Toll House - Lower Sandgate Road - Folkestone, Kent UK - Bygone Toll Houses on Waymarking.com

Before a huge landslip occurred along this stretch of the coast in 1784, all cargo leaving Folkestone harbour had to travel via a very steep incline out of the town towards London and Canterbury. The slippage of agricultural land, owned by Lord Radnor, created a stretch of land that could now be used to build a new road on (Lower Sandgate Road), thereby giving access to Sandgate and the London route directly to and from Folkestone Harbour. By 1820, Lord Radnor had placed a Toll House here to collect tolls for use of his new road. The original Toll House had been a wooden structure, but seems that in 2 years he was making a sufficient return on his investment to have it replaced by a stone built Toll House designed by the eminent architect Sir Sidney Smirke, who was responsible for the impressive British Museum's Reading Room, York Minster's nave roof and the Charlton Club in Pall Mall London to name a few.

Although Folkestone developed as a popular seaside resort, in time, revenue from the tolls collected on the 'Lower Sandgate Road' fell below the costs in maintaining it. In 1913, the area then known as Leas Cliff was leased to the local corporation. Used mainly for a park, there was still a convenient 'through road' that the Radnor Estate collected tolls on until 1973 when the council purchased the free hold. In 1980 the Toll House was itself sold as a private residence. More pictures of the Toll House since the 1800's can presently be seen here.