Monument record MDR10621 - Mortimer Road Turnpike Road, Grindleford to Penistone route, High Peak and Derbyshire Dales

The Mortimer Road turnpike takes its name from Hans Winthrop Mortimer, Lord of the Manor of Bamford in the late 18th century. He believed that the toll road would develop the districts it served and yield large profits. The necessary private Act of Parliament was passed in 1771 for 'repairing and widening the road leading from Penistone Bridge through Bamford to join the turnpike road between Hope and Sheffield near Mytham Bridge (see SMR 99017) and also from Hathersage to Grindleford Bridge …'. Construction of the road appears to have been delayed, as some sections were still being built in 1775 and 1776. Trustees of the new turnpike, in addition to Mortimer, included Lord Melbourne and the Cavendish family. The trust was given the right to erect three turnpikes, with toll houses for each turnpike. However the evidence, albeit limited, seems to suggest that the turnpike failed to attract traffic and was a financial failure. The 1771 Act was renewed in 1792, after the standard 21-year period, but was not renewed in 1813. It seems likely that the trust failed financially, collapsed into bankruptcy and that the parishes through which it passed would have had to take over responsibility for the maintenance and repair of their stretches of road. Very little information is available about Mortimer Road in the 19th century. It seems that the road degenerated into stretches of parochial lanes, only being brought back to life with the advent of leisure motoring. Parts of it were by-passed when new and improved alignments were laid out. (1)