The Highway Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Highway Acts 1835 to 1885. Most of the Act has been repealed;, only three sections remain in force.

Parish boards

The Highway Act 1835 placed highways under the direction of parish surveyors, and allowed them to pay for the costs involved by rates levied on the occupiers of land. The surveyor's duty is to keep the highways in repair, and if a highway is out of repair, the surveyor may be summoned before the courts and ordered to complete the repairs within a limited time. The surveyor is also charged with the removal of nuisances on the highway. A highway nuisance may be abated by any person, and may be made the subject of indictment at common law. The board consists of representatives of the various parishes, called way wardens together with the justices for the county residing within the district. Salaries and similar expenses incurred by the board are charged on a district fund to which the several parishes contribute; but each parish remains separately responsible for the expenses of maintaining its own highways. The amending acts, while not interfering with the operation of the principal act, authorize the creation of highway districts on a larger scale. The justices of a county may convert it or any portion of it into a highway district to be governed by a highway board, the powers and responsibilities of which will be the same as those of the parish surveyor under the former act.

New road offences

The Highway Act 1835 specified as offences for which the driver of a carriage on the public highway might be punished by a fine, in addition to any civil action that might be brought against him:

Protecting the Footpath

Section 72 provides: "If any person shall wilfully ride upon any footpath or causeway by the side of any road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of foot passengers; or shall wilfully lead or drive any horse, ass, sheep, mule, swine, or cattle or carriage of any description, or any truck or sledge, upon any such footpath or causeway; or shall tether any horse, ass, mule, swine, or cattle, on any highway, so as to suffer or permit the tethered animal to be thereon." This clause is referred to by the current Highway Code: "Rule 64: You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement. HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A sect 129" "Rule 145, 1988: "You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency."" The offence of driving on a bridleway is covered by a later act."Rule 157, 1973: "[A non-road legal] vehicle MUST NOT be used on roads, pavements, footpaths or bridleways."" The Department for Transport cited this section in 2006 when it ruled that Segways could not be legally used on pavements in the United Kingdom, and again in 2020 when it expanded the ruling to include private e-scooters. In August 2024, a 36 year old man from Sunderland was charged with causing common danger by riding a pedal cycle in the hours of darkness with no illumination, contrary to the 1835 Highway Act.

Related and subsequent acts

The Public Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55) vested the powers and duties of surveyors of highways and vestries in urban authorities, The Local Government Act 1888 gave the responsibility of maintaining main roads to county councils.