- Pontage
Pontage was a
medieval toll levied for the building or repair ofbridge s.Pontage was similar in nature to
murage (a toll for the building of town walls) andpavage (a toll for paving streets and market places, or — more rarely — roads between towns).Pontage was granted by the king by
letters patent for a limited term, sufficient to enable the requisite public works to be done. However, sometimes the works were not completed (or at least not paid for) by the end of the term, so that a renewal had to be obtained. Grants were made from1228 until the1440s , the earliest being for bridges atFerrybridge ,Yorkshire andStaines , an important crossing of theriver Thames . In all about 370 grants were made.The term pontage is also applied to lands in
Cambridgeshire , which were liable to repair the bridge ofCambridge as an incident oftenure .References
*A. Cooper, "Bridges, Law and Power in medieval England 700-1400" (Boydell, Woodbridge, Suffolk 2006), 127-48.
*P. W. King, 'Medieval Turnpikes' "Journal of Railway and Canal Historical Society" 35(10) (Dec. 2007), 740-6.
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