Oxford Milestones: Toll House at Folly Bridge
Folly Bridge was rebuilt in 1825–7, and in 1844 the toll-gate was moved on to it and this toll house built beside it. The bridge and this toll house are jointly Grade II listed: List Entry No 1319913
The original toll gate on the Abingdon to Banbury turnpike was further south on the Abingdon Road, and the tolls helped to recoup the cost of rebuilding the bridge (over £19,000, or £2.5 million today). The gate was moved here on to the bridge to intercept people travelling to and from the new Great Western Railway Station at Grandpont, and in 1845 was bringing in a profit of over £1,000 a year (compared to £300 a year without the station).
On 11 November 1843 the Trustees of Folly Bridge inserted a notice to builders in Jackson's Oxford Journal inviting tenders for this new toll house and gate, to be erected at the north end of the bridge. The toll house, which was was designed and built by James Gardiner, cost £320.
This toll gate closed in 1850.
Photograph of this toll house in 1961, when it was a boat hire service on the left and Nelson's Stores on the right. The road sign for Isis Street (a road which was obliterated) can be seen attached to the right-hand side of the shop. Mrs M E. Nelson (tobacconist, confectioner & General Stores) is listed here on Folly Bridge from 1962 to (prior to that William Hansen, tobacconist, had the building).
In August 2018 a planning application to turn the toll house into a café was refused (18/00313/FUL), but a second application was approved in July 2019 (18/03325/FUL) and it is now the Paper Boat Café.
- More on this toll house on the Local History in South Oxford website, with a link to its plans
The next toll house on this road still survives just over three miles to the north at 423 Banbury Road.