The first horse-drawn coach in England is said to have belonged to Mary Tudor, and Queen Elizabeth I ordered a stagecoach to be built in 1564. Although decorated with gold and carvings, the coach had no springs and would have been very uncomfortable to travel in.
Another vehicle that came onto the road at this time was the stage-wagon. This huge clumsy wagon was pulled by eight or ten horses and could travel no more than a dozen miles a day. It did, however, provide the first regular service carrying goods and a few passengers from town to town.
In the 17th century, coach building was greatly improved by hanging the body of the coach from stout leather straps, cushioning it from the worst of the bumping. Later, steel springs replaced these straps, increasing comfort. Samuel Pepys even had glass windows in his carriage in 1669.
Stagecoaches started making advertised journeys across the country from 1657 onwards. London to York took between four and seven days. The coaches stopped every ten or fifteen miles (16 to 24 km) at an inn or stage to change horses and to pick up passengers.
In London and other towns, hackney-coaches were used for short journeys, like taxis today. Wealthy people to prevent their expensive clothes from getting dirty used sedan chairs.
Goods continued to be carried by packhorses, as well as by carrier carts and stage-wagons.
In the early 17th century, Thomas Pickford, from the village of Adlington, Cheshire used a train of packhorses to carry stones from his quarry. They were taken from the Goyt Valley on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border to Macclesfield, and were used to mend roads in the area. On return journeys he carried goods, including fruit and vegetables, for the villages and hamlets he passed through.
By the middle of the 18th century, James Pickford, who is believed to have been a relative of Thomas, was successfully carrying goods and passengers by stage-wagon between Manchester and London. An advertisement in the Manchester Mercury in 1756 tells us that James "the London and Manchester wagoner" had changed one of his London collection points to the Bell Inn, Wood Street, Cheapside, whilst his other wagon continued to leave from the White Bear, Basinghall Street.
Coaching inns like those in London were widely used as starting or staging posts for carriers of passengers and goods. Indeed, in 1794, Pickfords' first independent headquarters in London was at the Castle Inn in Wood.
Passengers on horseback and in coaches had to brave not only the worsening condition of unpaved roads, but also highwaymen. The slow coaches were easy prey for the well-mounted armed robbers.
To help in the repair of roads, after 1663 groups of rich men were given permission by Parliament to build or improve a stretch of road and then charge tolls to get their money back, allowing them to make a profit. These were called turnpike trusts.
At some places along main roads, gates were set up and a tollgate keeper lived in a house alongside it. Typical charges were one penny for a horse and sixpence for a coach. The Royal Mail, foot passengers and people on their way to a funeral did not have to pay! Because gentlemen on good horses were able to leap gates without paying, the gate was sometimes replaced by a turnpike: a wooden bar with spikes on top.
