58-549: The Great North Road was the main highway between England and Scotland from medieval times until the 20th century. It became a coaching route used by mail coaches travelling between London , York and Edinburgh . The modern A1 mainly parallels the route of the Great North Road. Coaching inns, many of which survive, were staging posts providing accommodation, stabling for horses and replacement mounts. Nowadays virtually no surviving coaching inns can be seen while driving on
116-476: A palaeochannel using a latticework of logs and a mat of branchwood. There are only a handful of examples of such engineering work in Roman road construction. The archaeologists found that the wood used was locally sourced from the then depleted forests. Excavations in 2007 by AOC Archaeology at Newbridge , Edinburgh, discovered a section of the road, providing solid evidence for the road's location in that area, which
174-482: A day in winter on horseback and between thirty-six and forty in summer was what a man could do." Tough, vigorous men could walk from Darlington to York, and it was said that the quality of a horse could make the difference between a possible thirty and fifty miles per day. A wish to hear mass or the organisation of a train by the rich could shorten the travelling day to twenty miles. Roads were described as so muddy and difficult between November and February that to finish
232-558: A further passenger was allowed outside, sitting at the front next to the driver, and eventually a second row of seating was added behind him to allow two further passengers to sit outside. Travel could be uncomfortable as the coaches travelled on poor roads and passengers were obliged to dismount from the carriage when going up steep hills to spare the horses (as Charles Dickens describes at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities ). The coaches averaged 7 to 8 mph (11–13 km/h) in summer and about 5 mph (8 km/h) in winter but by
290-471: A long straight section of the Great North Road near Stretton, Rutland , was reputed to be another haunt of Dick Turpin. It was later renamed the Ram Jam Inn after a story from the coaching days. A coach passenger undertook to show the landlady the secret of drawing both mild and bitter beer from the same barrel. Two holes were made and she was left with one thumb rammed against one and the other jammed into
348-431: A mile more expensive than by private stage coach, but the coach was faster and, in general, less crowded and cleaner. Crowding was a common problem with private stage coaches, which led to their overturning; the limits on numbers of passengers and luggage prevented this occurring on the mail coaches. Travel on the mail coach was nearly always at night; as the roads were less busy the coach could make better speed. The guard
406-571: A mile to the west of what is now the town of Stamford . The Great North Road passed through the centre of Stamford, with two very sharp bends, re-joined the alignment of Ermine Street just before Great Casterton and continued as far as Colsterworth (at the A151 junction). Inns on this section included the George at Stamford and the Bell Inn at Stilton , the original sellers of Stilton cheese . At Colsterworth
464-439: A monopoly on the supply of coaches, and a virtual monopoly on their upkeep and servicing. The mail coaches continued unchallenged until the 1830s but the development of railways spelt the end for the service. The first rail delivery between Liverpool and Manchester took place on 11 November 1830. By the early 1840s other rail lines had been constructed and many London-based mail coaches were starting to be withdrawn from service;
522-495: Is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail . In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office -approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. Mail was held in a box at the rear where the only Royal Mail employee, an armed guard, stood. Passengers were taken at a premium fare. There was seating for four passengers inside and more outside with
580-514: Is dropped off to go walking. His chauffeur, keen to get home for a date with the maid, is killed near Retford . In Cassandra Clare 's Clockwork Princess , the third volume of The Infernal Devices trilogy, Will Herondale takes the road after leaving London on his way to Wales to find Tessa Gray. The road also features in The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells , as the protagonists' brother tries to cross
638-584: Is sometimes referenced as "Watling Street", a name that appears on the 1885-1900 edition of the Ordnance Survey map for the village of Oxnam . A small section of the old A68 route north in Corbridge is called Watling Street. It should not, however, be confused with the traditional route between Canterbury and Wroxeter in the south nor with the Carlisle route to its west. Dere Street roughly corresponds to
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#1732868745968696-590: The Antonine Itinerary 's 1st British route as far as Hadrian's Wall, although it began further south than York: The road served to allow supplies and troops such as the legion garrisoned in York quick access to the eastern borderlands and, later, the eastern posts on Hadrian's Wall . The Itinerary's 2nd and 5th British routes, which split off to reach the western territories, share the route between Eboracum and Cataractonium. Forts were built along Dere Street to protect
754-733: The River Tees , and the A68 north of Corbridge in Northumberland . The Roman name for the route is lost. Its English name corresponds with the post-Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira , through which the first part of its route lies. That kingdom possibly took its name from the Yorkshire River Derwent . The term "street" derives from its Old English sense (from Latin : via strata ), which referred to any paved road and had no particular association with urban thoroughfares. Portions of
812-460: The Stanegate road which runs parallel to Hadrian's Wall . Stanegate and Dere Street were originally the same width (roughly 7.7 m or 25 ft) but the depth of metalling on Stanegate—72 cm (28 in) against Dere Street's 30 cm (12 in)—argues for a greater frequency of resurfacing and for greater or heavier traffic. Crossing at Corbridge, the route passed through Portgate on
870-575: The Wear near present-day Bishop Auckland . At this point, the fort Vinovia guarded a branch road that turned off to the right heading for Durham , Chester-le-Street , and Newcastle . There, the Pons Aelius crossed the River Tyne . Dere Street, meanwhile, travels onward past Lanchester and Ebchester , the sites of the former forts of Longovicium and Vindomora . At Coria (modern Corbridge ), it met
928-451: The postmaster would remove the letters for the local area before handing the remaining letters and any additions to the next rider. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. John Palmer , a theatre owner from Bath , believed that the coach service he had previously run for transporting actors and materials between theatres could be used for a countrywide mail delivery service, so in 1782, he suggested to
986-549: The A1, because the modern route bypasses the towns in which the inns are found. The traditional start point for the Great North Road was Smithfield Market on the edge of the City of London . The initial stretch of the road was St John Street which begins on the boundary of the city (the site of the former West Smithfield Bars ), and runs through north London . Less than a hundred metres up St John Street, into Clerkenwell , stood Hicks Hall ,
1044-623: The Great North Road diverges west of the Roman road and continues through Grantham , Newark , Retford and Bawtry to Doncaster . North of Doncaster the Great North Road again follows a short section of Ermine Street, the Roman Rigg or Roman Ridge . Further north the Great North Road crossed the Roman Dere Street near Boroughbridge from where it continued via Dishforth and Topcliffe to Northallerton and then through Darlington , Durham and Newcastle , on to Edinburgh. A road forked to
1102-636: The Great North Road joined the Old North Road, an older route which followed the Roman Ermine Street . Here a milestone records mileages to London via both routes: 65 by the Old North Road and 68 by the Great North Road. From Alconbury the Great North Road follows the line of Ermine Street north, through Stilton , and crossed the River Nene at Wansford . Ermine Street crossed the River Welland about
1160-483: The Great North Road somewhere near Barnet through a frenzied exodus of refugees from London, driven north by the approach of Martians from the south. In the oft-quoted first part of his essay England Your England , writer George Orwell refers to the "to-and-fro of the lorries on the Great North Road" as being a characteristic fragment of English life. The road is mentioned in Mark Knopfler 's song, "5:15 AM", from
1218-672: The Lammermuirs over Soutra Hill and on to Edinburgh , where Din Eidyn was a stronghold for the British Votadini tribe . Nearby, the Romans held garrisons at Cramond and Inveresk at the eastern end of the Antonine Wall . In 1994, construction of a garage at Cliffe exposed a section of the Roman road, and pottery and tile from the period were also found. Raymond Selkirk suggested that
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#17328687459681276-633: The Post Office in London that they take up the idea. He met resistance from officials who believed that the existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer , William Pitt , allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours. The coach, funded by Palmer, left Bristol at 4 pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. Impressed by
1334-557: The Wall and passed into lands only tenuously claimed by Rome. The route passes north into Redesdale and thence into the Cheviot Hills , where there are the remains of marching forts at Fourlaws, West Woodburn ( Habitancum ), Rochester ( Bremenium ), and at Chew Green . Brementium was the last stop listed for Antonine Itinerary , but the Roman road's remains now lead further, past the present Anglo-Scottish border at Carter Fell near
1392-610: The album Shangri La . The High Road mentioned in Loch Lomond is also a reference to it. The song "Heading South on the Great North Road" on Sting 's 2016 album 57th & 9th refers to the Great North Road in paying tribute to artists from the North East who found success in London. The character of Lord Grantham references the Great Northern Road in the television series Downton Abbey . Mail coaches A mail coach
1450-592: The building was demolished in 1782. The Great North Road followed St John Street to the junction at the Angel Inn where the local road name changes from St John Street to Islington High Street . When the General Post Office at St Martin's-le-Grand , in the historic Aldersgate ward, was built in 1829, coaches started using an alternative route, now the modern A1 road, beginning at the Post Office and following Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road before joining
1508-659: The compiler of the Antonine Itineraries or constructed after his time. The route begins at York and crosses the River Ure near Aldborough close to Boroughbridge . It crosses the Swale near Catterick . (The ruins of Cataractonium lie just north of Catterick at Scotch Corner .) The A66 road preserves the route of the Roman-era Watling Street , branching off here to cross Stainmore to Penrith and Carlisle at
1566-539: The driver. The guard's seat could not be shared. This distribution system began in Britain in 1784. In Ireland the same service began in 1789, and in Australia it began in 1828. A mail coach service ran to an exact and demanding schedule. Aside from quick changes of horses the coach only stopped for collection and delivery of mail and never for the comfort of the passengers. To avoid a steep fine turnpike gates had to be open by
1624-399: The final service from London (to Norwich) was shut down in 1846. Regional mail coaches continued into the 1850s, but these too were eventually replaced by rail services. The mail coaches were originally designed for a driver, seated outside, and up to four passengers inside. The guard (the only Post Office employee on the coach) travelled on the outside at the rear next to the mail box. Later
1682-461: The first purpose-built sessions house for the Middlesex justices of the peace. The Hall was built in 1612, on an island site in the middle of St John Street (where St John's Lane branches to the west); this building was used as the initial datum point for mileages on the Great North Road (despite not being located at the very start of the road). Its site continued to be used for this purpose even after
1740-567: The gateway to such 'exotic' destinations as Nottingham . The Lord Peter Wimsey short story "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" by Dorothy L. Sayers features a motorcycle chase along it. Similarly, Ruined City by Nevil Shute features an all night drive from Henry Warren's house in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, along the road as far as Rowley and then to Greenhead near Hadrian's Wall, where Warren
1798-430: The journey by daylight one could barely stop to eat; however a "royal highway" or alta via regia strata was passable in winter between York and Durham, and this could have been Dere Street. Heavy packhorse loads were taken on the route, for example 20 stone (130 kg) of wool. Clerics, traders and the nobility were more likely to travel than others, and some people rarely travelled at all. Travelling in style involved
Great North Road (Great Britain) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1856-725: The later decades of the 19th century, operating over thousands of miles of eastern Australia. In 1870s Cobb & Co's Royal Mail coaches were operating some 6000 horses per day, and travelling 28,000 miles weekly carrying mail, gold, and general parcels. Some Concord stagecoaches were imported from the United States made in New Hampshire by the Abbot-Downing Company . This design was a 'thorough-brace' or 'jack' style coach characterised by an elegant curved lightweight body suspended on two large leather straps, which helped to isolate
1914-537: The left at the bridge in Boroughbridge to follow Dere Street, and Scotch Corner to Penrith and on to Glasgow. Part of this route was the original A1, with a local road from Scotch Corner via Barton to Darlington making the link back to the old Great North Road. In the first era of stage coaches York was the terminus of the Great North Road. Along the route, Doncaster– Selby –York was superseded by Doncaster– Ferrybridge –Wetherby–Boroughbridge–Northallerton–Darlington,
1972-653: The mail coach met the trains and carried the mail to more remote towns and villages. In 1863 contracts were awarded to the coaching company Cobb & Co to transport Royal Mail services within New South Wales and Victoria . These contracts and later others in Queensland continued until 1924 when the last service operated in western Queensland. The lucrative mail contracts helped Cobb & Co grow and become an efficient and vast network of coach services in eastern Australia. Royal Mail coach services reached their peak in
2030-725: The many pilgrims using it. After the destruction of the Border Abbeys during the " Rough Wooing " of Mary, Queen of Scots , by the Earl of Hertford 's forces and during the Reformation of the Scottish Church , the route fell into disuse and disrepair. It was used mainly for driving livestock and occasional travellers daring enough to venture into the lawless border region. Dere Street continued in use between Durham and York in medieval times. Being limited by daylight, "about thirty miles in
2088-450: The mid-19th century, most of the mail coaches in Ireland were eventually out-competed by Charles Bianconi 's country-wide network of open carriages, before this system in turn succumbed to the railways. Australia's first mail coach was established in 1828 and was crucial in connecting the remote settlements being established to the larger centres. The first mail contracts were issued and mail
2146-555: The mid-nineteenth century coach services could not compete with the new railways. The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847. The highwayman Dick Turpin 's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns along the route claim Turpin ate a meal or stopped for respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth , in his 1834 romance Rookwood , immortalised
2204-678: The milestone at Ingliston and the temporary camps at Gogar had intimated. During the High Middle Ages , the section of the route between Jedburgh and Edinburgh was known as the Royal Way ( Latin : Via Regia ). It connected the larger part of Scotland with the important ecclesiastic sites of the Scottish Borders. King Malcolm IV established his Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity halfway along this section to provide succour for
2262-432: The more direct way to Edinburgh, the final destination. The first recorded stage coach operating from London to York was in 1658 taking four days. Faster mail coaches began using the route in 1786, stimulating a quicker service from the other passenger coaches. In the "Golden Age of Coaching", between 1815 and 1835, coaches could travel from London to York in 20 hours, and from London to Edinburgh in 45 1 ⁄ 2 hours. In
2320-574: The north, Kilkenny to the south and Athlone to the west as early as 1737 and for a short period from 1740, a Dublin to Belfast stage coach existed. In winter, this last route took three days, with overnight stops at Drogheda and Newry ; in summer, travel time was reduced to two days. In 1789, mail coaches began a scheduled service from Dublin to Belfast. They met the mail boats coming from Portpatrick in Scotland at Donaghadee , in County Down . By
2378-545: The old route close to the Angel. The Angel Inn itself was an important staging post. From Highgate the original route is bypassed and is now called the A1000 road through Barnet to Hatfield . From there it largely followed the course of the current B197 road through Stevenage to Baldock . Roughly taking the route of the A1, the next stages were Biggleswade and Alconbury , again replete with traditional coaching inns. At Alconbury,
Great North Road (Great Britain) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2436-479: The other; the trickster then made off. In literature Jeanie Deans of Sir Walter Scott 's novel The Heart of Midlothian travels through several communities on the Great North Road on her way to London. The road features in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens . Part of the J. B. Priestley novel The Good Companions mentions the road, which represented to protagonist Jess Oakroyd (a Yorkshireman)
2494-454: The passengers and driver from the jolts and bumps of the rough unmade country roads. Soon Australian coach builders using many of the Concord design features customised the design for Australian conditions. Dere Street Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum ( York ), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge ( Hadrian's Wall
2552-554: The present A68 road . Nearby, there are the remains of a camp at Pennymuir . Further on, well-preserved sections of the road form part of St Cuthbert's Way to Trimontium near Melrose . There, the route crosses the Tweed and follows the Leader Water to the foot of the Lammermuirs , where there is evidence of Roman forts near Oxton . Another well-preserved section rises through
2610-429: The ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming that the ride was by John Nevison , "Swift Nick", a highwayman in the time of Charles II, 50 years before Turpin who was born and raised at Wortley near Sheffield. It is claimed that Nevison, in order to establish an alibi, rode from Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent , to York (some 190 miles (310 km)) in 15 hours. The Winchelsea Arms , an inn on
2668-423: The road in Scotland were later known as St Cuthbert's Way and as the Royal Way ( Medieval Latin : Via Regia ). The Antonine Itinerary 's 2nd British route (called Watling Street ) shared Dere Street's trunk road between Eboracum and Cataractonium ( Catterick ) before branching off to the northwest to communicate with Luguvalium ( Carlisle ). Owing to this, some stretches or the entirety of Dere Street
2726-474: The route. It crossed Hadrian's Wall through a large fortified gateway later called the "Portgate" which was still visible a few hundred years ago. Margary notes that the last entry of the Itinerary, 25 (XXV) Roman miles , is probably in error and should be emended to 15 (XV) Roman miles . The modern route omits the now-lost road south of York but continues farther north along Roman roads either omitted by
2784-507: The ruins on the south side of the Tees at Cliffe are the remains of a dam ; the archaeological television programme Time Team investigated this in 2009. Excavations in 2007 by CFA Archaeology at Dun Law , in advance of the construction of a wind farm access road, uncovered a section of the Dere Street Roman road there. The excavations revealed that this section of the road was laid over
2842-448: The schedule was met, the latter to alert the post house to the imminent arrival of the coach and warn tollgate keepers to open the gate (mail coaches were exempt from stopping and paying tolls: a fine was payable if the coach was forced to stop). Since the coaches had right of way on the roads the horn was also used to advise other road users of their approach. A twice-weekly stage coach service operated between Dublin and Drogheda to
2900-411: The time of Queen Victoria the roads had improved enough to allow speeds of up to 10 mph (16 km/h). Fresh horses were supplied every 10 to 15 miles (16–24 km). Stops to collect mail were short and sometimes there would be no stops at all with the guard throwing the mail off the coach and snatching the new deliveries from the postmaster. The cost of travelling by mail coach was about 1 d .
2958-441: The time the mail coach with its right of free passage passed through. The gatekeeper was warned by the sound of the posthorn. Mail coaches were slowly phased out during the 1840s and 1850s, their role eventually replaced by trains as the railway network expanded. The postal delivery service in Britain had existed in the same form for about 150 years – from its introduction in 1635, mounted carriers had ridden between "posts" where
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#17328687459683016-439: The trial run, Pitt authorised the creation of new routes. By the end of 1785 there were services from London to Norwich, Liverpool, Leeds, Dover, Portsmouth, Poole, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Holyhead and Carlisle. A service to Edinburgh was added the next year and Palmer was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office. Initially the coach, horses and driver were all supplied by contractors. There
3074-479: The western end of Hadrian's Wall . Dere Street crossed the River Tees over a stone arch bridge near the present-day Piercebridge Roman Fort ruins. Such bridges were rare in Roman Britain except for here in the far north. The original bridge was replaced by one on a different alignment. There is evidence of other minor realignments of Dere Street over the Roman period. The next river crossing occurred over
3132-557: Was crossed at the Portgate , just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is now Scotland , later at least as far as the Antonine Wall . It was the Romans' major route for communications and supplies to the north and to Scotland. Portions of its route are still followed by modern roads, including the A1(M) (south of the River Tees ), the B6275 road through Piercebridge , where Dere Street crosses
3190-411: Was heavily armed with a blunderbuss and two pistols and dressed in the Post Office livery of maroon and gold. The mail coaches were thus well defended against highwaymen , and accounts of robberies often confuse them with private stage coaches, though robberies did occur. To prevent corruption and ensure good performance, the guards were paid handsomely and supplied with a generous pension. The mail
3248-439: Was strong competition for the contracts as they provided a fixed regular income on top of which the companies could charge fares for the passengers. By the beginning of the 19th century the Post Office had their own fleet of coaches with black and maroon livery. The early coaches were poorly built, but in 1787 the Post Office adopted John Besant's improved and patented design, after which Besant, with his partner John Vidler, enjoyed
3306-412: Was their sole charge, meaning that they had to deliver it on foot if a problem arose with the coach and, unlike the driver, they remained with the coach for the whole journey; occasionally guards froze to death from hypothermia in their exposed position outside the coach during the harsh winters (see River Thames frost fairs ). The guard was supplied with a timepiece and a posthorn , the former to ensure
3364-504: Was transported by coach or on horseback from Sydney to the first seven country post offices – Penrith , Parramatta , Liverpool , Windsor , Campbelltown , Newcastle and Bathurst . The Sydney to Melbourne overland packhorse mail service was commenced in 1837. From 1855 the Sydney to Melbourne overland mail coach was supplanted by coastal steamer ship and rail. The rail network became the distributor of mail to larger regional centres there
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