This turnpike was
created towards the very end of the turnpike era. It was responsible for a
short section of the coast road between the growing seaside towns of the
Combe Martin and
Ilfracombe |
|
1866 |
|
Expired |
|
|
1889 |
PP (1866) No. 8— COMBMARTIN AND ILFRACOMBE ROAD.
This is an application for powers to make a new turnpike road between
Combmartin and
Ilfracombe, in the
Respecting the proposed new road, -which is substantially the same as that for which powers were sought by the Barnstaple Trust in the last Session, Sir George Grey has received a communication, of which the following are extracts : —
"The present parish road between the two places is bad every way, being very steep very narrow (in some parts not 8 feet wide), and abounding with sharp turns; it is taken to an elevation of several hundred feet higher than necessary; it is not merely that there are two or three steep or narrow parts that might be improved, but it is so bad throughout that no money expended on it could make it a tolerably good road. * * *
" Ilfracombe has become a large and much frequented watering-place, and is rapidly increasing, but there are only two roads out of it that visitors and others can drive on with safety and comfort, and both these run inland, the consequence is that many visitors who come down, and bring their own horses and carriages, having only these two drives, both going away from the great attraction, the sea, after a short stay go off to other places, and Ilfracombe suffers from the absence of such a profitable class of visitors.
.
"
Ilfracombe is almost entirely supplied with fruit and vegetables from
Combemartin and the adjoining parishes, and a large quantity is taken to
Ilfracombe for shipment to Swansea, Cardiff and other places in South Wales; it
is quite painful to see the poor horses
and ponies struggling up the hills with their loads, and to know that with a good road, one horse would with ease
do what now a toilsome drag to two. The watering place of Lynton is 11 miles
east of Combmartin, between them the road is good, but persons traveling from
Ilfracombe and Lynton, instead of passing through Combmartin, and so near the
coast, are taken considerably inland and are not near the sea, after leaving
one place till reaching the other.
The preamble sets forth that the present communication between Combmartin and Ilfracombe is by means of highways, which are in many places hilly, narrow, and circuitous; and that the construction of a new road would be of great and local advantage."
Clause 4 allows six additional Trustees to be appointed, — instead of the usual number of three, — after twenty-one days notice.
Clause 5 fixes a day for the first and subsequent meetings of the Trustees, and contains regulations for the election of a chairman, — but on this subject, see 4 George IV. cap. 95. sec. 39.
Clause 7
describes the new road, about 4 miles and three quarters in length, the
steepest inclinations of which are 1 in 10.5, 1 in 11, 1 in 12.5 &c.
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Road
Classification Number |
Route |
GATE NAME |
OS Grid Ref-
Prefi |
Easting |
Northing |
District |
Civil Parish |
Location (Name or
Number) |
Road or Street
(see across) |
Position |
Evidence |
Revised 23rd Sept
2013 |
erected by
(Turnpike Trust or Authority) |
Bibliographic
refs |
A399 |
Ilfracombe to
Combe Martin |
Newberry Road |
SS |
575 |
473 |
DVND |
COMBE MARTIN |
Glenavon Lodge |
jct of Newbury
Road and Woodlands |
|
; ; ; old Picture |
Combe Martin and
Ilfracombe |
Jenkinson T.
& Taylor P. (2010), "The Toll-houses of North Devon", p.60 |
|
A399 |
Ilfracombe to
Combe Martin |
Hele |
SS |
DVND |
ILFRACOMBE |
|
E of jct with
Hillside Road |
|
; ; ; |
Combe Martin and
Ilfracombe |
|