IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Galhampton Road, YEOVIL, BA22 7AA

Pyramid finial - 1 arm; Somerset SCC pyramid by the A359, in parish of Castle Cary (South Somerset District), on the southwest side of the Y-junction of the A359 Galhampton Hill and the B3162 by old tollhouse SO.CAS. Image Surveyed Milestone Society National ID: SO_ST6330

Toll House on High Road (A359) at the junction with Galhampton Hill, BA7 7PF. The signpost on the left is: SO_ST6330 Image Somerset HER. HER number: 40732 https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=40732&resourceID=100 Surveyed Milestone Society National ID: SO.CAS

The tollhouse stands on the junction of the B3152 and the A357. The roads formed part of the turnpike controlled by the Langport, Somerton and Castle Cary Turnpike Trust. This trust was created in 1753 as a multi-centred trust. Its main responsibilities were the east/west road on the high ground above the Somerset Levels and a network of minor roads into the three market towns of mid Somerset. The tollhouse was known as the Galhampton Hill Gate but many of the trusts records are a bit vague and the gate may have been called the Shepherd's Hill Gate. Turnpikes were administered by turnpike trusts, which were authorised by private act of parliament. The trusts laid down a network of soundly constructed roads throughout the country, replacing parochial maintenance system on many highways and substantially improving communications. The first English turnpike roads were authorised by an act of 1663. By the 1800s there were about 8000 tollgates and 22,000 miles of highway. The trusts engineers, notably John Macadam, constructed many new roads, which by the 1800s were being utilized by an efficient stagecoach system. However, railway expansion after 1830 led to the rapid decline of stagecoaches and turnpike revenue.

At junction of B3152 and A359 at Galhampton, near Castle Cary