l774

Updated: July 20, 2026

This opposition, however, did not prevent the progress of turnpike and highway legislation; and we find that, from l760 to l774, no fewer than four hundred and fifty-two Acts were passed for making and repairing highways. Nevertheless the roads of the kingdom long continued in a very unsatisfactory state, chiefly arising from the extremely imperfect manner in which they were made.

Samuel Smiles - The Life of Thomas Telford; civil engineer with an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain