The Turnpike

The village boundaries today seem to be defined by roads and railways. To the north is the M4 and Junction 32, to the east is the busy A470 and the Gabalfa Interchange to the south. The west boundary remains (as always), the River Taff

Unpick time by a hundred years and the village begins to look different; just the old Merthyr Road and the quieter side roads east and west. Another eighty years (to 1847) and there were no railways, and a further fifty years (1794), no canal. Unpick a further twenty-five years (to 1767) and the village begins to look very different indeed.
That was the year the turnpike road was opened

It’s hard to believe that only 250 years ago, there was no road north from the village. There was the ancient unmade cart route to Tongwynlais and the old pack-horse routes over the tops of the hills via Thornhill and Eglwysilian, but that’s all. Anyway, there was no real need to go anywhere north, as all of the hamlets and villages in the Taff valley were very agricultural, self-sufficient and were very similar to Whitchurch
The industrial towns of Merthyr and Dowlais were far away and had their own road connections, so there was no need for a north-south road

This was a time before coal was discovered commercially in the valleys

But local land-owners were beginning to realise the opportunity to move goods and people around the country. Just three years earlier in 1764, a private turnpike road had started construction between Gloucester, Cardiff and Swansea. The local councils (such as they were), were being cajoled into improving the county roads, but without much success. That’s why, in 1767 a turnpike road was opened from Tongwynlais, north towards Merthyr Tydfil. All of the turnpike roads were privately-funded and were such an improvement on the old medieval tracks everywhere. However, they still had a stone and dust finish and needed regular maintenance

The old photograph below shows the location of the old tollhouse and gate at Llandaff (actually they used a chain rather than a gate, hence Radyr Chain!)

A gate and tollhouse were opened in Tongwynlais, where the toll was paid. There’s a rebuilt tollhouse and gate at St Fagans with a painted board listing the toll charges
The tollhouse and gate in Tongwynlais were only removed many years later after much local complaint and objection

The local road through Whitchurch village was finally ‘improved’ and became the Merthyr Road. In 1820 a daily 4-horse coach service from Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil was started. The coach would have passed through Whitchurch and would have led to the development of coaching inns at the 3-Horsehoes and the 3-Elms both with stabling and smithy. The Hollybush (which even then would have been quite old) would have provided fresh horses for the climb up to Tongwynlais and beyond. By 1830, a second daily coach service had started

No-one liked to pay the tolls. By 1839 the Rebecca Riots had started in Cardiganshire/Carmarthenshire (led by men disguised as women and known as Rebecca), objecting to the turnpikes and demanding the removal of the tollgate system. By 1842 the riots recurred in west Wales and a year Later to Pontaddulais and the Vale of Glamorgan. I wonder if there was any unrest in Whitchurch?

By then, of course, the Glamorganshire Canal had opened and the first section of the Taff Vale Railway too

When did the tollgate finish in Tongwynlais? Does anyone know? And what became of the tollhouse?

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