Marrin's Bookshop

Details

GREAT CIVIL ENGINEER IN BOTH UK and USA

Synopsis

John millington civil engineer and surveyor 6 leigh street, burton crescent, london. 4th. febry 1822.

Item Description

Manuscript, tied with tape. Folio. 16.25 x 13 inches. 5 leaves. The plans and sections mentioned in the text have not survived with this document.

Notes

An engineering specification, detailing the excavations and earthworks required to improve the turnpike road in the area of White Hart Hill, where the road from Sevenoaks Town crosses the common in the direction of Tonbridge. This was the southern extremity of the Farnborough to Sevenoaks (Riverhill) turnpike, originally established in 1749, following the passage of the 1748 Act. The Specification has been drawn up by John Millington of London, the engineer appointed by the Trustees, to instruct a contractor who is to commence work in the spring and complete it by 1st August 1822. The contractor is to give financial securities for the performance of the work and is to be paid in instalments, any disputes between the two parties to be resolved by arbitration. The greater part of the Specification is a detailed technical account of the works to be carried out. The works were contiguous to those being carried out at the same time by the Tonbridge Trust which was responsible for the the southwards continuation of the road and it is suggested that the two trusts co-operate on the disposal and reuse of excavated soil. The new line of the road required the lodges and gate of Milton Lombard to be removed and rebuilt, at the Trust's expense, in a new location and his boundary to be planted with 'a quickset hedge consisting of 2 rows of young healthy quicks and to fence the same on the inside with rough split oak posts and rails...' The contractor is 'to find and provide all Labour Carts, Horses, Barrows Planks Screens and Tools of every description' He is also required to protect passing vehicles and cattle, by fencing the excavation and by stationing '2 careful watchmen' at each end of it, to 'be provided with Lanthorns and lights from dusk until day light to direct passengers into the proper track and prevent danger...' A valuable account of the engineering side of turnpike road construction. In spite of this new work in 1822, the line of the road to the south of Sevenoaks continued to cause concern to the Trust and, following two Acts passed in the mid-1830s, it was again planned to realign the road, taking land from Whitehart Farm, in 1852. John Millington (1779-1868) was born at Hammersmith and practised law before turning to civil engineering and being associated with the road-maker, McAdam in his construction work. He was a fellow of the Society of Arts (later Royal) and lectured at the Royal Institution and was briefly appointed to teach engineering at the newly founded University College, London. A dispute over his salary led him to emigrate, firstly to Mexico, where he oversaw silver mining, and later to the USA, where he held the chair of chemistry and natural philosophy at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1836-48 and was a professor at the new University of Mississippi, 1848-53.