Toll Houses and turnpikes

[JenB]

Just going back to my earlier post

In the District Descriptions in both 1851 and 1861 it says Westfield Road and Toll house

We need to find Westfield Road.

[Lisajb]

I love my ancestors, always so easy to find...

[arthurk]

I don't think the toll roads,mentioned in answer #2 go throuigh West Kington, they are nearby  but a different rout. Having driven through there I cannot see West Kington being on a major route that would warrant a toll gate.

Not through the centre of the village, but nearby and in the parish. One of the routes shown appears to be just south of the county boundary, and if it's not that road going SW from Burton, I'm not sure what it is.

It can also be seen on this map: http://www.turnpikes.org.uk/map%20Wiltshire%20turnpikes.jpg

[youngtug]

I cannot agree, but that is my opinion. Not sure if this link will work; https://www.google.com/maps/@51.493924,-2.2780414,3a,60y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sm12T5_oR6SenSUXq0PQLsw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[JenB]

Just going back to my earlier post

In the District Descriptions in both 1851 and 1861 it says Westfield Road and Toll house

We need to find Westfield Road.

Just flinging this into the mix:

1871 census
R10/1895/26/13

The final entry on the page is Westfield Road.
The next entry, on page 14, is Kington Wick.
John Hall, head, m, mar, 70, ag lab, Bristol
Hannah do, wife, mar, 65, toll gate keeper,

The Toll house is also mentioned in association with Westfield Road in the District description in 1881.

[JenB]

Westfield Road and Toll House are also specifically mentioned in the district descriptions of West Kington in the censuses of 1891 and 1901, but I'm blowed if I can find them in any of the actual census pages.

It is also in the enumerators book for the 1911 census. The sequence is: Cross Roads, Ebbsdown Farm. Rownham farm, Toll House, Field Barn Farm, Burton Road Cottages.

[arthurk]

I cannot agree, but that is my opinion. Not sure if this link will work; https://www.google.com/maps/@51.493924,-2.2780414,3a,60y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sm12T5_oR6SenSUXq0PQLsw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

That link takes me to Drifton Hill, which isn't the road I meant. The one I was referring to is the one running past Kington Down Cottage, which I think might be Burton Road. I hope this link works - it should show that road as it passes Kington Down Cottage:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5053528,-2.2998498,3a,37.5y,76.5h,89.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdzD3oMyjNhG8tc_IHMp0Iw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I haven't yet found any definitive proof that that was a turnpike road with toll bars etc, but I have come up with a couple of hints:

1. Where that road crosses Marshfield Road near the NW corner of the parish, there is a cottage which the modern OS 1:25,000 map labels Turnpike Cottage, and a little to the west is Turnpike Farm. I'm not sure if this is what we're looking for, but it suggests either that there was a turnpike at that junction, or that someone else thought there was when they named the cottage. This map can be seen at Bing Maps - select Ordnance Survey and zoom in to get that scale.

2. The road from there to Nettleton (going past Kington Down Cottage) has milestones showing the distance from Bristol in one direction, and Christian Malford in the other - these are marked on historic large scale OS maps. This suggests to me that at one time the road was considered fairly significant and used by people travelling more than just locally, to whom such distances would be relevant - just the sort of road that might have turnpikes and tolls.

With Google street view I've had a look for a couple of the milestones on this stretch of road: one seemed to be missing and the other was illegible. But if they can be read, I think occasionally they have a few historical clues.

[stanmapstone]

Westfield Road and Toll House are also specifically mentioned in the district descriptions of West Kington in the censuses of 1891 and 1901, but I'm blowed if I can find them in any of the actual census pages.

It is also in the enumerators book for the 1911 census. The sequence is: Cross Roads, Ebbsdown Farm. Rownham farm, Toll House, Field Barn Farm, Burton Road Cottages.

You can see these farms on the side by side at https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=51.4916&lon=-2.3145&layers=6&right=BingHyb

Stan

[JenB]

She is Hannah England, with husband George, daughter Hannah and grandson William Woodman in the 1851, and she is on her own there in 1861.

Actually she appears to be  there with
John Hall, h[ea]d of f[amily], mar, 61, farmer of four acres, Bristol Gloucestershire
Hanah Hall, wife, mar, 51, Little Sodbury do
Sarah Jane Hall, grand dau, un, 5, West Kington Wilts.
RG 9 / 1280/ 70/ 1

This is the same John and Hannah enumerated at Kington Wick in 1871 and Hannah is a toll gate keeper.

1871 census
R10/1895/26/13

The final entry on the page is Westfield Road.
The next entry, on page 14, is Kington Wick.
John Hall, head, m, mar, 70, ag lab, Bristol
Hannah do, wife, mar, 65, toll gate keeper,