Wadsley and Langsett (New Mill District) Turnpike Road
The Wadsley & Langsett Turnpike was a 8-mile toll road that commenced at Honley Toll House and passed through Smithy Place, New Mill, Jackson Bridge to the Flouch Inn in Langsett. Here it joined the Doncaster and Salter's Brook Turnpike road (running east & west) and continued southwards as the Wadsley, Langsett & Sheffield Turnpike road.
Although named as the Wadsley & Langsett Trust on the 1854 O.S. map, the stretch between Honley and the Flough Inn was also sometimes referred to as the New Mill District Trust branch turnpike.
The branches of the turnpike were
- Holmfirth District Branch of the Wadsley and Langsett Turnpike (1823)
- Dunford District Branch of the Wadsley and Langsett Turnpike (1844)
In 1840, the Parliamentary Commissioners for Inquiring into the State of the Roads in England and Wales reported the following details of the "New Mill District of Wadsley and Langset":
- 8 miles 470 yards with 6 toll-gates, passing through the townships and parishes of Honley, Thurstonland, Fulstone, Wooldale, Hepworth, and Thursltone.
- "The road is in fair repair."
- "The whole is repaired by the surveyors of the highways of the different townships through which it passes."
Plans to erect a toll house at Mucky Bridge at Jackson Bridge were announced in 1858.
In November 1872, the Huddersfield Chronicle reported that due to the abolition of the toll bars, the toll gates at Mearhouse and Gatehead were pulled down on 1 November.[1]
It is believed that the New Mill District Trust was wound up on 1 November 1877.
Principal Features
Going southwards from Honley, the main features of the turnpike that were marked on the 1854 O.S. map are:
- Honley Toll House, Honley
- milestone — Huddersfield 4 / Sheffield 21
- Smithy Place Toll Point
- milestone — Huddersfield 6 / Sheffield 19
- Mear House Toll Point
- milestone — Huddersfield 7 / Sheffield 18
- milestone — Huddersfield 8 / Sheffield 17
- Gate Head Toll Point, Hepworth
- Bedding Edge Toll Point Chain
- milestone — Huddersfield 9 / Sheffield 16
- Hazelhead Toll Point, Thurlstone — junction with the Holmfirth District Turnpike
- milestone — Huddersfield 11 / Sheffield 14
Route
The route southwards from Honley is shown below, along with the branches to Holmfirth and Dunford Bridge.
Notes and References
- ↑ "District Intelligence: Holmfirth" in Huddersfield Chronicle (09/Nov/1872).