Lakes Guides, topics
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Toll Gates
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We have searched the 6 inch County Series maps issued by the Ordnance Survey in the late 19th century to discover the location of old turnpikes, often just labelled "T.P." sometimes marked by a line across the road. This might indicate a gate, the 'pike' that had to be 'turned' to let the traveller through, but might suggest a toll house as well. The term turnpike has latterly become attached to the road itself. Notice that on the maps you will find many places with gate as part of their name. These are not necessarily toll gates. Some maps show a line across the road, but without the added evidence of a label 'TP' I do not take these to be turnpike gates. | ||
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map features | ||
| Examples of the map symbol for toll gates, Cumbria from a miscellany of map notes (in no order). | ||
| Cary 1794 |
New Map of England and Wales
A network of roads is drawn by double lines, wider and narrow. Lines are solid or dotted, presumably for fenced and unfenced margins. The broad, main, roads have light bold lines, and are tinted yellow/brown. Distances from town to town are given by figures by the road at mile intervals. Toll gates might be indicated, but not reliably; see at Town Head, north of Grasmere on the Ambleside to Keswick road:- 'Toll Gate' shown by the label only. At the map edges the main roads are labelled: top edge, left to right:- 'LR 1' right edge, top to bottom:- 'LR 3 2 1 LR' bottom edge, right to left:- '4 LR 3 2 1' left edge, bottom to top:- '1 2 3 4' The edge labels are matched by roads on the adjacent sheet. LR stands for London Road. | |
| Cary 1798 map 2 (11th edn 1828) |
Environs of the Lakes ...
A network of roads is drawn by double line, broader or narrower for greater or lesser roads, solid or dotted lines for fenced or unfenced margins? The greater roads have the two lines light bold, which is sometimes used to indicate turnpikes in maps of this period. These roads might have road distances from town to town marked by figures along the route at mile intervals, for examples see the roads radiating from Kendal. On the road north of Grasmere is:- 
'Toll Gate' 10 miles south of Keswick on the Ambleside road. | |
| Ford 1839 map |
A network of roads is drawn by double and single lines. The most important roads are broader double lines, light bold. But the network has to be understood from the perspective of the early 19th century, and bearing in mind the interest of the author of the guide book. Notice the road up Long Sleddale, drawn as a most important route. Lesser roads are narrower double lines, and even lesser, just single lines. Some of the important roads are marked with road distances from town to town. For example the Lancaster to Carlisle road has:- 
'L to B 11 MS. / B to K 11 MS. / K to S 16 MS. / S to P 11 MS. / P to C 18 MS.' through Burton in Kendal, Kendal, Shap, and Penrith. Not all the important routes are marked. Those that are labelled are sketched below:- 
On the road between Appleby and Brough is a label:- 'Turnpike' which might be a toll gate. A dotted line from Hest Bank is drawn to show the sands road across the Lancaster Sands to Kent's Bank. North of the landing place is:- 'Guide's House' The route from Lancaster to Ulverston continues from Holker across the Leven Sands to the- 
'Carters House' near Ulverston. A sands road is marked across the Duddon Estuary, and, by a double line, across the estuaries at Ravenglass. | |
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| An adhoc list. | ||
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references
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Wright, Geoffrey N: 1997: Turnpike Roads: Shire
Publications (Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire):: ISBN 0
7478 0155 X
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Smith, Colin: 2011: Guide to the Milestones, Mileposts,
and Toll Buildings of Cumbria: Brow Bottom Enterprises
(Bowscale, Cumbria):: ISBN 978 0 9556574 2 9
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email:- JandMN@norgate.freeserve.co.uk
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Geography Department, Portsmouth University