Highways and Byways. — Synopsis of a Lecture. 



By Mr. Lawrence W. Chubb, Secretary of the Commons and Foot- 

 paths Preservation Society. — Given Nove))iber 10th, 1921. 



A highway is a strip of land over which every subject of the 

 King is entitled to pass. Highways are of different kinds, those 

 most frequently occurring being : — - 



(a) Footpaths, which are only open to the public for passage 



on foot ; 



(b) Bridleways, which are Footpaths and also ways over 



which horses may be ridden ; and 



(c) Carriage roads, which may be freely traversed by vehicles 



as well as by horses and foot-passengers. 



The public right is strictly confined to an easement of passage 

 and does not embrace the ownership of the soil. It has even been 

 held that a pedestrian may not lawfully walk backwards and for- 

 wards over a public path or carriage road for purposes unconnected 

 with the use of the ways as thoroughfares. 



All highways are presumed to have arisen either by an Act of 

 Parliament — such as Inclosure Acts (under which many public 

 ways have been awarded) or by dedication by some owner of the 

 land over which such ways pass. "Dedication " connotes the grant 

 to the public, by some past or the present freeholder, of a perpetual 

 right of passage over his land. " Dedication " may on rare occas- 

 ions be proved by some definite grant or other express act of an 

 owner, but in the vast majority of cases express dedication cannot 

 be shown to have occurred. To prove a public path it is nearly 

 always necessary to produce such evidence of long-continued public 

 use enjoyed freely, openly and as of right, that a Judge will be 

 bound to presume that at some time some owner must have 

 dedicated the way as a public path. 



Once a path can be shown to have become public it can only 

 be destroyed by Act of Parliament or by a Magistrates' Order 

 enrolled by Quarter Sessions, for the ancient principle " Once a 

 highway, always a highway " is sound law. The Highway system 

 in Great Britain started with the Romans, who constructed between 

 2,500 and 4,500 miles of streets. Country roads gradually fell into 

 disrepair, and it was not until the growing vehicular traffic necessi- 

 tated concerted action that the improvement and repair of highways 

 was attempted on a broad basis in the 18th century. 1,100 Turnpike 

 Trusts were created, and they controlled 23,000 miles of roads which 

 had now become the main County roads of the country. 



The work of protecting public rights of way is one of the main 



