Monument record 1504400000 - Hatfield to Reading turnpike road

Part of the road managed by the Reading and Hatfield Turnpike Trust set up in 1768, which was the last to expire in Bucks (in 1881). Jeffries shows a 'turnpike' by Bail Hall, W of Little Chalfont. This does not appear on Bryant or the OS but there is a much altered toll house called Beel Lodge, next to St Aidan's Catholic church on the S side of White Lion Road, Little Chalfont.
The story of the origins of this turnpike road appears in Cecil Roberts' book 'And so to Bath'. The Marquess of Salisbury (at Hatfield) and the Earl of Essex (at Cassiobury, Watford), both had gout and visited Bath each year for treatment. They promoted their own road from Hatfield, bypassing London, which reduced the distance by about 20 miles. The mileposts on this road are all from an identical cast-iron mould and give the distance to Hatfield at the top (B1).