Durham E-Theses The construction of the military road from Newcastle to Carlisle 1751 - 1758 Lawson, William How to cite: Lawson, William (1971) The construction of the military road from Newcastle to Carlisle 1751 - 1758, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9544/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE CONSTRUCTION ,OF TIE MILITARY ROAD FROM NEWCASTLE TO CARLISLE 1751 - 1758. William Law3on M.A« M.Litt Thesis 197'lo CONTENTS Page Preface I Abbreviations Foot of XV Acknowledgements XVI Northumberland 1751 1 Northumberland 1752 19 Northumberland 1753 32 Northumberland 1754-5 3? Northumberland 1756-7-8 67 Cumberland 1751 77 Cumberland 1752 83 Cumberland 1753 93 Cumberland 1754 97 Cumberland 1755 103 Cumberland 1756 108 Cumberland 1757 116 Cumberland 1758-9 120 Tollhouses and Tolls on the Military Road 125 Cost of the Military Road 132 Contemporary Scene in Northumberland and Cumberland 136 Appendices I 159 II 162 III 166 Ilia 169 IV 170 V 173 VI 176 VII 179 VIII 181 IX 185 X 191 XI 194: XII 195 Xlla 198 XIII 200 XIV 201 XT 204 XVI 210 XVII 216 XVIII 221 XIX. 225 XX 228 XXI 230 Douglas Papers 232 ff. MPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC. Overprint from Archaeologia Aeliana, 19660 Wallet. Military Road in Northumberland, Armstrong, Y{69, 4 sectionso Wallet. Principal Undertakers employed on Road. Before page 10 Section of Benwell Mil. 4. Bridges over Newburn and Denton Denes, 8. Old Roman Wall or Street Benwell area. 14. Shafto's Plan of Condercum, 16. The Military Road in Cumberland, Hbdskinson, 1774* 77. Brunton Gate Tollhouse. 126. Bradley Gate Tollhouse. 127. Lovf Crosby Tollhouse. 128. Contemporaries of the Military Road, Smith,. 1804« 137 o I PREFACE An earlier thesis? submitted in 1966 for the degree of M.A. confined itself, in the main, to the origin and planning of the Military Road between Newcastle and Carlisle whereas the present study is basically concerned with the year by year progress of construction from 1751 to 1758* As was indicated on the previous occasion, knowledge about this road appeared, at first appraisal, to be slight. Wade was commonly accepted as the originator and, according to an article entitled "Marshal Wade's Road" in Newcastle Monthly Chronicle in June 1889 by William Brockie, had himself made a survey of the line in 1749 &nd, with his soldiers, had undertaken the construction, beginning in July 1751* For thirty miles out of Newcastle he had overthrown what then remained of the old Roman Wall to construct an "agger" and culverts, only deviating as he approached St. Oswald's to take advantage of the bridge at Chollerford. Since there is now abundant proof that construction did begin in 1751 whereas the Marshal died in 1748, Brockie's account is seen to be largely fictitous, and while he may not have been responsible for the origin of the Wade myth, he no doubt helped to perpetuate it. Apart from isolated references in the correspondence of Stukeley and his friends, authoritative information seemed to depend upon four main sources of which the first was an article entitled "The Military Road in Cumberland" by T. H.Hodgson in 1. Of which a summary in the form of an overprint from A.A., 1966, may be found in the front cover. II the Cumberland and Westmorland Transactions, 1902* This summarised sections of an Act of 24 George II (1751) designated "An Act for laying out, making and keeping in repair, a Road proper for the Passage of Troops and Carriages from the City of Carlisle to the Town of Newcastle upon Tyne." It proved to be an ideal starting point for it was a simple matter to procure a copy of the Act and to follow its progress as a bill in Vol*26 of the Journals of the House of Commons. From the latter source, the form of the petition* relative to the road was obtained and, though the document* itself has not come to light, the search produced, from the Library of the House of Lords :- (1) The Northumberland Commissioners*' accounts for:- (a) 1751, 9th August - 2nd November (t>) 1753» 20th January - 10th November (c) 1756, 3rd February - 50th October (d) 17571 27th November »56 - 3rd Dec. «57. (2) The agreement between the Commissioners and Christopher Lightfoot and Partners on the making of the road in Northumberland and the adjustment of the gradient of Benwell Hill; also a sectional drawing* (3) An agreement between the Commissioners and Thomas Layburn and Partner for the building of bridges over Newburn and Denton Denes, and the plans for the same* (4) Copies of most of the Orders of the Cumberland Commissioners 1* See page 192-3 of overprint. 2. Having probably perished in H. of Comms. fire, 1834. Ill from 1751 (24th June) to 1759* The originals, however, as far as 1791 and from 1855 - 77 8Lre deposited at -the Cumberland County Record Office, Carlisle* We therefore have the complete record for the period under review, i.e. 1751 - 58. (5) Copies of the Cumberland Accounts as supplied to Parliament for the relevant period with the exception of 1753 and almost half of 1754. (6) Articles of Agreement between the Cumberland Commissioners and:- (a) John Byers and Partners on the making of the initial sector of the road beginning at Stanwix, (b) Wm. Lowden and Partners on the building of the Irthing Bridge, and (c) Other contractors mainly with regard to bridges. The relevance of this material to the present thesis will be readily apparent and copies of most agreements and balance sheets appear as appendices^ though not commissioners' orders,' firstly by reason of their bulk, and, secondly, because they will eventually become available for general inspection. Other documents, of which use has been made as original sources, have been a solicitor's bill (almost certainly Edward Bigge's) for his services to Ponteland Turnpike Trust and regarded as typical, a petition from certain inhabitants of Cockermouth to a Cumberland M.P., Sir James Lowther, and his reply. IV A second article pertaining to the road had appeared in Archaeologia Aeliaria in 1937 and was entitled "The Original•Survey for the Newcastle - Carlisle Military Road - c»1746n by Lieut.Col. G.R.B, Spain describing how Mr. Guy Allgood of Nun wick had found there an oak box which had been addressed to his ancestor, Lancelot Allgood, and which contained a hand-drawn map entitled "A Survey of the Country between Newcastle and Carlisle Representing the several present Roads and the Tract which it is proposed for the new intended Road of Communication between these Towns " This map was presumed by Sir Geo. Macdonald^'to have been the original from which an engraving had been made by Nathaniel Hill and found in the British Museum. The purpose of Hill's work had probably been to provide copies of the original for the use of members of Parliament during their deliberations on the new road across the north of the kingdom. Who the surveyor had been was quickly revealed when, at the suggestion of a P.R.O. official, the present writer examined two unindexed volumes of the Minutes of the Surveyor-General for 1749-51 and discovered the original commission to a military engineer, Dugald Cam pbelf; to make an exact survey of the present road betwixt Newcastle and Carlisle and to Hugh Debbeig to assist him. Other entries made it clear that the two engineers undertook the work in July, August and September of 1749 and that Campbell had also presented a report'* 1. A.A.4.X.1933* A second copy of the map was found to be in possession of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries. 2. See pp.194-5 of overprint, inner cover. 5* which has not been traced. V on the roads in the area already in existence and indicated what the line of the new road should be* The estimated cost of road and bridges was £22,450. A third article amounted to little more than a brief record in Proceedings of the Soc. of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne 1923-24*" of remarks made by Mr. Parker Brewis in refuting Brockie's assertions referred to above,and the fourth article, also in these Proceedings, * .was entitled "The Last Days of the Old Roman Wall at Rudchester" by H. L. Honeyman and was based on four extracts from Denton Estate letter books. They cover such matters as the road's progress, decisions to continue it on top of the Wall, compensation, and the like. By reason of their importance they are reproduced either in full or in part in the section entitled "Northumberland 1752". Use has also been made of the mid-eighteenth century local press in both theses. All in all, the earlier study might claim to have followed the history of the Military Road through what is now termed "the planning stage", i.e.