growth of the church relatively to the population has not been
particularly startling, there can be no doubt that, since the
restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in 1851, its general
political and religious influence has enormously increased. A
notable feature in this has been the great development of monastic
institutions, due in large measure to the settlement in England of
the congregations expelled from France. The Roman Catholic
Church in England is organized in 15 dioceses, which are united
in a single province under the primacy of the archbishop of
Westminster. In December 1907 there were 1736 Roman
Catholic churches and stations, and the number of the clergy was
returned at 3524 (see Roman Catholic Church).
The Jews in Great Britain, chiefly found in London and other great towns, number (1907) about 196,000 and have some 200 synagogues; at the head of their organization is a chief Rabbi resident in London. Jews.
Finally it may be mentioned that a small number of Englishmen, chiefly resident in Liverpool and London, have embraced Islam; they have a mosque at Liverpool. Various foreign churches which have numbers of adherents settled in England have also branch churches and organizations in the country, notably the Orthodox Eastern Church,—with a considerable number of adherents in London, Liverpool and Manchester,—the Lutheran, and the Armenian churches. (W. A. P.)
VII. Communications
Roads.—In England and Wales the high-roads, or roads on which wheeled vehicles can travel, are of two classes: (1) the main roads, or great arteries along which the main vehicular traffic of the country passes; and (2) ordinary highways, which are by-roads serving only local areas. The length of the main roads is about 22,000 m., and that of ordinary highways about 96,000. The highways of England, the old coaching roads, are among the best in the world, being generally of a beautiful smoothness and well maintained; they vary, naturally, in different districts, but in many even the local roads are superior to some main roads in other countries. The supersession of the stage coach by the railway took a vast amount of traffic away from the main roads, but their proper maintenance did not materially suffer; and a larger accession of traffic took place subsequently on the development of the cycle and the motor-vehicle.
The system of road-building by private enterprise, the undertakers being rewarded by tolls levied from vehicles, persons or animals using the roads, was established in England in 1663, when an act of Charles II. authorized the taking of such tolls at “turnpikes” in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. A century later, in 1767, the authorization was extended over the whole kingdom by an act of George III. In its fulness the system lasted just sixty years, for the first breach in it was made by an act of George IV., in 1827, by which the chief turnpikes in London were abolished. Further acts followed in the same direction, leading to the gradual extinction, by due compensation of the persons interested, of the old system, the maintenance of the roads being vested in “turnpike trusts and highway boards,” empowered to levy local rates. The last turnpike trust ceased to exist on the 5th of November 1895, and the final accounts in connexion with its debt were closed in 1898–1899. Toll-gates are now met with only at certain bridges, where the right to levy tolls is statutory or by prescription. By the Local Government Act of 1888 the duty of maintaining main roads was imposed on the county councils, but these bodies were enabled to make arrangements with the respective highway authorities for their repair. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 the duties of all the highway authorities were transferred to the rural district councils on or before the 31st of March 1899.
It was not until the close of the 18th century, when the period of road-building activity already indicated set in, that English roads were redeemed from an extraordinarily bad condition. The roads were until then, as a rule, merely tracks, deeply worn by ages of traffic into the semblance of ditches, and, under adverse weather conditions, impassable. Travellers also had the risk of assault by robbers and highwaymen. As early as 1285 a law provided for the cutting down of trees and bushes on either side of highways, so as to deprive lawless men of cover. Instances of legislation as regards the upkeep of roads are recorded from time to time after this date, but (to take a single illustration) even in the middle of the 18th century the journey from the village, as it was then, of Paddington to London by stage occupied from 212 to 3 hours. But from 1784 to 1792 upwards of 300 acts were passed dealing with the construction of new roads and bridges.
Railways.—The history and development of railways in England, their birthplace, and in Ireland and Scotland, with illustrative statistics, are considered under the heading United Kingdom. The following list indicates the year of foundation, termini, chief offices and geographical sphere of the chief railways of England and Wales.
1. Railways with Termini in London.
(a) Northern.
Great Northern (1846).—Terminus and offices, King’s Cross. Main line—Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Doncaster; forming, with the North-Eastern and North British lines, the “East Coast” route to Scotland. Serving also the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottingham and other towns of the midlands, and Manchester (by running powers over the Great Central metals). This company has so extensive a system of running powers over other railways, and of lines held jointly with other companies, that few of its more important express trains from London complete their journeys entirely on the company’s own lines.
Midland (1844, an amalgamation of the former North Midland, Midland Counties, Birmingham & Derby, and other lines).—Terminus, St Pancras; offices, Derby. Main line—Bedford, Leicester, Sheffield, Leeds and Carlisle, affording the “Midland” route to Scotland. Serving also Nottingham, Derby, and the principal towns of the midlands and West Riding, and Manchester. West and North line from Bristol, Gloucester and Birmingham to Leicester and Derby. Also an Irish section, the Belfast and Northern Counties system being acquired in 1903. Docks at Heysham, Lancashire; and steamship services to Belfast, &c.
London & North-Western (1846, an amalgamation of the London & Birmingham, Grand Junction, and Manchester & Birmingham lines).—Terminus and offices, Euston. Main line—Rugby, Crewe, Warrington, Preston, Carlisle; forming, with the Caledonian system, the “West Coast” route to Scotland. Serves also Manchester, Liverpool and all parts of the north-west, North Wales, Birmingham and the neighbouring midland towns, and by joint-lines, the South Welsh coal-fields. Maintains docks at Garston on the Mersey, a steamship traffic with Dublin and Greenore from Holyhead, and, jointly with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Company, a service to Belfast, &c., from Fleetwood.
Great Central (1846; until 1897, when an extension to London was undertaken, called the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire).—Terminus, Marylebone; offices, Manchester. Main line—Rugby, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester. The former main line runs from Manchester and Sheffield east to Retford, thence serving Grimsby and Hull, with branches to Lincoln, &c. The main line reached from London by joining the line of the Metropolitan railway near Aylesbury and following it to Harrow. Subsequently an alternative route out of London was constructed between Neasden and Northolt, where it joins another line, of the Great Western railway, from Acton, and continues as a line held jointly by the two companies through Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Here it absorbs the old Great Western line as far as Prince’s Risborough, and continues thence to Grendon Underwood, effecting a junction with the original main line of the Great Central system. This line was opened for passenger traffic in April 1906. The Great Central company owns docks at Grimsby.
(b) Eastern.
Great Eastern (1862).—Terminus and offices, Liverpool Street. Serving Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk. Joint-line with Great Northern from March to Lincoln and Doncaster. Passenger steamship services from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, Antwerp, Rotterdam, &c.
London, Tilbury & Southend (1852).—Terminus and offices, Fenchurch Street. Serving places on the Essex shore of the Thames estuary, terminating at Shoeburyness.
(c) Western.
Great Western (1835, London to Bristol).—Terminus and offices, Paddington. Main line—Reading, Didcot, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance. Numerous additional main lines—Reading to Newbury, Weymouth and the west, a new line opened in 1906 between Castle Cary and Langport effecting a great reduction in mileage between London and Exeter and places beyond; Didcot, Oxford, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Chester with connexions northward, and to North Wales; Oxford to Worcester, and Swindon
