YOUNG ALHS
Abergavenny's
toll houses
In the 1700s and early 1800s groups of wealthy gentlemen got together to improve the state of the more important roads then charge people to use the roads. These roads were called Turnpikes. There were gates across the road which the gatekeepers would open for you when you had paid the fee. Charges were made for carriages and carts and the animals pulling them but walkers were free. Some people made long detours to avoid paying the charges. Farmers pulling essential loads to and from their farms or taking animals to market found the charges a burden.
There was usually a house for the keeper to live in and you can still see a number of these toll houses around Abergavenny. Have you noticed them? It was the fashion to make them more ‘fancy’ than ordinary houses. There is one by the school at Pen-y-pound, one on the corner of Holywell and Lower Monk Street, another where Grosvenor Road joins Hereford Road. Have you seen any others?
The toll gate along Ross Road did not have a house with it, just a shelter to protect the gate keeper. You had to be friendly and polite to the gate keepers as they could keep you waiting a very long time before they unlocked the gate if you ordered them about too much.
Images: Toll houses at Pen-y-pound, Lower Monk Street/Holywell Road, Hereford Road/Grosvenor Road - ALHS
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