IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Great North Road, POTTERS BAR, EN6 1JD

These are found all around the perimeter of London. They are marked with the crest of the city of London and were erected around 1860. They marked the boundary after which an extra tax had to be paid on coal destined for use in London. Tax was not collected at the posts. They served as a reminder only. This one is one of a pair; see Image

The Coal Duties Act of 1851 gave the Corporation of the City of London the power to tax coal and other goods (including wine and spirits) entering the Metropolitan area. The boundary of the area - for this purpose - was marked by posts or other markers, many of which still exist. This one is typical of the commonest type - though part of the original lettering is missing. It stands near a bus-shelter at the eastern end of Church Road. There is a second post round the corner in the Great North Road - less than a minute's walk away http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3598965

View west, from near the junction with the Great North Road. The Coal Duties Act of 1851 gave the Corporation of the City of London the power to tax coal and other goods (including wine and spirits) entering the Metropolitan area. Crossing points into the area (at which tax would be collected) were marked by posts of various designs - though this white-painted cast-iron post is typical: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3598994l. Presumably a ring of such posts once extended right round the capital. For whatever reason, the greatest concentration of surviving posts seems to be here in south Hertfordshire. The Church Road post is one of two within not many yards of each other:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3598965

Approaching Little Heath from the south. For a closer view of the post and more about their function, see: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3598414 There is a second post not far beyond the traffic lights, just round the corner to the left (in Church Road).

The Coal Duties Act of 1851 gave the Corporation of the City of London the power to tax coal and other goods (including wine and spirits) entering the Metropolitan area. The boundary of the area - for this purpose - was marked by posts or other markers. So once upon a time there must have been a ring of posts encircling London. My impression is that these days they are more noticeable in Hertfordshire - for whatever reason - than in the other Home Counties. This one stands by the old Great North Road, while a second post can be found just round the corner in Church Road. For links to sites documenting the history of these posts see Ian Capper's Image

One of a pair. See Image

Coal Tax Post used as a point where tax was paid for the conveyance of coal in the Victorian era.

Looking east towards the junction with the Hatfield Road, Potters Bar, Herts.

Looking west along Church Road, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire towards, Darkes Lane.