Toll houses were provided on turnpike roads in the 18th and 19th centuries for the collection of tolls from passing traffic, the money being used to maintain the road. The house from Beeding was built on a new road established in 1807.
The Beeding Toll House is characteristic of toll cottages in the triangle between Worthing, Horsham and Shoreham but is the last survivor of this type — all the others have been demolished for road improvements.
It was dismantled and moved to the Museum in 1968 after an accident in which a lorry caused severe damage to the structure. The toll board outside the cottage came from Northchapel, near Petworth.
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Overview
Dates From
1807
Dismantled
1968
Reconstructed
1970
Original Location
Beeding, Sussex
Building History
Toll Houses
Toll houses were built as part of the system of road maintenance by Turnpike Trusts, whereby private trusts were empowered to stop the public highway with gates, bars and turnpikes. At these points, on average three or four miles apart, a toll was demanded for vehicular and animal traffic.
The Beeding Toll House was built to control what the official turnpike records call ‘the new road to avoid Beeding Hill, from Beeding through Old Shoreham to the south-east corner of the Sheep Fold in the parish of Kingston-by-Sea’. This was a diversion authorised by Parliament in 1807, and the cottage was probably built at the same time.
The new road eased the route through the Downs by avoiding the severe gradient of Beeding Hill, considerably improving the movement of traffic between the older centres of population of the western Weald, such as Petworth and Steyning, and the rising Brighton of the Prince Regent’s time.
The road remained turnpiked until 1885, and together with the Horsham-Steyning-Beeding road has the added interest of being the last public road in Sussex on which a toll was levied.
Phases of the Building
The Beeding Toll House is characteristic of toll cottages in the triangle between Worthing, Horsham and Shoreham but is the last survivor of this type — all the others have been demolished for road improvements. It was dismantled and moved to the Museum in 1968 after an accident in which a lorry caused severe damage to the structure. The missing front section and chimney have been reconstructed from photographic evidence.
An old photograph of the very similar cottage at Bramber, on the same turnpike road, shows clearly the gates and general arrangement of the road, and replicas of these have been reconstructed at the Museum.
The toll board, attached to the outside of the toll cottage, originally came from the Northchapel Toll House near Petworth.
By the General Turnpike Act of 1766 it was compulsory for turnpike trustees to erect milestones. Unfortunately, many were lost or destroyed during the last war after they had been removed for security reasons, and those that have survived are in constant danger of being lost in road-widening schemes. One that has been saved is exhibited near the toll cottage.
Inscribed ‘52’ it marked the distance to London, and came from Erringham, near Shoreham, from the same stretch of turnpike road as the toll cottage; it is therefore almost certainly dated 1807. On top of the stone is a brass stud which is part of a rather unusual Ordnance Survey bench mark. The height above Ordnance Datum has been kindly checked in its new location by the Ordnance Survey. It is 204.42 feet (62.31 metres).
Turnpike Trusts
The upkeep of medieval roads was the responsibility of landowners, until Tudor legislation gave the task to the parish, every householder having to contribute six days’ work each year.
In 1663 a new method was introduced, when a Turnpike Trust was formed to improve the road between Wadesmill (Herts) and Stilton (Hunts). Money for repairs was raised by collecting tolls from the users of the road. Many more such trusts were set up during the 18th and early 19th centuries — an Act of Parliament being needed for each one — until eventually there were over 1,100 trusts administering some 23,000 miles of road.
The system was unpopular and inefficient. In the 19th century the trusts were unable to cope with competition from the railways and the demands of heavier road traffic. Their maladministration and insufficient funds caused Parliament to withdraw their powers, so that during the 1860s and 1870s most trusts were wound up by law.
Top 3 Interesting Facts
Moved After a Collision
The Toll House was damaged by a lorry in 1968, which led to its recording, dismantling and move to the Museum.
Paying for Travel
Road users paid a toll that funded road repairs. This was set at different levels by vehicle or even animal.
The Toll House Keeper
Toll House keepers lived rent-free, had better pay and less strenuous work than agricultural labourers, but worked anti-social hours.