ROADS:
Q. What sort of roads have you in Monmouthshire?
A. None.
Q. How do you travel then?
A. In ditches
(Valentine Morris, Esq. of Piercefield, response to questions during discussions of first Turnpike Act , 1755, to determine the state of the county roads). p. 102, Hassall, Charles, General view of the agriculture of the county of Monmouth, with observations on the means of its improvement, London, 1815.)

(NB. Valentine Morris procured, by his personal interest and exertions, a bill to be passed in Parliament, which involved in it near three hundred miles of turnpike road in the county : by which act, instead of almost impassable ways, every principal town found itself in possession of a turnpike communication with the other principal towns of the county, and with the navigation of the river Severn., http://www.parkhouse.org.uk/chepstow/valentine_morris.htm). As trustee of several turnpike trusts, Morris was responsible for maintaining and improving the roads from Chepstow to Raglan, Woolaston, and Beachley, often against the wishesll construction of them, or the lines in which they are laid out. However, by 1811, road-making was beginning to undergo some valuable improvements as compared to Piercefields testimony in the 1760's

The old holloways were so inconvenient for travelling with carriages of any sort, that very few wagons or carts were kept in the county, and lime, coal, iron etc were conveyed on the backs of mules or horses.

A strong prejudice prevailed among country people against paying tolls for travelling along the public highways; they could not foresee the advantages of good roads, who had never experienced them. It was unpopular to become an advocate for what the majority of the peasantry deemed a grievous tax.

The Trustees acting under Turnpike Acts at that early period were content to take a breadth of land adjoining the old roads, sufficiently broad to widen them to the extent required by the Act, and even this exertion of their powers was often done with a very sparing hand. They seldom deemed it necessary to alter or materially alter, the line of any road, either to cut off angles or avoid hills. (Source: Hassall, Charles, General view of the agriculture of the county of Monmouth, with observations on the means of its improvement, London, 1815. Google books)

Roads are integral to the Raglan story. It was because of the crossroads that the first church building was erected in the sixth Century. Ensuring the condition of roads and making sure they were safe passageways was an important concern for the High Sherif as well as the Parish church.

In 1771 Paterson, Daniel published, "A new and accurate description of all the direct and principal cross roads in Great Britain". He sites, "Route: 137. Ragland, Beaufort Arms" The mail coach charged 8 pence postage of a single letter to and from London and Ragland:

From footpaths to roads to carriageways, railways and motorways, Raglan maintained links to the outside world. New roads linking Monmouth to Ragland, Trothy Bridge to Ragland and Monmouth to Raglans and connecting Monmouthshire to Glamorgan were opened between 1818 to 1821 (Cambrian Newspaper, D11, 12 Sept, 1818; 17 April 1819; 27 Oct 1821; courtesy of Swansea Central Library). The road from Usk to Ragland opened 15 August 1829 ((Cambrian Newspaper, D10, 15 August 1829, courtesy of Swansea Central Library)

Coaches from London, Birmingham, Bristol and Ireland stopped at the village on a regular basis to bring mail, people and goods. The Fusileer Coach, a horse drawn coach, traveled from the Bell Inn Brecknock to Bristol via Ragland and Chepstow (Cambrian Newspaper, D41, 17 Sept 1831, courtesy of Swansea Public Library). In 1833, Samuel Leigh's new pocket road book of England and Wales notes that Route 31 from London to Caermarthen runs through Oxford Ross, Monmouth and stopping at the Beaufort Arms in Ragland. (Leigh, Samuel, Leigh's new pocket road-book of England and Wales, containing an account of all the direct and cross-roads 1833, Google books)

By 1937, some villagers despaired at the distraction of travel and tourism through Raglan. This was expressed by Rev Wright in August 1937, " We are now at the peak of the holiday season and there is very little to record in the way of parochial happenings. We are living in a period of constant noise, turmoil, and excitement, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people, elderly as well as young, to settle their minds to anything serious. They seem to want to keep up the spirit of revelry as long as possible, this Coronation year.All parishes both in town and country are feeling the effect of this on Sundays, but Raglan, in particular, situated as it is on the high road from South Wales to the Midlands, the North, and London is becoming hard hit in this respect. The motor coaches that rush through filled with exuberant passengers, motor cars of all descriptions, bicycles, and every conceivable form of conveyance, create an atmosphere hardly conducive to contemplation or restfulness. One Sunday we had an invasion of several hundreds of Territorials from the Western valleys. The state of mind of many of our young people is becoming seriously affected for the worse. Sunday excursions too, have been systematically organised by the Railway Companies. There are, of course, many other reasons for this mental disturbance of our people. To many "the times are out of joint", as Hamlet said." (St Cadocs Parish Magazine, August 1937)

In the 1970's new trunk roads and carriageways were opened linking London to Pembrokeshire as well as Newport to the North.

"The Usk - Raglan trunk road was opened by Mr. Peter Thomas, secretary of state for Wales on Friday, 11 February 1972. The opening ceremony took place at the Raglan end of the new five-mile stretch of the Newport - Midlands trunk road. It cost about £3 1/2m., and is the third of four sections of the trunk road. It was completed five months earlier than expected.

The consulting engineers were Messrs. Howard Humphreys and Sons and the main contractors were Gleeson Civil Engineering Ltd.