The King against The Inhabitants of The West Riding of the County of York
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 23 June 1806 |
| Date | 23 June 1806 |
| Court | Court of the King's Bench |
English Reports Citation: 103 E.R. 228
IN THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH.
Referred to, Hertfordshire County Council v. New River Company [1904], 2 Ch. 519.
the king against the inhabitants of the west biding of the county of york. Monday, June 23d, 1806. By the common law declared and defined by the stat. 22 H. 8, c. 5, and subsequent Acts, where the inhabitants of a county are liable to the repair of a public bridge, they are liable also to repair to the extent of 300 feet of the highway at each end of the bridge : and if indicted for the nonrepair thereof, they can only exonerate themselves by pleading specially that some other is bound by prescription or tenure to repair the same. [Referred to, Hertfordshire County Council v. New River Company [1904], 2 Ch. 519.] At the Summer Assizes at York in 1803, this indictment, found at the former assizes, was tried, for a nusance in not repairing a certain highway; upon which a special verdict was found, which was removed by certiorari before judgment into-this Court. The indictment stated that from time immemorial there was and yet is a common and ancient King's highway, leading from the market-town of Huddersfield in the West Eiding of the county of York towards and unto the market town of Manchester in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in, through, and over the township of Quick in the West Riding, &c. used for all the liege subjects of the King for themselves and with carriages, &e. to pass, &c. And that a certain part of the said highway, at the said township of Quick in the West Riding, &c. to wit, a certain part thereof lying, next adjoining the west end of a certain public bridge there, called Tamewater Bridge, and within the distance of 300 feet thereof, beginning at the west end of the said public bridge, and extending from thence westwards, containing in length 45 feet and (d) Bull. N. P. 335. 7 EAST, 589. THE KING V. THE WEST RIDING OF YORK 229 in breadth seven yards, and a certain other part thereof lying next adjoining to the east end of the said bridge, and within the distance of 300 feet thereof, beginning at the [589] east end of the said bridge, and extending from thence eastwards, containing in length 150 feet, and in breadth seven yards, on the 2d of March 42 Geo. 3, &c., at the said township of Quick, &c. was and yet is very ruinous and in decay for want of repair, &c.; so that the subjects of the King cannot safely pass ; to the common nusance, &c., against the peace, &e. and against the form of the statutes. And that the inhabitants of the West Riding of the county of York the said common highway, so as aforesaid being in decay, of right ought to repair and amend, when and so often as it shall be necessary. To this the inhabitants of the West Biding pleaded not guilty; and upon the trial by a jury of the neighbourhood of the town of Leeds, being next adjoining to the West Biding returned by the sheriff, according to a special writ directed to him for this purpose, a special verdict was found, stating in substance; That from time immemorial there has been and yet is a common public highway for carriages, &c. from Huddersfield to Manchester, leading through the township of Quick in the West Biding of Yorkshire, and across the river Tame there flowing: and that from time immemorial until within time of living memory there was no bridge across the river Tame at Quick, except a foot bridge, and all persons having occasion to cross the river there with cattle and carriages went across a ford in the river; the foot bridge being a little higher up the river than the ford. That before the year 1756 a stone bridge for carriages, &c. called Tamewater Bridge, was erected by voluntary subscriptions at Quick, five or six yards higher up the river than the ford; which stone bridge was in that year swept away by a flood, when the bridge was rebuilt with stone by voluntary subscriptions, and made a little longer than [590] the former bridge, and erected at the ends of the said highway next the river; which continued until August 1799, when it was again swept away by a flood; and thereupon the same was again rebuilt with stone by and at the expence of the inhabitants of the West Biding, and was finished on the 2d of March 42 Geo. 3, the day mentioned in the indictment, and still continues there. And that these several stone bridges have been publicly used,, and have been and are of great public use and...
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