The transportation system of medieval England and Wales

Abstract

Although the growth of towns and trade in medieval England and Wales has received much attention, the national transportation system which developed hand-in-hand with it has largely been ignored. In particular, there has been a paucity of systematic work dealing with the navigable waterways and their relationship to the road network. This article attempts to rectify this deficiency, principally by an analysis of references to navigations in the various State Rolls. About 140 rivers are shown to have been navigated, with a total length of over 2400 miles. Overall, few places were more than 15 miles from the coast or a navigable river, and in particular, large parts of eastern England were well provided with navigable water; some detail is given of the navigable limits of the rivers flowing into the Humber. Finally, the distribution of the prominent boroughs is combined with the river and road networks to reveal a well-integrated national urban, trading and transportation system.