Tollbooth was a real shambles, Teesdale Mercury

Tollbooth was a real shambles

May 7, 2008

MODERN bookshops seem to be full of collections of old photographs.

It seems as if more books of photographs are published every year, and very interesting they are too. 

However, there are some local scenes that vanished from sight before the advent of the camera. Some are only known to us from contemporary sketches, and some are only known from written records. 

One example is the old Tollbooth in the Market Place in Barnard Castle, or, as it was sometimes known, the ‘Old Town Hall'. It must have been a familiar sight to market goers for generations and memories of it have been handed down to the present. However, I can't say I've ever come across a sketch or a painting of it and it may well be that none exist. The appearance of the tollbooth might have been well known to our ancestors but it will probably have to remain a mystery to us. It was pulled down in 1808.

The exact position of the Tollbooth is known. It stood on the east side of the market place at the top end, just a few yards from the arch that leads into Hall Street. It's roughly where the first stall can be found on market days, directly opposite the Golden Lion. Or, to put it another way, it stood where the Market Place meets the Horsemarket.

Going back to those books of old photographs, you can sometimes find a picture of the Market Place which shows a shop on the corner of Hall Street which had a large painted wooden sign up above the eaves. It was such a big sign that you can still make out what it says even though the shop looks tiny on the photo. The sign said ‘Teesdale House'. Below it, over the shop window was an equally large sign that proclaimed that Teesdale House was the home of Howson's, the drapers. At one time this business traded as Howson and Reay. The shop next door had a much smaller sign, impossible to decipher from a photograph, but we know that it had once been the residence of Mr. R.W. Paine, a local magistrate. Next door to him lived Mrs Parker. 

Nowadays ‘Teesdale House' is occupied by two shops but if you look up at the upper two storeys you can see that it was originally a single building, quite wide fronted and elegant, which must have once been the property of a rather well-to-do Georgian lady or gentleman.

The Tollbooth stood right in front of Howson and Reay's. 

It wasn't in the middle of the Market Place, but quite close to the east side, leaving only a narrow passage in front of the shop. This awkward position is one reason why it was pulled down. I should point out that the old town hall at Northallerton, which occupies a site similarly close to one side of the High Street, is still standing. I suppose the passageway at Northallerton is wider.

Barney's Tollbooth appears to have been there since Elizabeth I's reign, if not earlier. In 1613 it needed rebuilding at a cost of £195 2s. 3d. - quite a sizeable sum in those days, suggesting that this was a full-scale rebuilding rather than just a few odd repairs. 

It was a two storey building - tollbooths usually were - and very long. 

The main part of the ground floor was the shambles - set aside for butchers' stalls. At the south end was a blacksmith's shop. Tradition has it that the last blacksmith to occupy the Tollbooth was an early riser who woke up the whole street with the sounds of his forge long before daybreak. 

The large upstairs room was used for the Earl of Darlington's court, for magistrates' business and occasionally for public meetings. Apparently a group of players who called themselves ‘The Social Comedians' performed up there, with a stage and scenery. I wonder if anyone knows anything more about them?

The Tollbooth played an important part in market days in Barney. The market bell was rung from the Tollbooth door and it was the centre of the market's administrative side. It was from here that checks were made that the stallholders weren't giving short measure. 

Anyone causing trouble might have to spend some time locked up inside until he could be dealt with. In an earlier age, troublemakers were put in the stocks that stood just outside.

At a time when the markets at Darlington and Stockton were becoming prosperous the Old Town Hall must have seemed something of an anachronism. 

It took up a large slice of the Market Place and was probably a bit of an eyesore - perhaps even a bit smelly! 

Prompted, it is said, by the wishes of the townspeople, Lord Darlington agreed to have it pulled down. Not long afterwards, a new court room was opened in the Market Cross. 

Many of us regret the passing of historic buildings but I suppose in the case of the Tollbooth, none of us have any idea of what it looked like, and if it had been allowed to remain into the 21st century, the middle of Barney would have been a much worse bottleneck than it is now.

First published in the Mercury, April 30, 2008