The Richmond to Lancaster Turnpike, was a road that was opened in the second half of the 18th century between Richmond, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Lancaster in Lancashire, Northern England. The turnpike was built to allow goods to be taken from Yorkshire (and later County Durham) to the port of Lancaster. It was approved in 1751, but was not wholly completed until 1774. Initially, the turnpike used existing or Roman roads that were resurfaced and widened to enable them to take horse-drawn coaches. The road crossed over from Wensleydale into Ribblesdale via Cam High Road from Bainbridge, using a Roman Road built to connect two Roman forts. In the 1790s the route was diverted away from Cam High Road through Hawes, and this accelerated the decline of Askrigg as a market town, with Hawes taking its place. Most of the road is still in use as modern roads. History Origins and building In the 18th century, Richmond was the seat of a court of quarter sessions, it was a chief market in the area for goods and it was also the export point for metals and ores mined and quarried in Swaledale and Wensleydale. In addition to this, the Court of Archdeaconry extended quite far westwards beyond the Lancashire border, but all the major roads in the area bypassed Richmond to either the north or the east. At the same time, Lancaster was developing into a prosperous port with good links into Ireland, the Americas and the Baltic countries. The people in Wensleydale had also petitioned the local landowners to do something about the roads. One petitioner stated that the roads through Wensleydale were "so bad, ruinous, narrow and rocky that it is totally impassible at some Times of the Year for any kind of Wheel Carriages[sic] ...". Parliament approved the turnpike in 1751, and in June of the same year, the turnpike trust employed Alexander Fothergill as its surveyor with a salary of £30 per year. Fothergill became the surveyor for the eastern district (from Ingleton to Richmond). In 1755, the road was extended northwards from Richmond through to Piercebridge via Gilling West. This allowed for the important transport of Durham coal, although initially, coal was exempt from being charged for. Fothergill was not able to ride the entire course of the road until 1774, when the trustees of the turnpike were dissatisfied with his work