The Grade II 200-year-old toll cottage at Folkingham was threatened with demolition in 2005 when the owner applied for listed building consent to pull it down because he believed it was unsound.
The cottage, which once stood on the turnpike road between Peterborough and Lincoln, was saved in 2013 when South Kesteven District Council agreed to spend up to £10,000 to safeguard it.
Joyce found an article about the Bourne toll bar in a copy of these newspapers from 1930, when the toll had been abolished for nearly 50 years. The cottage had a sign outside listing the charge for a horse and trap to pass through at 6d, and fixed charges for agricultural vehicles based on weight. Cattle were charged a given sum per head. Pedestrians were allowed to pass through free.
Joyce is intrigued by oddities, such as the milestone built into a wall outside Holbeach parish church and showing the mileage to or from over 20 different locations, from Spalding to London. “I believe it’s unique,” says Joyce, adding: “Most milestones and posts give you a mileage not only for where you came from but where you are going to, because obviously you could be going in either direction. Something that has intrigued me is the milestones between Langtoft South and Rippingale only have them going one way.”
She has unearthed fascinating facts, such as that Sutton Bridge was one of the last places to make a toll to cross the river, and that signposts and milestones were removed in the 1940s “so that in the event of any enemy parachutists landing they will not know their wheareabouts”, as this paper put it.
• The Milestone Society has set up a central database to record milestones – www.milestonesociety.co.uk. Contact the society’s database manager if you know of a milestone that is lost, concealed or out of place at ar@milestonesociety.co.uk