Chapeltoun - The Toll Road and Milestones

The Toll Road and Milestones

Wheeled vehicles were unknown to farmers in the area until the end of the 17th. century and prior to this sledges were used to haul loads as wheeled vehicles were useless. Roads were mere tracks and such bridges as there were could only take pedestrians, men on horseback or pack-animals. The first wheeled vehicles to be used in Ayrshire were carts offered gratis to labourers working on Riccarton Bridge in 1726. In 1763 it was still said that no roads existed between Glasgow and Kilmarnock or Kilmarnock and Ayr and the whole traffic was by twelve pack horses, the first of which had a bell around its neck. A mill-wand was the rounded piece of wood acting as an axle with which several people would role a millstone form the quarry to the mill and to permit this the width of some early roads was set at a 'mill-wand breadth'.

The Stewarton to Torranyard (Torrenzairds in 1613) road was a turnpike as witnessed by the farm name Crossgates (Stewarton 3 and Irvine 5¼ miles), Gateside (near Stacklawhill Farm) and the check bars that are shown on the 1858 OS at Crossgates and at the Bickethall (previously Bihetland) road end to prevent vehicles, horse riders, etc. turning off the turnpike and avoiding the toll charges. A small toll house is shown at Crossgates, now demolished, on the left when facing Torranyard. In Scots a 'bicket' is a 'pocket', an appropriate description of the area the farm lies in. A modern cottage nearby is called 'Robelle' after the farmers Robert and Isabelle from Bickethall.

The name 'Turnpike' originated from the original 'gate' used being just a simple wooden bar attached at one end to a hinge on the supporting post. The hinge allowed it to 'open' or 'turn' This bar looked like the 'pike' used as a weapon in the army at that time and therefore we get 'turnpike'. The term was also used by the military for barriers set up on roads specifically to prevent the passage of horses. Other than providing better roads, the turnpikes settled the confusion of the different lengths given to miles, which had varied from 4,854 to nearly 7,000 feet (2,100 m). Long miles, short miles, Scotch or Scot's miles (5,928 ft), Irish miles (6,720 ft), etc. all existed. Another point is that when the toll roads were constructed the Turnpike Trusts went to considerable trouble to improve the route of the new roads and these changes could be quite considerable. The tolls on roads were abolished in 1878 to be replaced by a road assessment, which was taken over by the County Council in 1889.

Colonel McAlester was a member of the Turnpike Trust and no doubt exerted considerable influence over the route of the turnpike and other matters. John Loudon McAdam was very actively involved with Scottish Turnpikes, living at Sauchrie near Ayr until he moved to Bristol to become Surveyor to the local Turnpike Trust in 1826.

None of the toll road milestones are visible because they were buried during the Second World War to prevent them from being used by invading troops, agents, etc. This seems to have happened all over Scotland, however Fife was more fortunate than Ayrshire, for the stones were taken into storage and put back in place after the war had finished. The milestone near Bloomridge Farm and Kirkmuir Farm are likewise missing, presumed buried.