What's a turnpike trust

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A.� A group of people who looked after roads within a certain area, and then charged people to used them.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Why

A.� As road use increased in the 17th and 18th Centuries, the condition of the roads decreased. This was rectified by a series of acts in the 18th Century - 1,007 of them to be precise - to improve the road system. They were, in effect, an early form of road tax.

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Q.� Who became responsible

A.� Usually the parish. Turnpikes - or tollgates - were set up to stop road-users in their tracks and demand a payment in proportion to the wear.

Turnpike trusts were formed to administer the work. They were empowered by Parliament to raise loans for road repairs, build tollhouses, put up gates and milestones.

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Q.� Who were trust members

A.� Each trust comprised a local solicitor as clerk, a treasurer and a surveyor. Many of the landowners through whose land the road passed were also members.

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Q.� Did roads improve

A.� Usually. Many complaints were still made about the state of the surfaces and much depended on the honesty of the trustees - but the state of the roads generally improved.

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Q.� So there was a tollgate on most roads

A.� No. Some businessmen - and parishes - felt that a toll road could be� money-making enterprise - so only the busiest thoroughfares were turnpiked; that accounted for only about 20% or the roads. In many places the roads created or developed by trusts became Britain's A roads.

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Q.� How much did they charge

A.� Tolls were originally based on the size of a vehicle, the number of horses drawing it, or the number of animals. However, it soon became clear that the size of vehicle was not the main factor in damaging road surfaces. It was agreed that the weight of the vehicle was more important and tolls were charged accordingly. In some places, weighing machines - weighbridges - were built nearby. Daniel Defoe, writing in the early 18th Century, mentions some of the fees: 'A horse a penny, a coach three pence, a cart four pence, at some six to eight pence, a wagon six pence, in some a shilling. Cattle pay by the score, or by the herd, in some places more.'

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Q.� And what happened to these trusts

A.� Many were amalgamated into bigger trusts - some as a business venture, some for financial necessity. Finally, the responsibility for highway maintenance passed to the parishes' highway boards and ultimately to district and county councils under the Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894. To this day, you can often see a Tollgate House or Turnpike Cottage on main roads.

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Q.� And that was the end of the toll system

A.� No - some still exist. A few bridges dotted around the country charge small fees for crossing. And the mighty Dartford Crossing of the Thames - two tunnels and a vast bridge - will cost you �1 each way.

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Steve Cunningham