Three Milestones on the London Road
 LI Near the turn-off to Listed ref:
1485/153 |
 LII South side of Listed ref:
1485/748 |
 LIII Top of Listed ref: 1485/747 |
There are three milestones dating from about 1795 in Headington beside the London-Oxford main road, which was originally known as the Stokenchurch Turnpike but is now the Headington Road and London Road. They are all at the south side of the road (thus benefiting visitors coming in from London).
The three stones above are markers which Turnpike Trusts were obliged to erect at every mile along a turnpike road under the Turnpike Act of 1795. This enabled travellers to check that they were getting proper value for their tolls, as the distance between toll-gates should be exactly six miles. Headington had one of these toll-gates across the London Road, stretching between what is now Chancellor’s and Oxford Design. (Oxford Design occupies the old Co-op building which was erected on the site of the demolished toll-house in 1893.)
The three Headington milestones are part of an unbroken run of thirteen milestones that survive on the old London to Worcester road. The first of these twelve can be seen at Wheatley, and the last at Begbroke. On the stretch of the road that runs through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, 37 milestones survive in all.