Victorian Powys for primary  schools
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Builth and district
  The Turnpike roads  

Early mapThe Turnpike Trusts set up a network of new roads across the county with tollgates at regular intervals where travellers would have to stop and pay a toll or fee before travelling on the next stretch of road. The charges varied depending on the vehicle, and farmers herding animals along the road had to pay for each one.


The Breconshire tolls were the highest in South Wales and farmers bringing animals to market might find that they had to pay for each animal at more than one tollgate. image of stage coach coming through tollgateAll the main roads into Builth had tollgates, so unless you were just walking you would have to pay to come into the town, and then pay again to come out ! (The map above shows Builth's Eastern tollgate around 1840.)

Farmers and drovers who herded animals for miles across country took to using hill tracks to avoid paying high fees every few miles.
The turnpike roads in early Victorian times did improve travel though, and the Royal Mail used these roads to speed up the time it took to get letters around the country.
In 1844 the Turnpike Trusts were abolished in the area.

To see what happened when local people became angry at having to pay these tolls visit the section on the Rhayader Rebecca Rioters.

Builth milestone

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