Tollgate

In the years around 1776, there was a tollgate at Botley Hill, at a place called Coldharbour Beeches. The road was lined with beech trees on each side, and ran along the boundary of the nearby parish of Tatsfield, near the borders of Kent and surrey. The toll gate cottage is still standing, and still occupied, but the toll gate, which could have blocked the road, has long since gone. The name of the cottage is now Paygate cottage. Stagecoaches paid toll, but mail coaches did not. At a blast on the driver's 'yard of tin', the toll gatekeeper would hurl himself out to open the gate, as the coach thundered through. Every type of traffic gave way to the mail coach. The toll keepers slept in their clothes, and went out at night with a loaded blunderbuss, ready for armed robberies, as they could accumulate as much as eight to ten pounds (cash) per week. The fare on the stagecoach at this time from London to Lewes was six shillings and six pence. The gate was so located on the borders of Kent and surrey, that anybody using the road and passing from Kent to surrey, or vice versa, would go through the tollgate and pay toll on their vehicle. This road was used to transport hops, leather, fruit, fish, etc. to London. It was illegal to transport brandy, and so the constables would be stationed at the gate to search vehicles for illicit goods. It could be disastrous to be stopped in this fashion, as there were press gangs also waiting, and they would step in and take the driver away to be pressed into service on board the king's ships. There were also highwaymen lurking, and if the coach was going slowly after having been stopped at a tollgate, it enabled the highwaymen to attack more easily. There is an old story that the old tree by Botley Hill was used for hanging without a trial in cases of smuggling or highway robbery.