Tolls
In the 1860’s, when Roads Boards were faced with miles of unmade, often impassable, roads with grossly inadequate finance and facilities, Districts were given authority to charge tolls for traffic passing between districts.A Toll Gate was placed across Doncaster Road at the junction of Elgar Road in 1866. The toll was most unpopular. Later the gate was move to the corner of High Street, as many were avoiding the gate by crossing paddocks.
Tolls did not last long and were abolished after a few years. A stone from the Templestowe quarry has been placed in the Thompson Reserve opposite the position of the gate in Doncaster Road.
Extract from Irvine Green writing in 1978 02 DTHS Newsletter
The Toll house at the corner of Doncaster and Elgar Roads
In November 1869, the Doncaster the Toll Gate was moved from Doncaster Corner to the bridge over Kennedy's Creek.Extract from 1969 11 DTHS Newsletter
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| The Toll House DTHS DP0248 |
Toll Gate Plaque
In December, representatives of the Society attended the unveiling of a monument on the Maroondah Highway. The Cairn in Hughes Park, North Croydon, was erected by the Croydon Historical Society to commemorate the site of the Old Toll Gate. The stone forming the cairn came from the Doncaster Templestowe City Quarry.1975 02 DTHS Newsletter
Commemorative Stone at Site of Toll Gate (1976 08 DTHS Newsletter). Needs research: Need text from plague. Need photos of current location (removed ??)
Toll House
The toll house at the corner of Doncaster and Elgar Roads at the rear of Lauers store. Built in 1866 for the purpose of collecting toll money from the drivers of horse-drawn vehicles, it was originally situated at Tullys corner, the corner now occupied by Doncaster Shoppingtown.
After tolls were abolished, the building was acquired by Spencer, a blacksmith, and moved to the south-east corner of Doncaster and Elgar Roads (at one time known as Toll Lane), where it remained until it was demolished about 1969.
Kay Mack writing in The DTHS Facebook Page, Apr2017
Kay Mack writing in The DTHS Facebook Page, Apr2017
YesterYear - Toll gate dispute
Picture: the triangular intersection diagonally opposite Shoppingtown when there was a toll gate in 1865, as it was in 1910.
The triangular plot diagonally opposite Doncaster Shoppingtown, the apex of the three part intersection of Doncaster, Elgar and Tram roads which until built on recently was the J. Thomson Reserve, was once the scene of wild altercations.
A plaque on a stone memorial there tells that this was the site of Doncaster's toll gate, established in 1865. At the time of the toll gate, Tram Rd did not exist and Doncaster Rd ran only as far as Church Rd.
In all, the district had only six miles (four kilometres) of formed roads: two miles 21 chains in Doncaster Rd; three miles 21 chains in Templestowe; and 35 chains in Thompsons Rd.
A gate was put across Doncaster Rd and a full-time, 24 hours a day, toll-keeper lived on the spot, which was at the time part of the property of Mr Thomas Tully.
The aim of the toll gate was to help the Templestowe Roads District Board to pay for further road construction, by collecting money from every traveller who passed that way, and for every animal with that traveller.
Carts, buggies and their horses were frequently stuck in ruts on the dreadfully boggy, soggy roads and revenue was badly needed to get the roads board out of a financial rut.
But when the toll gate opened it brought more trouble for the board, for a popular new sport came into vogue: evasion of the toll. The players, in three or four horse-drawn carts, would rush the toll gate together so that the keeper was lucky if he caught one of them.
Prices extracted from travellers were: sheep, pigs, lambs and goats, eight a penny; ox or head of beef cattle, a half penny; horse, mare, ass or mule, a penny ha'penny; gig, chaise, coach or chariot or other carriage constructed on springs if drawn by one horse or other animal, threepence; two horses, sixpence, with threepence each additional horse or animal; cart, dray or wagon with tyres not exceeding six inches, sixpence with threepence each additional horse.
Travellers in government service, ministers of religion or residents going to church were exempt from payment.
It was costly to take peaches to such during a dull sermon - the toll keeper declared them marketable goods and demanded full toll for the church-bound vehicle.
Templestowe graziers evaded the toll by driving their cattle across unfenced land.
Needless to say, here the toll keeper's business ran at a loss. So in 1869 the gate was moved to near the present freeway entrance, where Doncaster Rd crosses the Koonung Creek, and the problems of road tax collection was shared with the neighbouring parish of Booroondara.
A move by the Templestowe District Roads Board to have a toll at the corner of Thompsons and Templestowe roads was defeated by the petition of residents who pleaded hardship.
To the almost bankrupt board, which only wanted to keep the residents in communication with the outside world, this pleas seemed unwarranted.
When a commissioner of roads and bridges requested a report on the amount of road construction carried out, the Templestowe Roads Board had to reply that it did not have any funds.
Source: Doncaster and Templestowe News p.38 - Wednesday, August 19, 1992
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