The page from the seventeenth edition of “Patersons Roads” of April, 1824 by Edward Mogg shows there was a turnpike at Batts Hill.

Tollgates shut in the village and money or tolls were charged for opening them to allow the traffic to pass. The money collected was used for road repairs. The toll keepers often lived in little houses beside the tollgates. Some remain today; for instance the picturesque round little one near Little Horsted Church and one near the new roundabout at the end of the Lewes bypass at Ashcombe.

The gates were called turnpikes, a name given to the old fashioned turnstile which revolved on the top of a post and resembled a frame with pikes used for defence: turn and pike!

Tollgates were in use for about 200 years but most had outlived their use by about 1870 and disappeared.

Other turnpikes in the district were at Wych Cross, Buxted Bridge, Ringles Cross, Crowborough Beacon and Newick Green.

There is an excellent article by Martin Berry of the Ashdown Forest Research Group giving more information about our local turnpikes.