The Old Toll House At Sx 9132 6371

SX9163 885-1/17/273 10/01/75

TORQUAY TORBAY ROAD (North East side) The Old Toll House at SX 9132 6371 (Formerly Listed as: TORBAY ROAD Former Toll House)

II

Toll house, now used as public lavatories. c1841 with later alterations. Rock-faced local grey limestone, brought to course, with hammer-dressed dressings; gabled slate roof with lead ridge; stacks with stone shafts with platbands. PLAN: Small rectangular building with a porch on the north-west end; right end and rear left stack. EXTERIOR: Single-storey. 3-bay elevation to Torbay Road. The main block has coped gables with kneelers and a corbelled parapet with stone bands at the base and top. 3 windows with chamfered frames, modern glazing. Porch at left end has lower roofline, coped gable and one chamfered blocked 1-light window on the front elevation; rebuilt chamfered doorway on left end. INTERIOR: Not inspected. HISTORY: In 1848 the toll for horse drawn carriages was 6d, many hotels paid a lump sum to avoid annoyance to their visitors (Ellis, p.371). An illustration reproduced in Ellis (p.373) shows a gabled porch on the front to the right. A lantern is attached to this and was swung round at night. The right end stack is shown with a tall octagonal stone shaft. The collection of tolls was eventually transferred to a toll-house at the end of King's Drive, to avoid the irritation of an interrupted drive along this picturesque road. (Ellis CA: An Historical Survey of Torquay, 2nd edition: 1930-: P.371,373).

Listing NGR: SX9131263720