See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

A former, single storey stone-built 19th century toll house on the seafront, opposite the eastern end of Torre Abbey Sands.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1218985: THE OLD TOLL HOUSE AT SX 9132 6371

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX96SW/44
• Torbay HER: MTO9782

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TOLL HOUSE (Built, XIX - 1801 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Kanefsky, J., 1976, Devon Tollhouses (Monograph). SDV7980.

Tollhouse on the seafront at Torquay, opposite Torre Abbey Sands and next to the Palm Court Hotel. A single-storey limestone cottage, now the beaches office, dating from about 1842 when the road was opened but disused by about 1850, the toll collection being moved west to Kings Drive.

Garratt, A., 2000, Evaluation of a Historic Building: The Old Toll House, Torbay road, Torquay (Report - Survey). SDV362305.

Tollhouse on the seafront near Torre Abbey Sands and next to the Palm Court Hotel. Originally a single-storey limestone cottage, put up in 1842 as part of the new turnpike road works but fell out of use as early as 1850, the toll collection being moved west to a new tollhouse and gate on The Kings Drive in front of the abbey.

Rosevear, A., 2008, Devon Tollhouses (Un-published). SDV351734.

The Old Toll House, under the cliff face on Torquay seafront. Built in 1842.

Google, 2025, Google Streetview 2025 (Website). SDV366288.

Single storey, decorative stone building, with raised gabled ends, a slate roof, a chimney at the eastern end and a lower, gabled porch at the western end. Streetview for April 2024 showed it to be boarded shut.

Ordnance Survey, 2025, Mastermap 2025 (Cartographic). SDV366286.

Marked as a Toll House.

Historic England, 2025, National Heritage List for England 2025, 1218985 (National Heritage List for England). SDV366287.

Toll house, now used as public lavatories. C.1841 with later alterations. Rock-faced local grey limestone, brought to course, with hammer-dressed dressings; gabled slate roof with lead ridge; stacks with stone shafts with platbands.
PLAN: Small rectangular building with a porch on the north-west end; right end and rear left stack.
EXTERIOR: Single-storey. 3-bay elevation to Torbay Road. The main block has coped gables with kneelers and a corbelled parapet with stone bands at the base and top. 3 windows with chamfered frames, modern glazing. Porch at left end has lower roofline, coped gable and one chamfered blocked 1-light window on the front elevation; rebuilt chamfered doorway on left end.
INTERIOR: Not inspected.
HISTORY: In 1848 the toll for horse drawn carriages was 6d, many hotels paid a lump sum to avoid annoyance to their visitors (Ellis, p.371). An illustration reproduced in Ellis (p.373) shows a gabled porch on the front to the right. A lantern is attached to this and was swung round at night. The right end stack is shown with a tall octagonal stone shaft. The collection of tolls was eventually transferred to a toll-house at the end of King's Drive, to avoid the irritation of an interrupted drive along this picturesque road. (Ellis CA: An Historical Survey of Torquay, 2nd edition: 1930-: P.371,373).
Date first listed: 10th January 1975. Date of most recent amendment: 3rd May 1994

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.