Context 152 - November 2017

C O N T E X T 1 5 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 11 Floorscape While roads were far from perfect, a range of improve- ments reduced the effort required from horses (from the 13th century horses, not oxen, were used for haulage in most parts of England), and hence expenditure on horse-feed. Ditches were dug alongside roads to improve drainage; many complaints related to the failure to clear them. On floodplains causeways were raised at considerable cost; at Abingdon 300 men were at work digging ditches and constructing the causeway in the summer of 1416. At Swarkestone a mile-long causeway survives, pierced by medieval arches. Stones, sand, gravel and clay were applied to road surfaces. Money for the repair of the road from Smithfield to Highgate was to be spent on wood and sand. Large amounts were spent: in 1427 Sir Gerard Braybroke left £100 (a labourer earned 3–4d a day) for repairing ‘foule wayes’. He also paid for the construction of Barford Bridge, one of a dense network of bridges which demonstrates the sophistication of the medieval road system. Particular attention was paid to roads near important buildings. For £133 the master mason, John Lewyn, agreed to renew defective roads near Brancepeth where he was rebuilding the castle. New challenges arose in the 16th century, as coach travel began for the first time to be fashionable for men as well as women, and as heavier wagons came into use, replacing carts. The turnpike trusts beginning in the 17th century continued to use existing methods. At first they achieved little, but by 1750 impressive progress was being made through more consistent application of old technology and the reduction in gradients. Better roads meant that springs could be used in coaches and travel became much quicker.The benefits for freight were taken in reduced costs rather than shorter times. Outside towns, roads were improved for transport and economic reasons. Inside, civic pride and environmental health were more important factors, as paving facilitated cleaning. Roads in Anglo-Saxon towns were metalled and by the 12th century they were paved. From the 13th century, tolls were collected on travellers to pay for paving. Professional paviors were employed in many cities: in 1315 the Corporation of London retained six master paviors, and by 1479 they had formed a guild. There is some evidence, both documentary and archaeological, of the wide range of local materials used. The bridge accounts reveal that Rochester Bridge was paved with ragstone; excavations revealed a cobbled street at Chester; and at NewWinchelsea a rare example of medieval paving survives under the Pipewell Gate, consisting of Tilgate stone set on edge. As at Chester, for centuries many streets had a drain down the middle. Pedestrians could be protected by bollards, as many 18th-century images show. But by that date stone slab paving was being constructed, creating extensive level paved areas for pedestrians, adding dignity and refinement to a town, and greatly facilitating promenading in fashionable clothes. In Bath, large- format Pennant stone paving slabs were introduced. In London,York paving stones were common; leases signed in the 1770s for houses in Bedford Square specified that a footway was to be formed with ‘Yorkshire paving’ and the carriageway paved with ‘Scotch Granite or Square Jersey Pebbles’ (setts). Roadways in such towns often consisted of setts until macadam became widely used in the 19th century. From the middle ages to the 19th century, disease was thought to be transmitted through the air by miasmas. Hence street cleaning was seen as vital, and paving assumed a key role in the public health movement. In the 21st century the health challenges are very different: obesity and appalling air quality mean that we need to encourage people out of their cars to walk and cycle. An attractive, high-quality public realm is of great importance if people are to lead healthier, more active lifestyles. It is as much the design and layout of paving as the Granite setts at the carriage entrance to Nottingham station River cobbles at Merton Street, Oxford