Toll Point - Waterway Toll Fee

Waterway Toll Fee

The maximum tolls were set by the river navigation and canal Acts. Some early Acts allowed fees to be set by local commissioners or Quarter Sessions, but from 1720 fees could only be reassessed by Parliament.

Fees were set in pence per mile, or part. Sometimes empty boats were exempt, or free if returning loaded, or if water was running over the weirs. Fees depended on the type of cargo. Coal, stone and lime were the cheapest, then iron ore, then finished goods, with perishables and packets being the most expensive. Tolls might be refunded for long distance trips to encourage expansion of trade - "drawbacks" - particularly applied to the coal trade.

Some exceptions were made to placate local land owners. The delivery of straw, manure or road building materials, as well as coal for the poor (5,000 tons per year on the Derby Canal), or contribution to county rates may have freed the carrier of toll fees.

In the 1790s toll fees were greatly reduced by Parliament to encourage canal use. In practice, competition kept tolls below the maximum, particularly after the arrival of the railways.

Special tolls existed for use of boat lifts, inclined planes and tunnels, but companies were not allowed to charge different tolls for special customers or over different parts of the line until 1845 (the Canal Tolls Act).

Another type of toll was the compensation toll, charged on a new canal joining an existing waterway, perhaps 5d. on all goods.

Fees were paid by the boatman or by account. Fraud was common: under declaration of the cargo (proved by gauging or by dry weighing of the boat), hiding valuable goods under cheaper cargo, or by bribery.

Tolls lasted until nationalisation in 1948 but are still paid by commercial carriers on commercial waterways. Pleasure boats pay British Waterways an annual licence fee based on the length of the craft.