Before becoming mainly associated with the UK based transport service provider of the same name, the term stagecoach was used to describe a rather different type of vehicle. Historically, the stagecoach originated as a covered, horse drawn wagon, used for transportation of people and delivery of goods from one point to another. The original layout of the vehicle consisted of a four wheeled carriage, a driver at the front, and four horses, drawing in in-hand formation. The coach route was usually scheduled to stop at a number of pre-determined stops, known as stages, thus its name – stagecoach. These stages were places where the driver and the horses could rest and recuperate for the next stage of their journey. This form of transport was widely used in UK and US before the introduction of railway transportation for goods and people, the business of running stagecoaches was known as staging.
Some historians state that stage coaching originated in England as early as the thirteenth century. The first stagecoaches in the form people know today were seen on English roads for the first time in the early sixteenth century. Back in those days, the stages of the journey were about ten to fifteen miles in length, each. The exact number of journey segments or stages depended on the specific route and distance the coach had to travel. At the coaching stations, where the coach stopped for a break, were known as coaching inns. There, horses were either changed with a fresh set, or rested overnight as travellers and driver usually also got a warm meal and some shut eye.
In the early days, stagecoaches rather crude and were basically a canopy covered, cart drawn by four horses. England’s road infrastructure at the time was quite bad too, and since the coaches did not have any suspension, they could only go as fast as five or so miles per hour over the bumps and grinds of English country roads, which made them effective, but not efficient. In the cold winter months, and in bad weather conditions, stagecoaches were basically nonoperational. Interestingly enough, traveling by stagecoach back then was considered a low form of transit, and as described by one fifteenth century English writer, only women and people of inferior status used stagecoaches as means of travel.
The first stagecoach ‘shuttle line’ was established in sixteen ten, and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. In its infancy, stagecoach travel was really slow and tedious, for instance in the sixteen seventies, it took eight whole days to travel from London to Exeter. The first properly organised coach route was set up in seventeen o six, by the first official stagecoach company in England. The regular route between London and York was the first of many regular, scheduled coaching routes to follow to and from other places around the country. With the establishment of more regular coach routes, there also appeared coaching inns. Coaching inns were stops where passengers, driver and horses could rest, eat, sleep and freshen up for the next leg of their journey, they usually rested in these inns overnight as traveling at night wasn’t the preferred thing as one can imagine. Many of these coaching inns are still around today, the buildings or complexes can be recognised by the tall archway which allowed entry for the horses and coach and let them to the ‘parking lot’ out the back or side of the inn building.
The first stagecoach ‘shuttle line’ was established in sixteen ten, and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. In its infancy, stagecoach travel was really slow and tedious, for instance in the sixteen seventies, it took eight whole days to travel from London to Exeter. The first properly organised coach route was set up in seventeen o six, by the first official stagecoach company in England. The regular route between London and York was the first of many regular, scheduled coaching routes to follow to and from other places around the country. With the establishment of more regular coach routes, there also appeared coaching inns. Coaching inns were stops where passengers, driver and horses could rest, eat, sleep and freshen up for the next leg of their journey, they usually rested in these inns overnight as traveling at night wasn’t the preferred thing as one can imagine. Many of these coaching inns are still around today, the buildings or complexes can be recognised by the tall archway which allowed entry for the horses and coach and let them to the ‘parking lot’ out the back or side of the inn building.
Since stagecoaches transported goods of commercial value, and usually passengers also had personal items of value on them, it was only natural for these lone-traveling vehicles to be targeted by robbers, who were known as highwayman. Highwayman were a dangerous bunch, although they are highly romanticised in English folklore, they were hardened criminals, some of them very violent. Highway robbery in those days was ‘rewarded’ by capital punishment and many famous highway men had been hung at the gallows, especially in Tyburn.
Circa the year seventeen fifty, a Manchester based coaching company, launched a new type of service, called ‘flying coach’. The emphasis of course was on speed, and given there were no accidents along the road, the company claimed that their coaches could travel from Manchester to London in just four and half days, which was an accomplishment in every respect. Three years later, another company began offering superfast coach runs, this time from Liverpool to London, which took three days. High velocity coaching, at the ‘blistering speed’ of eight miles per hour was made possible by advancements in coach engineering, namely the introduction of steel spring suspension which helped coaches negotiate the rough terrain much better thus made them faster.
Circa the year seventeen fifty, a Manchester based coaching company, launched a new type of service, called ‘flying coach’. The emphasis of course was on speed, and given there were no accidents along the road, the company claimed that their coaches could travel from Manchester to London in just four and half days, which was an accomplishment in every respect. Three years later, another company began offering superfast coach runs, this time from Liverpool to London, which took three days. High velocity coaching, at the ‘blistering speed’ of eight miles per hour was made possible by advancements in coach engineering, namely the introduction of steel spring suspension which helped coaches negotiate the rough terrain much better thus made them faster.
The widening use of coaches was embraced by the Royal Mail and they began using postal coaches to deliver letters and parcels along pre-determined routes as opposed to using mail riders. The mail rider system was anything but perfect as riders were usually targeted by robbers, adverse circumstances slowed down the journey, and generally made the service slow and unreliable. Once the Royal Mail began using coaches things changed notably. The coach stops were known as posts, and each post had its own master i.e. postmaster. The postmaster took the letters and packages destined for local recipients and gave the rest back to the coachman for delivery at spots further along the route. This new system made the service much faster, more reliable, safer and efficient. By the late seventeen hundreds, stage coaching was big business in England. At that time, there forty two coach routes going up and down, and across England, connecting most major cities. Along these routes there both stage coaches and mail coaches.
During the Regency period, road infrastructure in England improved greatly, so did coach design. In result, this form of travel became faster, more reliable and comfortable. Travel times were now drastically reduced. For instance, midway through the seventeen hundreds, it took about two days to get from Cambridge to London, whereas in eighteen twenty for example, the same journey was done in about seven hours.
During the Regency period, road infrastructure in England improved greatly, so did coach design. In result, this form of travel became faster, more reliable and comfortable. Travel times were now drastically reduced. For instance, midway through the seventeen hundreds, it took about two days to get from Cambridge to London, whereas in eighteen twenty for example, the same journey was done in about seven hours.