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 and communication between London and Dublin, Parliament passed a series of acts with the aim of improving and building roads. The 1815 Act provided for the establishment of a commission to oversee the improvement of the Holyhead Road, which appointed Thomas Telford as engineer. The north Wales section of this road was in particular need of reconstruction necessitating the organisation of local workers and equipment.

It was decided, as work was being undertaken in 1819, to transfer authority for maintaining the road between Shrewsbury and Holyhead from the Turnpike Trusts to the Parliamentary Turnpike Commission. In 1823 the commission that had been set up in 1815 merged with a larger commission with a wider range of responsibilities which lasted until 1833 when its powers were transferred to the Department of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues. The Parliamentary Turnpike Commission was merged with 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.