Shrewsbury and Holyhead Road Correspondence

Correspondence and papers relating to the letting of the tolls of Anglesey and Caernarfonshire gates on the Shrewsbury and Holyhead Road.

Between 1815 and 1830, under pressure to improve transport andcommunication between London and Dublin, Parliament passed aseries of acts with the aim of improving and building roads. The1815 Act provided for the establishment of a commission to overseethe improvement of the Holyhead Road, which appointed ThomasTelford as engineer. The north Wales section of this road was inparticular need of reconstruction necessitating the organisation oflocal workers and equipment.

It was decided, as work was being undertaken in 1819, to transferauthority for maintaining the road between Shrewsbury andHolyhead from the Turnpike Trusts to the Parliamentary TurnpikeCommission. In 1823 the commission that had been set up in 1815merged with a larger commission with a wider range ofresponsibilities which lasted until 1833 when its powers weretransferred to the Department of Woods, Forests and LandRevenues. The Parliamentary Turnpike Commission was mergedwith the Department in 1840.

Incorporated into the General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts

Open to all users.

Description compiled by Elen Wyn Hughes, February 2003.

A typescript catalogue is available at the Archives Department of the University of Wales Bangor. Reference number : General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts 24526

Usual copyright conditions apply. Reprographics are made at the discretion of the Archivist.

The Holyhead Road Labour Accounts are also held at the Archives Department. A collection level description is available on the Archives Hub.