The Tollgates of Sussex

Transcription

1 The Tollgates of Sussex 267 By GWYNETH PENNETHORNE "I TRAVEL the open road," sang Walt Whitman, and "the open road" and "the freedom of the road" are nowadays phrases of common usage. Yet less than one hundred years ago the roads of England were anything but free and open. As late as 1840 it was estimated that there were 100,000 miles of turnpike road in England and over 7,000 turnpike gates. These gates were rarely more than six or eight miles apart, and at each one toll had to be paid before the traveller could pass. Everyone had to pay none went free except the King, persons attending church or funerals, and farmers moving stock from one part of a farm to another. That Sussex had a large share of these turnpike gates can be seen by the number of tollgate houses which still remain. Alongside highways and by-ways, wide roads and mere lanes, one comes upon these little houses, bearing unmistakable signs of their origin. They stand flush with the road separated from it by no strip of garden; they are usually of one storey only with a central chimney; generally they are at the junction of two or more roads, and have windows set at an angle to face both up and down the roads ; sometimes the toll house bears a clock, and in nearly every case a large rectangular space is to be seen where used to hang the board with the table of tolls. The table of tolls throws a vivid light on the numerous varieties of vehicles which used the roads in the days before the railways came. In Haslemere Museum can be seen

2 a toll board from Chiddingfold giving a most comprehensive list, namely, "coach, berlin, landau, barouche, chariot, chaise, chair, gig, hearse, curricle, whiskey, taxed cart, waggon, wain, timber frame, cart frame, and dray". Even this list is not complete, others adding post chaise, litter, diligence, calash, caravan, and sociable. Coaches and carriages were charged according to the width of their wheels (as well as for the number of horses drawing them), the toll varied from 3d. for broad wheel to 4½d for a narrow one, the idea being that the broad wheel helped to roll the roads. Animals used in drawing included horse, mule and ox; two oxen being charged at the rate of one horse. In Sussex dogs are also listed as they were used in some parts to carry the mails. Sheep and oxen were charged for by the score, while a rider paid 2d. whatever his mount. The system was equitable in that each person paid in exact proportion for the use he made of the road. But it must have been an intolerable nuisance. The greatest distance between gates was eight miles, but they were often much closer. Lindfield had a gate crossing its main street (this was taken down and burnt amid great rejoicing in 1884), and only three miles further north at Ardingly another gate barred the way. The traveller must have needed a large supply of small change if he was not to be delayed on his way. In Rodney Stone it may be remembered Rodney was given a supply of shillings when he drove with his uncle in the memorable race against Sir John Lade, so that they should not be stopped at the tollgates between Brighton and London. One can imagine the impatience one would experience when, having roused the turnpike keeper, one had to wait while he went indoors for change before he would swing open the heavy gate. What happened, one wonders, when neither party had change! A vivid account is given by Mr D. L. Murray in his novel Regency of a ride from London to Brighton at night. Regency has frequently to wake up the surly tollgate keeper. At Crawley the keeper, to safeguard his sleep, had left the gate open, but at Slough Green she was unable to wake the man and had to jump the gate. This did wake him, and he fired at her with his blunderbuss!

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4 Tollgate keepers were obliged to be armed, as one of their duties was to keep a look out for highwaymen; they also broadcast news of highway robberies by means of a speaking trumpet. Other duties included the setting up of boundary posts and widening of the roads. Tollgates were first instituted in England in the reign of Edward in when a commission was granted by the King for a toll to be levied on carriages passing from St Giles to Temple Bar, the road being in such a deplorable state as to be almost impassable. From that began the turnpike system so called from the pike or bar on which the gate turned. The number of gates constantly increased in spite of the general dislike of the system. At one time bands of men calling themselves

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6 Rebekahites from Genesis xxiv "Let their seed possess the gate" burnt the gates. Agitation in Parliament caused certain roads to become free, and by 1872 London was finally cleared of tolls. The toll still lingers on a few bridges, but I think I am right in saying that one can now travel from end to end of Sussex without let or hindrance apart from that imposed by the speed limit in built-up areas, and at the present time by military restrictions.