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Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road fromLondon toAylesbury was an 18th-century Englishtoll road passing throughWatford andHemel Hempstead. The route was approximately that of the originalA41 road; theEdgware Road, through Watford,Kings Langley,Apsley, theBoxmoor area of Hemel Hempstead,Berkhamsted,Northchurch,Cow Roast andTring. Much of this part is now numbered theA4251 road. It linked in with other turnpikes to the north forming a route toBirmingham.
| Hertford and Bucks Roads Act 1762 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act for amending, widening, altering, and keeping in Repair, the Road from the South End of Sparrow's Herne on Bushey Heath, through the Market Towns of Watford, Berkhampstead Saint Peter's, and Tring, in the County of Hertford, by Pettipher's Elms, to the Turnpike Road at Walton near Aylesbury in the County of Bucks. |
| Citation | 2 Geo. 3. c. 63 |
| Territorial extent | Great Britain |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 8 April 1762 |
| Commencement | 3 November 1761[a] |
| Repealed | 23 May 1823 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Sparrows Herne (Hertfordshire) and Walton (Buckinghamshire) Road Act 1823 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Theturnpike trust was set up in 1762 by around 300 landed gentry, who obtained an act of Parliament, theHertford and Bucks Roads Act 1762 (2 Geo. 3. c. 63), to look after about 26 miles of road between Sparrows Herne near Bushey and Walton near Aylesbury. It was the turnpike's depot at Sparrows Herne which gave the road its name.
The frequent use of the route by heavy carts carrying grain to London made it notorious for its rutted and pitted state even after being made into a turnpike.
The turnpike survived the coming of therailways until 1872,[1] when it passed to the route's various parishes and highway boards to maintain and the tolls were removed.
The original turnpike gates were:
Brick toll houses for these gates were built at a cost of around £25 each. Tollkeepers were appointed and paid 10s/6d a week for which they had to man the gate day and night and from which money they had to pay for the oil for the nighttime illumination of the gates with lamps.
In 1762, the maximum rate for tolls were:
51°44′58″N0°32′03″W / 51.7495°N 0.5343°W /51.7495; -0.5343
