Milestones: London–Oxford–Worcester turnpike
Wheatley |
Holton |
Forest Hill |
Thornhill |
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The Stokenchurch Turnpike was set up in 1719, and the trust was responsible for the road from Stokenchurch through Oxford to Woodstock, except for the mileways in the city of Oxford, which were inluded in 1761/2.
The road originally took the Old London Road across Shotover. But in 1773 the Trustees of the Stokenchurch Turnpike resolved to apply to Parliament "for power to divert the Road, and entirely avoid Shotover Hill", and in 1788 sought "to impower the Trustees to compleat a Road from the Bottom of Cheney-Lane, upon Headington-Hill, to Forest-Hill..., to be used instead of the present Road up Cheney-Lane and Shotover-Hill".
Many milestones survive on this road, and there is an unbroken run of thirteen milestones, starting at Wheatley the east of Oxford (48 miles from London) and ending at Begbroke (60 miles from London). They were all originally positioned to suit the traveller coming from London and worded accordingly. Twelve of them are shown above.
The road was disturnpiked in 1878, and the toll-gates removed. The toll-houses/gates on this road included:
- Headington (on the south-east junction of Windmill Road and London Road). This toll-house was demolished c.1890 to make room for a new Co-op building
- The Plain, Oxford. This toll-house, which was on the site of the present Victoria Fountain, was built in 1771 and demolished in 1869. There were two gates, one across the road to Headington and the other on the road to the Cowley/Iffley Roads.
- Yarnton (the former Grapes inn)
The middle section of the London to Worcester turnpike that runs through the counties of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire originally had 53 milestones (the first being 16 miles and the last 68 miles from London). Of these 53 milestones, 37 still survive:
16 Denham 34 Stokenchurch 52 Headington east 17 missing 35 Stokenchurch 53 Headington west 18 Denham 36 Stokenchurch 54 Magdalen College 19 Gerrards Cross 37 missing 55 Woodstock Road (No. 12) 20 Gerrards Cross 38 missing 56 Woodstock Road (No. 243) 21 Chalfont St Peter 39 missing 57 Woodstock Road (No. 385) 22 Chalfont St Peter 40 missing 58 Gosford & Water Eaton 23 Beaconsfield 41 missing 59 Yarnton 24 missing 42 missing 60 Begbroke 25 Beaconsfield 43 Tetsworth 61 missing 26 Chepping Wycombe 44 Great Haseley 62 Woodstock 27 High Wycombe 45 Tiddington with Albury 63 missing 28 missing 46 missing 64 Wootton 29 High Wycombe 47 missing 65 missing 30 West Wycombe 48 Wheatley 66 Glympton 31 missing 49 Holton 67 missing 32 West Wycombe 50 Forest Hill 68 Enstone 33 Piddington & Wheeler End 51 Thornhill