Roads, for longer than people could remember, were nothing
more than dirt tracks that turned to mud in the winter and
baked rock hard in the summer. Either way, movement along
these 'roads' was difficult and at certain times of the year,
practically impossible.
By law, every parish had to look after
the 'roads' that ran through their area. Men were meant to
work for 6 days every
year to maintain and repair the roads. However, very few
villagers travelled, therefore they were not particularly
interested in doing this task especially as it - and roads
- seemed to offer them no benefits.
But the growth of the
Industrial Revolution needed a good transport system and
in 1663, Parliament passed what was
known as the Turnpike Act. This was originally only used
in three counties to see if it worked. The act allowed
magistrates in these three counties to charge people for
using roads
in these counties and the money raised was spent on properly
maintaining these roads. The success of this scheme meant
that the 1663 Act was the first of hundreds throughout
the country. Private companies called Turnpike Trusts were established.
The first one was created in 1706. The public was given the
opportunity to invest in these companies. The money raised
by charging people to use the roads was split between profits
for the share holders and the cost of maintaining the roads
in the control of the trust. People had to pay what was called
a toll to use the roads. Toll gates were established through
which people and carriages had to pass before continuing
with their journey.
Before turnpike trusts, people had been used to using what
passed for roads for free. Now, the roads may have been better
but many people objected to paying a toll. Some would even
jump over the toll gate to avoid paying. To decrease the
chance of this happening, spikes (or pikes) were put at the
top of the gates - hence the title turnpike trusts.
In some parts of the country, the toll gates were so unpopular,
that they were destroyed. Parliament passed a law that meant
anyone who was caught destroying a turnpike could be executed.
Those in power in Parliament were also those who had invested
large sums of money in turnpike trusts - hence why the sentence
for those who destroyed turnpikes was so savage.
The amount levied depended on the type of cart, the number
of horses used and the width of wheels (as the narrower wheels
caused more damage to the road). Roads were kept clean and
in good repair by auctioning lots to townspeople who could
possibly sell 'road scrapings and parings' (manure etc).
There appears to have been, at various times, three gates
with associated toll houses in Lyneham but the position is
complicated because the Trust moved two of them at least
once. In 1792 a house occupied by Thomas Milsom near Hobb's
House was taken over by the Trust and Milsom and his wife
became collectors of the tolls.
Also a gate was erected in
Church End Lane near the house occupied by Jacob Eatwell,
a blacksmith, who also became collector of the tolls. This
early building was located at the Lyneham – Hilmarton
Road to Preston Lane junction. The toll house was more commonly
known as the 'Pike House' and was pulled down many years
ago for road widening purposes. The 1841 Census records indicate
John Farmer and Anthony Marks were the Toll Collectors believed
to reside here. A decade later the two collectors recorded,
named appropriately, were Robert Pound and John Landfear.
The 1821 Walker Heneage Tithe
Estate map names the Church
End to Goatacre Road as Turnpike Road. In 1794 the gates
were re-sited although the resulting arrangement is not entirely
clear. One gate appears to have been sited
at the junction of Church End Lane and Preston Lane and a
new toll house built there.
Another gate was said to be in Hobb's Lane near the new
house built by Mr. Heneage and which the Trust agreed to
rent for two guineas a year. Finally, a map of the Methuen
Estate in 1830 shows a toll bar and house just outside Lyneham
on the road to Wootton Bassett. This was believed to be called
the Lyneham Green Gate and the toll board is displayed in
the village library. The board read as follows:
Lyneham Green Gate
A table of toll payable at this gate.
For every Horse, Mule, or other Beast drawing any kind of
Carriage or Vehicle – 4½d
For every Carriage or Vehicle fixed in any manner to any
other Carriage or Vehicle:
if Empty 2½d
if Loaded 4½d
For every Horse or Mule, not drawing 1½d
For every Ass not drawing 1d
For every Drove of Oxen, Cows, or Neat Cattle per score 2d
(And so in proportion for any greater or less number.)
For every Drove of Calves, Swine, Sheep, Lambs or Goats per
score 4d
(And so in proportion for any greater or less number.)
In all cases where there shall be a fractional part of a
half-penny in the amount of Tolls to be collected, One halfpenny
shall be payable instead of such fractional part
Additional Tolls to the Above Rates
For every Horse drawing any Carriage or vehicle conveying
stone, coals, timber, lime, sand, manure, and iron, drawn
by more than one Horse if the Wheels shall be of less width
than six inches on the felly or tire thereof 1d
If the Wheels of such Carriage or Vehicle shall be of less
width than four-and-a-half inches on the felly or tire thereof
2d
A ticket here frees Swallett Gate Common and Christian Malford
Gates
By Order of the Trustees.
Toll booths
It is almost certain that each gate had some kind of provision
for the toll collector. At the minor gates, and especially
at the toll bars controlling side roads, this was little
more than a small booth, such a wooden booth.
Small Toll Houses
A toll house had essentially to be functional. It needed
to be close to the roadside and turnpike gate; it would benefit
from having clear visibility of the road in both directions;
a central door would give easy access to the gate; and a
suitable wall was required on which to affix the board with
the list of tolls.
The house could be of one or two storeys
but the living accommodation would be only modest befitting
the rather lowly occupation of toll collector. Many toll
houses had only the one front door with no access from
the rear. It has been suggested that this was perhaps for
reasons
of security considering the amount of cash which must have
been kept in the house. Appurtenances
Toll houses needed to have certain appurtenances although
the scope of the Trust was limited by the Act which created
the turnpike. The most important provision was a garden.
This was sometimes made difficult by the site of the toll
house, for example in the fork of two joining roads. In such
cases a detached garden, if necessary on the opposite of
the road, was provided as at Devizes (Shane's Castle).
Loss of Toll Houses
Most of the Turnpike Trusts were closed in the 1870s. Although
they had improved the main roads very considerably the payment
of tolls was always unpopular. Their closure was consequently
marked by great celebrations and firework displays in a number
of places including Devizes.
There were probably over 200 toll houses or booths in existence
in Wiltshire on the closure of the turnpikes but now only
50 remain. The others have been demolished for a variety
of reasons at different periods.
Many of the modest buildings must have proved just unsuitable
for modern requirements and gradually fallen into disrepair
and then collapse. Lyneham’s toll house had to make
way for road improvements. It was particularly vulnerable
being close to the road and often at an important road junction
thus making visibility difficult for modern traffic.
But a surprising number of toll houses were demolished on
the turnpikes in the 1870's. The Trusts were required to
realise their assets to pay off debts, loans and mortgages.
The Act
stipulated that toll houses should first be offered for sale
to the adjoining landowners.
Many were disposed of in this
way and, perhaps because of the sale restrictions, the
purchasers got a bargain. But, if the landowners declined
to buy, their
permission was still needed to sell the toll house by public
auction. This was sometimes given but, if not, the house
had to be demolished and the building materials sold. Lyneham
Toll House has been so extensively altered and enlarged
over the years that it is now quite difficult to identify
it positively
as a toll house. Toll Collectors
The role of the toll collectors merits further study. Although
they must have handled a significant amount of money, the
occupation of toll collector was traditionally a very lowly
one. They have been described as 'mere labourers paid a wage
of 10 or 12 shillings a week, often unable to read or write
and usually incapable of keeping accounts'. There is some
evidence from the Wiltshire censuses to support this view
of their status.
At the three gates in Charlton the wives were the toll
collectors and two of the husbands were agricultural labourers
and the
other a road labourer. The wives of agricultural labourers
were also toll collectors at Chippenham (Hungerdown) and
Hilmarton. Retired soldiers also appear as toll collectors.
in the 1851 census the toll collector at Chippenham (Bath
Road) was Thomas Hornsey aged 61 and described as a Chelsea
pensioner. It was also said that the last toll collector
at Melksham. (Semington Lane) was Abram. Bolland, a veteran
of the Indian Mutiny. At the end of the 18th century the
typical wage was 3s or 3s 6d a week although it was rather
higher at Calne (Chilvester) at £25 a year.
Listed -Toll Houses
Toll houses have become increasingly valued both
as interesting buildings and as an important reminder of a
significant phase
in the history of English roads. Yet, of the 50 toll houses
which have now been positively identified as still standing
in Wiltshire, only 19 are listed. There may be no immediate
threat to those toll houses not listed but, for the future,
it is most important that what remains of the turnpike road
era should be protected with as much security as possible.
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