru Menheniot and over
Butterdon Water to Comb Rise House, in parish of St Ive, and also road from
Borough of Liskeard, thru parishes of Menheniot, St Germans, Sheviock, Anthony
(in Cornwall), and Maker, to Crimble Passage (in Devon)
Setting out that the
road leading from the village of Crafthole, by the guide post, through church
town of Anthony and thence to Bullan’s Gate through a lane called Thanks Lane
to Tor Point Passage, thru parishes of Sheviock and Anthony is in a ruinous
condition, narrow and incommodious to passengers and cannot effectively be
widened and repaired by present course of the law.
A Petition from High
Sheriff, JPs etc having occasion to
travel the Great Road leading from Liskeard to Crimble Passage
To prove the
allegations, Mr Joseph Johnson said that he knows the road from Crimble Passage
to Liskeard and it is the usual way for
both horses and carriages, is thru Hessingford and Crafthole, that he
has travelled from Crimble Passage to St Germans and St Germans to Liskeard;
that the road thru Hessingford and Crafthole is the Post Road, that it is
nearer and more level than the St Germans road and more easily repaired, though
that part that lies between Hessingford Hill and Liskeard is too narrow and
cannot be properly amended without buying land.
That the militia in
their march from Liskeard to
That if he was asked
the way from Crimble passage to Liskeard he would direct persons this way and
that St Germans is no thoroughfare from
Being asked what judge
he was of repairing roads he replied that he used to drive a carriage.
Being asked if the two
hills on each side of Hessingford are not the worst on either road, he answered
the negative
Asked how he knew this
was the nearest way he answered he judged so but never measured it.
Mr Thomas Peeke said
that he knows the road from Crimble Passage to Liskeard that he never travelled
the St Germans road to Liskeard, that the road from St Germans to Crafthole is
hilly and bad, that the Hessingford road is more level and easier for carriages,
it is the common road and he never knew any person go the St Germans road.
That the road thru St
Germans must be round about, that the road from Hessingford to Crafthole is
very narrow, there being hardly room for a carriage in some places and a horse
cannot pass a carriage.
Is this the Post road,
he said that it was as far as St German’s Beacon, which is about 8 miles from
Crimble Passage and 2 miles from Crafthole.
23rd Jan
1761
A Petition of several
gentlemen, clergy, freeholders, assembled at the Quarter sessions of the Peace,
held at Lostwithiel, 16th Jan 1761
Alleging that the Great
Road which hath been most constantly used by all persons travelling from the
said town to the said passage, leads through the villages of Hessenford and
Crafthole, and that a considerable part of the said road is the Great Western
Post Road from Plymouth to Looe, Fowey, Truro and Penzance, and is nearer and
leads through a more level part of the country and can be made at a much less
expense than the road proposed by the bill, and that from the said village of
Crafthole a road leads to Torpoint Passage, which road is constantly used by
great numbers of people frequenting the Market at Plymouth Dock, who will be
liable to be charged with the Tolls proposed, by the said Bill, though very
little benefit can accrue to them from it, as they travel but a very
inconsiderable part of the road proposed by the Bill
So provision should b
made for also repairing the road through Crafthole to the passage.
List of
Acts
|
Liskeard |
|
1 Geo3c25 |
1761 |
|
|
Liskeard |
|
10 Geo3 c87 |
1780 |
|
|
Liskeard |
|
41 Geo3 c92 |
1801 |
|
|
Liskeard |
|
4 Geo 4 c52 |
1823 |
|
|
Liskeard |
|
7 Geo4 c74 |
1826 |
1848 |
|
Liskeard |
After
continuation through to 1852 |
15&16 Vic c129 |
1852 |
|
Liskeard 1801
An
Act for continuing for Twenty-one Years, and from thence to the End of the then
next Session of Parliament, the Term, and altering and enlarging the Powers of
Two Acts, passed in the First and Tenth Years of the Reign of His present
Majesty King George the Third, for repairing and widening the Road from the
East End of West Taphouse Lane to the Borough of Liskeard, and from thence to
the Coombe Row House, and several other Roads therein mentioned, in the
Counties of Cornwall and Devon. [20th June 1801.]
Liskeard 1823
An
Act for more effectually making, repairing, and improving certain Roads leading
to and from Liskeard, and certain other Roads therein mentioned, in the
Counties of Cornwall and
Liskeard 1826
An Act for more effectually making, repairing,
and improving certain Roads leading to and from Liskeard, and certain other
Roads therein mentioned, in the Counties of Cornwall and
And whereas a New Line of Road from Tresulgan
Lake to Trerule Foot, in the Parish of
Saint Germans, by the said Act
directed or authorized ,to be made, has been commenced, and
a considerable Part
thereof has been made, and the making and completing of the whole thereof is now in Progress : And whereas the
Road comprised in the said Act,
leading from Liskeard
to Torpoint and Cremill Pa-sage, is
in some Parts narrow, steep, circuitous, and incommodious, and it would be of
much Convenience and Advantage to the Public if certain new Pieces of Road were to be made on
the Line of the said last-mentioned Road ;
(that is to say), a new Piece of Road diverging from Antony
Green, through Brockhole, along Whacker Lake, Trethill, Kerslake, and Sheviock, to join the present Road near Stump Cross; a
new Piece of Road diverging from Polscove by the Side of Scanner Lake, through Trewin and Scanner, and along the Side of Polbathick Lake, to join the present Road
near Polbathick Lime Kilns; and
a new Piece of Road from Polbathick up
the Valley, through Treskelly, to join the present Road at Trerule
Foot; and a new Piece of Road diverging at or from near Tresulgan Bridge up the Valley, and through North Trevido, to join the
present Road near the Quarry on the Eastern
Side of Cartuther; and
also a new Piece of Road diverging from the Farm at Mount Edgcumbe along the Shore of Milbrook Lake, across Inceworth Barton, Penhale Lake, and
along the Shore of Saint John's Lake to Antony Green: And
whereas it would be advantageous to the Neighbourhood, and of public
Utility, if the Trustees for the Care of
the said Roads were discharged from the Care and Management of so much of the said Roads as leads from Crafthole to
Saint Germans Beacon, in the Parishes of Sheviock and Saint Germans, and if instead thereof a new Piece of Road
were made from and out of the said intended new Piece of Road leading from Polbathick to
Trerule Foot, at or near Treskelly, to Hessenford: And whereas it is expedient that the Highway or
Road leading from the present Turnpike at or near the Turnpike Gate called Looe
Mills Gate towards Looe Down, should be made Turnpike, and put under the Care of the said Trustees,, for the
Space of One hundred and eighty Yards from the said present Turnpike Road.:
and
this Act shall from thenceforth .commence and take effect, and shall be put in
execution for and during the Term herein-after mentioned, for the Purpose
of more effectually repairing, widening, altering, diverting, and from
Time to Time improving and keeping in repair the R6ad from the
East End of West Taphouse Lane to the Borough of .Liskeard, and from thence to Coombe Row House ; and also the Road from the said Borough,, of Liskeard to
Crafthole, and from thence to Cremill
Passage and Torpoint, and
from Barn Street to Duloe
Church, and from Lux Street to Crathick Ford, and from Bull
Post to Treworgey Cross, and
from Barrett's Cross Gate One hundred and twenty Feet towards Coldstile,
and from the present Turnpike Road
near Looe Mills Gate One. hundred and eighty Yards
towards Looe Down, in the Counties of Cornwall and
Devon, and for making and
completing and maintaining in repair the said new Line of Road from Tresulgan Lake to Trerule Foot, now in Progress as
aforesaid; and also for making and completing and maintaining in repair the said
several other new Pieces of Road herein-before described or mentioned.
Select Committee on State of Roads 1840
Stephen Clogg of Liskeard (clerk to the trust) reported
There are near 42 miles of road thru 12 parishes – all repaired by the
trustees (there are 5¾ miles in Anthony repaired by the parish, the trustees
paying half the cost and agreeing not to erect a tollhouse there.)
14 toll gates and 6 bars
The roads are stated to be in “good” state of repair– no part under
indictment for want of repair.
Report to Secretary of State 1852
BPP (1852) No. 11..-LISKEARD ROADS.
The existing Act for
these roads (the 7th Geo. IV. cap. 84), repealed the 4th Geo. IV. cap. 52, (by
which the former Acts were repealed,) and took powers to make certain
diversions and improvements of the road therein described, and to complete the
new line of road from
The total sum
borrowed upon security of the tolls, at various periods from the year 1761 to
1833, amounted to £21,784, bearing interest at five and four per cent., but for
some years past interest has been paid upon the whole at four per cent. In the
year 1834 the arrears of interest amounted to £2,650., but the whole has since
been paid off. The toll income advanced from £1,799 in 1834 to £2.906 in 1848,
but has since been reduced to £2.482. The parish aid ceased in 1836. The income
has been applied in repairing the roads, in paying salaries, (£92 per annum,)
law charges, and interest of debt, including the arrears; large sums have also
been expended in improvements,—about £4,600 since 1834 ; and in addition, the
bonded or mortgage debt has been reduced since 1834, from £21,734. to £15,145,
by the payment of .£5,284, as a composition for debts amounting to £6,589.
The length of road
belonging to the Trust, including the branches, is about 45 miles, upon which
there are 14 toll-gates, and 6 side gates or bars, at which the full tolls granted
by the existing Act are levied, being four full tolls per day exclusive of the
half toll levied upon the new branch road between Hessenford and Treskelly,
which branch road is about 2.5 miles in length. Upon the other roads two tolls
are payable east of Liskeard, one toll west of Liskeard, and one toll upon the
roads leading out of Liskeard. All the roads of this trust are repaired at the
expense of the trust, excepting about seventy-two yards in the town of
Attention was
directed towards this Trust in February 1851 by a memorial from the officers of
the parish of St. Germans having been presented to Sir George Grey, of which
the following is a copy:—
To the Right Honourable Sir George Grey,
Baronet, Her Majesty's Secretary of
State for the Home Department.
The humble Memorial of the undersigned
officers of the parish of St. Germans,
in the
Showeth,
That the turnpike road from Liskeard to
Torpoint lies, to the extent of about four miles and a half, within the said
parish of St. Germans, which parish is about midway between Torpoint and
Liskeard aforesaid. That the .said
turnpike road, so far as the said parish of St. Germans is concerned, was
formed under an Act of Parliament obtained in the year 1826, and the Trustees
thereof threw into and appropriated without compensation to the purposes of
the said turnpike road about 500 yards of the St. Germans parish road leading
from Menheniot to the last-named parish, leaving at either end access to the
remaining portions of the said parish road, 500 yards of which had been so
thrown into and made part of the said turnpike road. That after constructing
the said piece of road the Trustees erected -seven turnpike-gates within the said parish of St.
Germans, and placed one of them within a
few feet from the spot where the piece of parish road which they had so thrown into the turnpike road adjoined
that portion of the parish. road which
they had not appropriated.
That as the result of the last-mentioned gate
being set up, the parishioners of St. Germans had to pay heavy tolls for
passing over the same 500 yards of their
own piece of road on the way from St. Germans to Menheniot, which piece of road had been simply widened
by the Trustees.
That after numerous complaints; had been made
to the said Trustees they consented to abandon this most obnoxious gate, and
upon the faith that such gate would not
be again erected, the said parish of St. Germans expended on the residue of the parish road so
leading from Menheniot to St. Germans
(of which the said 500 yards of parish road had formed part), the sum of £300
or thereabout, in addition to the ordinary expenditure on the other portions of their parish roads
amounting to £600. per annum.
That the said toll-gate having been done away
with for nearly eight years last past,
your memorialists were surprised about two months since to learn that the Trustees had (by a very small
majority at their last meeting) again
determined to erect the gate on its former site, and thereby to reimpose the
grievance which your memorialists had so justly complained of.
That the turnpike road so formed by the
Trustees is of little benefit to the
parish of St. Germans, but the burden again imposed on them by the Trustees for traversing the 500 yards of
their own piece of parish road so thrown
into the Turnpike Road amounts to 2d. on every horse, and 9d. for every horse drawing burthen, thereby yielding
to the said Trustees an income from this
source alone of £135. per annum, (this being the increase of rent which the toll collector has given in
consequence of the restoration of this
obnoxious side bar,) whereas the expenditure on these 500 yards of road by the Trustees does not certainly
amount to £10 per annum.
That the effect of this toll:bar (which in no
way interferes with the general travelling on the said turnpike road), is a
great burthen to the agriculturists; of
this neighbourhood, who send their produce to Plymouth and Devonport by way of St. Germans, and is
most disastrous to the trade at St.
Germans Quay, which consists chiefly of a traffic in coal, lime, artificial
manures, timber, slate, and lead ore, the latter of which has been raised in great quantities in the parish of
Menheniot subsequently to the removal of
the before-mentioned toll-bar.
That your memorialists feel that they have
great cause of complaint from the course
adopted by the said Trustees, who do not require the additional income thus exacted from the inhabitants of
St. Germans, for the same Trustees have within the last seven years paid off
£7,000. of their debt, and are now
appropriating about £1,000. annually for the same purpose.
That the Act of Parliament before mentioned
expired many years since; and your memorialists having in vain sought redress
at the hands of the said Trustees, have
deemed it advisable to present this memorial of complaint, so as to prevent the
renewal of the said Act, unless the said Trustees will remove the vexatious toll-bar, and allow to
the said parish of St. Germans the free
use of the said 500 yards of parish road so thrown into the Turnpike Road, your
memorialists on behalf of the said parish fully under- taking and agreeing to
keep the same 500 yards wholly or in part in repair, as may be desired.
In order to bring
the question in dispute before Parliament for revision and settlement, the
Local Act was excepted in the General Continuance Act of last session, and a
copy of the foregoing memorial was transmitted to the Trustees in August last,
with the view of affording an opportunity of effecting an amicable arrangement
with the parish of St. Germans. On the 3rd of October the Trustees intimated
that having failed in their endeavours to adjust the difference between them
and certain memorialists in the parish of
St. Germans, they would apply for a renewal of the Act. They have
subsequently stated the particulars of the intended application : that they do
not propose to levy any higher tolls, but on the contrary to relinquish the
highest of three scales of tolls allowed in the present Act; they propose to
adopt about a mile of road made a few years since by the Liskeard and Looe
Canal Company, by which a steep hill is avoided; also to retain the powers of
the existing Act to make a new road from Mount Edgcumbe to Antony Green, in
lieu of the present road.
The particulars of the
arrangements attempted to be made between the Trustees and the parish of St.
Germans are set forth in a second memorial, dated the 29th of October 1851, of
which the following is a copy :—
To the Right Honourable Sir George Grey,
Baronet, Her Majesty's Secretary of
State for the Home Department.
The humble Memorial of the undersigned
officers of the parish of St. Germans in
the
Showeth,
…Various plans were suggested for the removal
of turnpike gates from Trerule Foot to other parts of the line of road passing through St.
Germans, all which more or less involved
an expense on the Trust for the erection of new toll houses, and were abandoned as impracticable. A
proposition was then made (and which had
been alluded to at a Conner meeting of the Trustees at Liskeard) that (the
memorialists, if the toll-bar were taken away, should relieve the Trust from the repairs of two miles of turnpike
road passing through the parish of St German’s….
In the application
to Parliament it is proposed to repeal the existing Act, and to take extended
powers for the term of twenty-one years.
Clause 10 is to empower the Trustees to make a
new line of road from
The scales of tolls are similar to section 13
of the existing Act, except that the increased tolls upon any of the new
.pieces of road between Antony Green and Trerule Foot, and between Edgcumbe
Farm and Antony Green, are to .be relinquished, and .the ordinary toll taken.;
also an additional .toll of threepence is to be-placed upon-dogs drawing any
carriage, upon all the roads, except, from Hessenford to Treskelly Farm, upon
which-the .toll is: to be 1.5d.
List of Roads
Streets of Liskeard;
Lux Street to Crathick
Ford
Bull Post to Treworgey
Cross; UC road to N towards St Cleer near Treworgey Manor (about a mile))
Around Tollgate Cross junctions
Barrett’s Cross
(Barras Cross) Gate 120 ft towards Cold Stile (northern side of Liskeard)
Looe Mills gate 180
yards towards Looe Down.
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A
milestone on the Liskeard Turnpike, sited on the Road to Cremyll Ferry at
Edgcumbe in a design referred to as Edgcumbe Tombstone; this design may
post-date the turnpike Trust (based on information discovered by IT).
A
milepost at Trerulefoot on the Liskeard Turnpike, sited on the Road to Torpoint
Ferry in a design referred to as Torpoint Spear.