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The Wrexham to Barnhill Turnpike - Farndon Toll Bar Cottage
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Toll Bar Cottage
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A building, seemingly lost in time, which gives very little indication of its former existence, is the Toll Bar Cottage at the juction of Barton Road and Sibbersfield Lane - known to locals today simply as 'The Kennels'.
Turnpike Acts
'Turnpike mania' followed between 1751-72, when trusts covered more than 11,500 miles of road. By the time the last was passed in 1836, there had been 942 Acts for new turnpike trusts in England and Wales. By then, turnpikes covered around 22,000 miles of road, about a fifth of the entire road network.
Route
Farndon became a section within the Wrexham to Barnhill Turnpike. The Act for providing such a road was passed in 1782, the route of which crossed the county west to east - and of course the England/Wales border - from Wrexham to Barnhill, terminating at the Broxton Crossroads, where it met the Chester to Whitchurch Turnpike (now the A41). The route passed through Holt, over the Dee Bridge and through Farndon village High Street and on along Barton Road, at the end of which it crossed the Chester to Worthenbury Turnpike.
and the hedged enclosure 
Chester Chronicle 13 July 1838 
Route of the Wrexham - Barnhill Turnpike 
Cheshire Turnpikes
Consequently from 1864, Parliament commenced a programme to terminate turnpike trusts; any turnpike Act that had not already expired, been repealed or discontinued, would no longer operate as such after the 1 November 1886, unless Parliament declared otherwise. The turnpike era formally ceased when the trust managing the Anglesey section of the Shrewsbury to Holyhead Road — expired on 1 November 1895. Under an Act of 1878, all former turnpike roads that had become public highways since 1870 were now to be designated 'main roads', as were roads between 'great towns' and those leading to railway stations. The Wrexham - Barnhill Turnpike was part of this transition, the trust ceasing to exist in 1879.
Tithe Map 1840 showing apportionment
After the granting of the first Act in the late eighteenth century,  Chester Chronicle 11 March 1871 
A typical toll gate arrangement with the toll cottage on the right. 
A tariff board would be on show on the wall of the cottage to show travellers the charges, this was this example from the last toll cottage in use at Llanfair, Anglesey where it remains today. 
The toll cottage in Delamere, still in existence. Note the similar window design to the Farndon Toll Bar Cottage. From the Tithe Map apportionment it is clear that the cottage was owned by the Barnston family of Crewe Hill, while employing Richard Price in the toll cottage collecting tolls, but although the Price family were long term residents of Farndon, it not known who else resided in the cottage throughout its existence as a toll cottage. Directories do not show a toll collector, nor do any of the census returns, although in the case of the latter, the problem is compounded by lack of house names to specifically identify the toll cottage. However, into the 20th century the occupants can be identified;
1901 Census
1911 Census Address
1911 Census
1921 Census Address
1921 Census
Chester Chronicle 05 September 1936 Chester Chronicle 29 August 1936 
1939 Census
Nantwich Chronicle 24 June 1982
Based in Churton For an excellent and extensive study of the Chester to Worthenbury Turnpike which passed the Farndon Toll Bar Cottage on Sibbersfield Lane, see the articles Parts One & Two below. The 1854 turnpike from Chester to Worthenbury via Churton, with a branch to Farndon – Part 1, Background The 1854 turnpike from Chester to Worthenbury via Churton, with a branch to Farndon – Part 2: The Turnpike |
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The upkeep of roads had previously been the responsibility of the local parish through which it passed, but as traffic increased, it was clear that this system was no longer fit for purpose. From the late 17th century, Parliament increasingly took responsibility for repairing and maintaining roads from local authorities. Turnpike Acts authorised a trust to levy tolls on those using the road and to use that income to repair and improve the road. They could also purchase property to widen or divert existing roads. The trusts were not-for-profit and maximum tolls were set. The 'turnpike' was the gate which blocked the road until the toll was paid.
The first such Act, of 1663, turnpiked the Great North Road between Wadesmill in Hertfordshire and Stilton in Huntingdonshire. The next was not until 1695 (Shenfield to Harwich), but after that there were several a year, and by 1750 most of the main roads from London were turnpiked.
