THE TURNPIKE AND TOLLS

By Roger Dymond

There were maximum rates of toll that could be levied:

Loaded packhorse 1½d.

Beast drawn coaches 3d.
Unladen beast 1d.
Drove of oxen etc., 10d. per score.
Drove of sheep, swine etc., 5d per score.

There were also exclusions to tolls for the benefit of the Parishioners:

Produce going to market
Unladen carts
Carts carrying manure for the Parish
Farm implements
Movement of farm animals.

Other exclusions were:

Passage of the Royal Mail
Soldiers passing through
Vagrants being returned to their Parish of domicile
Persons attending funerals
Persons attending church
Vehicles carrying voters to elections.

The turnpikes were very effective but such was the resentment of the tax that there were many riots including the now famous Rebecca riots when the man dressed up as women. It must be noted that until later in the turnpike era the science of road making had not been found and, as will be seen, it was not until the middle of the 18th Century that everything began to change.

The remit of the Turnpike Trusts was to maintain the road surfaces, to widen, straighten and change tight bends with sweeping curves to facilitate larger vehicles. These forms of improvement included cutting down trees and removing humble cottages – absolutely nothing is new!

The Trust overviewed the repair and maintenance of hedges and fences of those lands bordering the roads to ensure that there was no evasion of tolls due. Franchises were farmed out for the collection of tolls and the maintenance of the road.

Each Trust also had the responsibility to set up milestones, direction posts at crossways and graduation markers of roads, which were subject to flooding.