Tollgate House, near the village of Mitchel Troy in Monmouthshire, Wales, is a tollhouse dating from the early 19th century. Attributed to the architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville, it is a Grade II listed building.
| Tollgate House | |
|---|---|
 On the road from Monmouth to Mitchel Troy | |
| Type | Tollhouse |
| Location | Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire |
| Coordinates | 51°48′00″N 2°43′08″W / 51.8°N 2.719°W |
| Built | c.1810 |
| Architect | Jeffry Wyatville |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical |
| Governing body | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Tollgate House aka Monmouth Toll House |
| Designated | 23 April 1992 |
| Reference no. | 2867 |
  Location of Tollgate House in Monmouthshire | |
History and description
editIn the Early modern period, before responsibility for the construction and maintenance of roads was transferred to local government, roadbuilding was undertaken as a private commercial activity by turnpike trusts. The trusts built the roads, under agreements made with local landowners and with the sanction of private Acts of Parliament, and recouped the construction and maintenance costs by the raising of tolls.[1] To enable the collection of the tolls, tollhouses were built, frequently at the junctions of roads, which provided accommodation for a toll-keeper and were designed to enable them to man gates placed at the junctions at which tolls were collected from users of the roads.[2]
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a huge expansion in the construction of toll roads in Wales and elsewhere, as the demands of industry and commerce drove a need for greatly improved communication routes. South Wales experienced particularly rapid expansion, due to the burgeoning coal and iron industries. The toll road from Monmouth into South Wales was constructed in the early 19th century and Tollgate House at Mitchel Troy, the first tollhouse on the road out of the town, was built in around 1810.[3] The design is attributed to Sir Jeffry Wyatville by Cadw,[4] although the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) goes no further than to note that Wyatville did design toll houses along the route.[a][3]
The building is a rough rectangle, with three bays giving easy sight out to the approaching roads. Unusually, it is of two-storeys, as tollhouses were more commonly single-storey structures. It is built of local whitewashed stone. Tollgate House is a Grade II listed building.[4]
Footnotes
edit- ^ Sir Jeffry Wyatville was one of the most successful architects of the first half of the 19th century. Much favoured by George IV, Wyatville’s most notable work was the reconstruction of Windsor Castle.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Tollhouse at St. Fagans National Museum of History". Museum Wales. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ "Researching the History of British Toll Houses". Buildinghistory.org. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Tollgate House, Mitchel Troy (20887)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ a b Cadw. "Tollgate House aka Monmouth Toll House (Grade II) (2867)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ Stroud, Dorothy (6 June 1953). "Windsor Restored: the Work of Sir Jeffry Wyatville 1824-40". History Today. Retrieved 15 October 2023.