ABSTRACT
An important step was taken in regard to road legislation in 1741, when an Act was passed for the preservation of the public roads in England. Before proceeding to the later history of the road legislation, it may be well to glance at the condition of the thoroughfares of the towns during the Tudor period. English road legislation arrived at another milestone when, in 1663, the first Turnpike Act was passed, entitled “An Act for repairing the highways within the Counties of Hertford, Cambridge and Huntingdon.” The history of the English road legislation seems to confirm the view that where one statute was passed, it required to be followed by one or more other statutes to amend it, to supplement it, or to aid in its execution. The portion of England which, by reason of its agricultural and industrial importance, would require the best roads, was from Yorkshire and Lancashire southward and from Staffordshire and Worcestershire eastward.
