Description

Summary: photograph, copy, of waggons, one marked with maker's name and the date 1880, outside the Crown Inn, Buckland, Lymington, Lymington and Pennington, Hampshire

Identification note: The Crown Inn is next to the tollgate (now called the Tollhouse Pub) for the Lymington Turnpike. Before the 18th century many British roads were poorly built, dangerous to travel and lacked direct routes. To tackle this problem and encourage people to travel, toll roads, called ‘turnpikes’, were built A trust was responsible for maintaining a specific road and its members collected toll fees. The Turnpike from Lymington to Totton was enacted by Parliament in 1765 and the road remained a turnpike until 1850. In 1789 it was described by a traveller as: “...singularly beautiful – it includes almost every variation of country and prospect conceivable and extensive woods, rich savannahs, commanding eminences, comfortable mansions, and well built villages meet the traveller’s eye in rapid succession to each other.”