Turnpike Roads in England & Wales
Welcome! This website is a hub for information on the historic turnpike
roads of England and Wales.
This site has page
clusters dedicated to;
·
the history of Turnpike Roads
and their routes (tables listed below)
·
Tollhouses that were built at turnpike gates to collect
tolls from road users (tables listed below),
·
Milestones that
informed travellers of the distance to the next town, and
·
Road Users who
benefited from the improved highway.
·
River Crossings – ferries and bridges
Also features that
preceded the turnpikes, particularly
·
Wayside Crosses that were
beside the old highways.
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The
site hosts research-based publications by leading historians of British roads. Click
on the name for the link
·
A definitive study by Dr Keith Lawrence on the Turnpike Roads around Nantwich, Cheshire can be accessed by clicking
this link.
·
Information on related turnpike trustees and on
Tollkeepers nationally is accessed by the Keith Lawrence Data page.
·
“Devon
Tollhouses; A Gazetteer” by Dr John Kanefsky; a comprehensive list
of Devon’s surviving toll houses and some mis-assigned tollhouses, with
historic notes; published April 2021.
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Below is a list of summary tables, maps and
information pages accessible on this site
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1. Tables and
maps relating to turnpikes
these use old (pre
1974) county boundaries
a) List of Turnpike Trusts in England
& Turnpike Trusts in Wales and the equivalent modern
road
b) List of Toll Bridges & ferries
(19th cent)
c)
Town Improvement and Paving
Commissions
Turnpike gates & Tollhouses by
county * |
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supplemented by |
FG Emmison (1936); |
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report by R Good |
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P. Taylor (2010) |
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map by Gloucs RO |
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D Viner (1969); |
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H Hurley (1992) |
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A Cossons (2003) |
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S Benntt (1993) |
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P. Taylor (2009 |
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A Cossons (1946) |
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A Cossons (1994) |
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JB Bentley & BJ Murless (1985) |
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report by J. Higgins (2008) |
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P. Taylor (2009). |
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B Austin (2005-8) |
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A Cossons (1946); |
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Victorian History of Wiltshire, (1959) |
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Worcestershire |
Worcestershire |
Scaplehorn & Swann ((2008) |
Macmahon (1964) |
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*There was not necessarily a tollhouse at each gate –
side, check and chain gates in particular may have had no residential
accommodation beside them.
The data on Welsh tollgates has been reviewed and augmented by information in a dedicated database created by Chris Woodard. Thanks to Chris for sharing this.
Turnpike gates by area |
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f) Detailed maps of turnpike roads/tollhouse sites in specific areas
·
Bristol and Bath, Exeter, Ilchester, Plymouth, Sherborne, Sidmouth, Taunton, Teignmouth (with tollhouses)
·
Areas of Staffordshire roads;
Birmingham, The Staffordshire
Potteries, Cheadle, The Black Country (W of
Birmingham)
·
Areas of Lancashire roads; W of Manchester,
E of Manchester,
Burnley/Rochdale,
Bury/Bolton, Blackburn/Haslingden,
Preston/Wigan.
·
Areas of West Riding of Yorkshire roads; Barnsley, Bradford, Doncaster, Halifax/Elland,
Holmfirth,
Huddersfield/Brighouse,
Keighley/Skipton,
Leeds, Pontefract,
Saddleworth,
Sheffield/Rotherham,
Wakefield,
York.
g)
Details
of surviving tollhouses, displayed on Google Earth,
These
can be downloaded from the Milestone Society database http://www.msocrepository.co.uk/.
h) Material relating to specific turnpike trusts
Cornwall Roads |
Devon Roads |
Somerset Roads |
Dorset Roads |
Haleworthy, Camelford, Wadebridge and St Columb |
Dartmouth, Torquay and
Shaldon Lyme Regis (Charmouth to
Whimple) Plymouth
and Tavistock (New
Road) Trusts based in other counties |
Black Dog (Bath and
Warminster) Langport,
Somerton and Castle Cary Trusts from Other Counties Trowbridge |
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2. An Index of
Pages on this web site
a) Turnpike
Roads - general
Turnpikes;
overview of county differences
Details of the turnpikes road in counties
of; Berkshire; Cornwall, Devon; Dorset; Somerset.
b)
Turnpike Roads -
Local Studies
·
The text of a booklet on the Turnpikes around Oxford
·
The text of a booklet on the Turnpikes around Banbury
·
The text of a booklet on the Turnpikes around Abingdon
·
The text of a booklet on the
Turnpikes around Wantage (Besselsleigh,
Faringdon, Wantage & Wallingford, Fyfield St Johns Bridge)
·
A study of Turnpike roads around Reading, Berkshire and notes on Roman Roads near Reading
·
A study of the Turnpike roads around Nantwich, Cheshire by Keith Lawrence.
·
Some Oxfordshire Turnpike Trustees
·
Some Cheshire Turnpike Trustees
c) Tollhouses – general notes
Tollhouse Design a review of the styles
Devon Tollhouses; A gazetteer by John Kanefsky
d) Milestones – an overview
Non-Turnpike Milemarkers - a discussion of those markers that were erected before and after the turnpike era
e)
Early Way Markers – an overview
Ancient Stone Crosses in Devon - a detailed assessment of the stone crosses that survive in Devon, including Dartmoor
·
List
of Ancient Stone Crosses surviving in Cornwall and Devon and elsewhere
·
A
distribution map of Wayside Crosses in Devon
f) Road Users. - the traffic on the turnpikes
London Carriers and Inns – historic records
g) River Crossings Ferries and bridges over English rivers
Photographs are stored on Flickr, not on this website. Go to the Tollhouses page and follow the
click-links.
Pictures of
wayside crosses, milestones and road structure are sets off the main
photostream; http://www.flickr.com/photos/tollhouses/
If you have any questions or more information about particular turnpikes or tollhouses,
please contact me at rosevear1@aol.com.
This page created Jan 11th 2008 by Alan
Rosevear (Tollhouse Alan)
Last revised 29st March 2023