MEM22169 - Dunster Toll House, Knowle Lane, Dunster (Building)

Toll house, built soon after 1765 when the Minehead Turnpike Trust was established by the local gentry as an attempt to curb the decline in industry and trade the area was facing. A new road was built from Minehead through Alcombe to Dunster, on through Timberscombe, Beazley and Lype to Bampton. It was then linked to the Bridgwater and Taunton turnpikes. When Womwell's Menagerie visited the town in July 1869, they refused to pay the turnpike toll and their elephant lifted the gate off its hinges to let them all through. [1] The building is depicted and labelled "38" on 2018 MasterMap data. [2]