Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Question from Kay - 16th century travel times in England

I'm interested in figuring out how long it would travel various distances within England during the late 16th-century. Are there any good sources for this?

5 comments:

Susan Higginbotham said...

There's a pamphlet by Virginia A. LaMar entitled "Travel and Roads in England" that might be helpful--it deals with the 16th and 17th centuries. It was published by the Folger Shakespeare Library.

shtove said...

Google The Nine Daies Wonder for the Tudor period.

Journey of 80 miles - London to Norwich - in 1600 as a promotional tour for an actor. Through the medium of dance!

Not as daft as it sounds. It gives details on the state of the roads and what it was like to pass from village to village.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the bulk of commercial travel was probably by water - faster + economies of scale. Ships coast hopping + river barges.

Kay said...

Susan -- Thanks for the reference! I've put it on order and look forward to seeing what I can glean. Every bit helps.

shtove -- I'm actually writing about Mary Fitton, who the 9 Day's Wonder was dedicated to! Thanks for mentioning it.

shtove said...

@Kay - LOL!
I wrote a blog post on the Wonder:
http://tudorblog.com/2011/09/14/the-nine-daies-wonder/

Anne Fitton?

Kay said...

My understanding is that Anne was actually a misattribution from the time. Anne was married at that point, and Mary, her younger sister, was a popular court lady and more likely the intended dedicant.