The Toll House at Mount Charles is situated where the B3266 road from St Tudy joins the A389 and thus controlled Bodmin's North West approaches. The windows are well positioned to see up and down the road and the porch was hard up against the highway, the purpose of this unusual cottage remained fairly clear until recently, when the porch was removed. It has a slate roof and the render finish probably conceals stone construction beneath. It is recorded on the Tithe Map and apportionment of c1840.
Like other counties that were distant from London, turnpiking came relatively late to Cornwall. The first turnpike Act covering Cornish roads was the creation of the Truro Roads in 1754.
The Bodmin Turnpike Trust was not created until 1769 providing a route across Bodmin Moor. Its primary responsibilities were the London Post Road from Launceston and branch roads radiating into Bodmin from small communities around Bodmin Moor and mid-Cornwall.
Previous to this the main routes into Cornwall were through Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge to the North and Plymouth to Liskeard, Lostwithiel and St Austell to the South. The route across the moor being too difficult to navigate especially in the winter.
By 1866 the Bodmin Turnpike Trust was showing 25 Toll Gates. Turnpike Trusts were however being affected by the arrival of the railways in the 1850s and after a period of steady decline were progressively wound up in the late 1870s onwards when the roads transferred to local Highways Boards and later the County Council in 1888.
The building is now a private residence. Access to the property is NOT required to find the cache. Please note that this is a busy road.
All active UK Toll House caches can be found here.
If other geocachers would like to set caches near UK Toll Houses, please get in touch with The Chens first and they will issue a number in the same way as the Church Micro series. They ask that the name is in the form "UK Toll House number - Local name". If you have a system of numbering your own caches, as they do, please put that last.