Chard Turnpike Trust (updated
18th Feb 2009)
This trust was created
in 1753 during the main phase of turnpiking. Its main responsibilities were (a)
the western section of the
J House
of Commons - Reports
Petition relating to Sherborne Road Act
1753 March 6th ;
Petition of the gents clergy and
freeholders residing near the town of
That petitioners are apprehensive such roads are not intended to be included; they are the general post road thru the town of Chard, but intended to be thru a village in the Parish of Chard called Perry Street and that road thru Perry Street is not more than a mile and a quarter nearer than thru Chard and that the present goodness and breadth of the road thru the town (the roads being for the most part wide enough already without purchasing any ground) and the convenience of having all materials necessary for repair immediately on the spot, would make full amends for this small difference and might put in good repair at less expense than the road through Perry Street, for which ground must be purchased for widening the road for the space of several miles and that should a turnpike be erected and the road carried thru Perry St, the petitioners apprehend the same will be attended with extreme bad consequences to petitioners of Chard and that intended road should be thru Chard being the general post road from London to Exon
f to C 6; Report and instruction to make provision 8 ;
In support of 2 allegation;
Mr Simon Bradford and George Warry said that a large market is held a Chard and that a great trade in Woollen Manufactures is carried on in and about the town and that Chard stands on the Great Post Road from London to Exeter, Plymouth and Falmouth that the Perry Street is a mile and quarter from Chard and that the soil of the said roads thru Perry Street is chiefly clay and materials for repairing road are some distance and for considerable way it is not above 7, 8 or 12 feet wide and that road thru Chard is considerably wider and may be effectually widened and repaired for £250 less than Perry Street road
For the Second allegation Mr Andrew Nappier
and John Newman were examined and said, that the roads from Ilminster to
Bill report 17 Mar passed 23 Lors 30 Royal ascent 17 Apr 5
List of Acts
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Chard |
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32 Geo2 c39 |
1759 |
1875 |
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40 Geo3 c93 |
1800 |
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To Upottery |
55 Geo3 c60 |
1815 |
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10 Geo4 |
1829 |
1860 |
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correction |
11 Geo4 |
1830 |
1860 |
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Expired |
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Chard 1800
An Act for repealing Two
Acts, one made in the Twenty-sixth Year of the Reign of King George the Second,
and the other in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, for
repairing the Road from the Halfway House, in the Parish of Lower Compton, in
the County of Dorset, through the Towns of Yeovil, Crewkerne, and Chard, to the
East End of the Town of Axminster, in the County of Devon, and several other
Roads therein mentioned; and also for repealing so much of an Act, made in the
Eighteenth Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, for repairing several
Roads leading from the Town of Taunton, in the County of Somerset, as relates
to repairing the Road from the Direction Post in Widcombe Moor, through Street
Ash Lane to Chard, and for making more effectual Provision for those Purposes;
and for altering and diverting certain Parts of the said Roads. [20th June
1800.]
Chard 1815
An Act for repealing an Act
of His present Majesty, for the Repair of several Roads in the Counties of
Somerset, Devon, and Dorset, leading to the Town of Chard, in the County of
Somerset; and for making and repairing a Road from Chard to the Honiton
Turnpike Road, in the Parish of Upottery, in the County of Devon, and for more
effectually repairing the Residue of the Roads comprized in the said Act. [25th
May 1815.]
divided into Two Districts called
" The First District" and " The Second District," which
said Second District comprises the Road
leading from Hasleborough Bridge in the County of Somerset,
through the Towns of Crewkerne and Chard, through a certain
Lane called Stoney Lane to the East End of the Town of Axminster, in the Counry of Devon, and
the Roads from the West End of the said Town of Chard, to the Honiton
Turnpike Road at Cheeseway Ash, and from Whitedown in the
County of Somerset, through Perry Street, to Tytherleigh Inn in the County of Dorset, and also the Road
from the Red Lion Corner
in Chard aforesaid, to Street
Ash Lane in the Parish of Combe Saint Nicholas, and
from hence through the several Parishes of Combe Saint Nicholas, Buckland
Saint Mary, Bickenhall, Curland, and Staple Fitzpaine, in the County
of Somerset, to the Taunton Turnpike Road at Staple Pound, in the said Parish of Staple Fitzpaine :
And whereas the Road leading from the West End
of the Town of Chard, in the County of Somerset, to the Honiton
Turnpike Road at Cheeseway Ash, in the County of Devon, being
Part of the Roads comprised in the said Second
District, is very hilly, and in some Places narrow and incommodious ;
and it would greatly facilitate and improve the
Communication between the Towns of Chard and Honiton and the
adjoining Places, and also be of public Utility, if the Course or Direction of
the said Road were diverted and made to pass through the several Parishes of Chard
and Combe Saint Nicholas in the County of Somerset, Wambrooke and Chardstock
in the County of Dorset, and Yarcombe and
Upottery in the County of Devon, to join the present Turnpike Road
leading from Honiton to llminster, at or near a certain
Place called Rawridge Hill in the said County of Devon : And
whereas it is expedient that the said recited Act, so far as it relates to the
Roads comprised in the said Second
District, should be repealed, and that Provision should be made for
amending, widening, altering, and keeping in Repair the same Roads (except that
from the Weft End of the Town of Chard aforesaid, to the Honiton Turnpike
Road at Cheeseway Ash aforesaid, from the Repairs of which it is proposed the Trustees of this Act
should be discharged) and for making, amending, widening, and keeping in
Repair a Road from the Weft End of the Town
of Chard aforesaid, through the several Parishes of Chard, Combe Saint Nicholas, Wambrooke,
Chardstock, Yarcombe, and Upottery, aforesaid, to join the present
Turnpike Road from Honiton to Ilminster, at or near Rawridge
Hill aforesaid, in lieu of the Road so intended to be discontinued :
Chard 1829
An Act for more effectually
repairing and improving several Roads which lead to and through the Town and
Borough of Chard in the County of Somerset; and for making and maintaining a
new Road from Chard to Drempton in the County of Dorset. [22d May 1829.]
Chard 1830
An Act for amending an Act
of the last Session, intituled An Act for more effectually repairing and
improving several Roads which lead to and through the Town and Borough of Chard
in the County of Somerset, and for making and maintaining a new Road from Chard
to Drempton in the County of Dorset; and for making and maintaining other Roads
communicating with the said Roads in the Counties of Somerset, Devon, and
Dorset. [29th May 1830.]
Select Committee on State
of Roads 1840
Charles Benjamin Tucker of Chard (clerk to the trust) reported
There are 43 miles 4 furl. of road through ? parishes – all repaired by
the trustees (except about a mile in Chard)
7 toll gates and 4 side bars
The roads are stated to be in “fair” repair excepting the road towards Bridport which is insufficient
width, but there is much required to be done– no part under indictment for want
of repair.
In “Return of length of road in each Turnpike
Trust in
Trust reported 43
miles 3 furl. 44 yds (similar to 1840)
List of Roads
(WV indicates road identified and mapped in
Somerset Roads – the Legacy of Turnpike, by Bentley and Murless 1985)
Road. h (about 7 miles)
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