Published: 17 August 2026
A4 size 204 page paperback.
Numerous coloured illustrations.
ISBN13: 978-1-914310-09-6. Price: £20.
Beginning in the Tudor period, maintenance of the country’s roads had been the responsibility of individual parishes, but with the growth of the English economy, this led to growing problems of poor maintenance on the main roads as a result of an increase in heavy wheeled traffic. Faced with this problem, groups of local landowners, businessmen and clergy got together to form not-for-profit trusts, which were given the responsibility to repair, maintain and improve selected roads. They were granted powers by Parliament that had not been available to parishes, amongst which was the ability to levy a toll on road users.
This is the first comprehensive history of the Sherborne turnpikes. The Sherborne turnpike trust was originally formed in 1753 as a joint trust with Shaftesbury, but from 1779 was divided into two divisions, one centred on Sherborne and the other on Shaftesbury. The Sherborne trust was the largest in Dorset and maintained a road network of over fifty miles spread across north Dorset and south Somerset. Although the trust started by maintaining the medieval network of roads, over time it became responsible for the realignment of some of the roads it controlled, both around Sherborne and in south Somerset, and it played a significant role in creating the road network we have today. The Sherborne trust lasted for a period of 125 years in total, and only came to an end in October 1877.