Former tollhouse at No. 6 Upton Lovell and tollbooth opposite, Upton Lovell, Wiltshire

Summary

A former TOLL HOUSE, built in 1836, designed by Mr Pinch of Bath, in a Tudor-style and built by Williams Trapp, became a private dwelling in 1870, alterations made in C20 and C21, excluding the conservatory attached to the rear, the detached modern garage to the south and stone boundary wall to the east. A former TOLLBOOTH, built to house a weighing machine, built circa 1836 in a Tudor-style, used as a bus shelter since the second half of the C20.

Description

A former TOLLBOOTH, built to house a weighing machine, built circa 1836 in a Tudor-style, used as a bus shelter since the second half of the C20.
MATERIALS: limestone, brick and slate.
PLAN
TOLL HOUSE: a cruciform plan on a north-west to south-east alignment.
TOLLBOOTH: a small rectangular building facing south-west.
EXTERIOR
TOLL HOUSE: single storey to the front (east) and two storey to the rear (west). The main entrance is within the central projecting bay and under a timber porch on stone footings that is topped by a stone pinnacle and slate roof. The front entrance is a pair of part glazed timber doors surrounded by a chamfered four-pointed ashlar stone arch. The right and left returns have single-light openings. All of the original openings are rectangular mullions with drip moulds and contain modern sash-style timber windows. The central bay is flanked by wings with two-light openings (boarded up internally). The north and south elevations each have two-light openings and a glazed arrow slit above. The two-storey rear elevation has a central projecting gable consisting of two-light openings on either floor. It is flanked by two wings, the left of which contains a chamfered square entrance to a former stable block and two modern single light windows, with a modern two-light opening above. The right wing is partially obscured by a modern single-storey conservatory*, behind which is a modern doorway to the lower ground floor with a modern two-light opening above. The gables over each of the four principal elevations are finished with stone coping supported by moulded kneelers and topped by stone pinnacles. The slate pitched roofs are topped by a central ridge stack with four square brick and stone shafts. The south and north wings each have roof lights in the western roof pitch.
TOLLBOOTH: the principal gable end faces west towards the road. The entrance is a four-pointed arch entrance with a drip mould. The north elevation contains a rectangular three light casement window set in a stone surround, topped by a drip mould in the north elevation. The rear (east) elevation shows signs of some replacement stone. The coping over the two gable ends is topped by stone pinnacles.

INTERIOR
TOLL HOUSE: the interior has been largely modernised, with some additional door openings. The entrance hall has a flagstone floor and an arched niche in the rear wall which would have been used for securing the toll payments, and which contains an inbuilt timber cupboard. An early-C21 central staircase (in the same position as a mid-C20 stair), rises up to the attic voids beneath the north and south wings. There is an exposed kingpost truss above the hall. The lower ground floor is accessed via a central stone stair case. This level retains a large proportion of flagstone floor and includes two barrel-vaulted rooms, one a former stable (now a dining room) and the other a cellar (now a kitchen). There is also an exposed brick fireplace in the lower ground-floor room within the south wing.
TOLLBOOTH: a concrete floor and a C20 timber bench.

*Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (“the Act”) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest. The conservatory, modern detached garage to the south of no.6 and the stone boundary wall to the east are all excluded from the listing.

History

The toll house at Upton Lovell was built 1836. It replaced an earlier toll house known as tollgate on the Knook/Heytesbury boundary. A set of sales particulars (1870) note that the builder was Mr William Trapp of Warminster and that the architect was Mr Pinch of Bath. This is likely to refer to one of the sons of John Pinch the Elder (1769 – 1827), the architects John Pinch the Younger (1796 –1849), and his brother Charles (1807–1854), who inherited the architectural practice of their father, or their brother William Pinch (unknown dates). The tollhouse was part of the former Fisherton Turnpike Trust, established in 1761 on the Wylye Valley Road, and ran all the way from Salisbury, via Wilton and along Codford’s main street, to Heytesbury where an earlier trust continued the route to Warminster. A toll booth, understood to be contemporary with the house, was erected on the opposite side of the road to house a weighing machine, (likely to have been relocated from the closed Heytesbury toll gate). On the closure of the turnpike in 1870, the house and toll booth were sold at auction and bought by James Goodfellow of Codford. The original stone front porch, which included side observation windows and a large clock under the gable, was replaced in the mid-C20 by a timber porch built on the earlier stone footings. Local folklore suggests that the toll booth was used as a lock up in the early C20. In 1960 the owner of the toll house, known at the time as the Old Gate House leased (and later gifted) the toll booth to Upton Lovell Village Hall Committee who have maintained the building as a bus shelter ever since.

Reasons for Listing

The former toll house at No. 6 Upton Lovell, excluding the attached conservatory and detached modern garage and stone boundary wall to the east, and the former toll booth opposite are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Functional relationship survival: the survival of both the toll house and tollbooth clearly demonstrates their functional relationship to each other and the former toll road;
* Historic Interest: as pre-1840s transport buildings which survive relatively intact; the toll house and tollbooth were among the final flourish of construction on this turnpike, before the proliferation of the railway network;
* Architectural interest: the toll house and tollbooth both demonstrate influences of polite architecture, built in a cohesive Tudor-influenced style;
* Group value: both buildings have strong group value with each other as toll buildings, and with other listed structures associated with the Fisherton Turnpike, including cast-iron sign posts and milepost markers.

External Links

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