THE old turnpike toll-houses on the main road from Edinburgh to Berwick still await their historian.

Haddington had three of them, all still standing, and the former toll-house in Belhaven is also still there today.

Kirkhill Toll in Dunbar has been demolished, nor is there any longer a toll-house in Broxburn.

There have been divergent opinions whether there was also a turnpike toll in East Linton, with some suspecting that there had been a mix-up with the undoubted toll-house in West Linton, Borders [still standing and the Olde Toll Tea House today].

Both places were referred to just as ‘Linton’ in Victorian times, confounding the postmen and delivery boys for many years until the names were changed.

A key source about East Lothian toll-houses and milestones is Forrest’s 1799 map of Haddingtonshire.

This map clearly shows a ‘Toll Barr’ just to the south-east of the village of Linton, situated at a crossroads to be able to charge toll in both directions.

A toll in the vicinity of Linton is referred to already in Taylor & Skinner’s 1776 Survey of the Roads.

The next source is the 1824 Itinerary of Scotland, which mentions Linton Toll-bar, just at the east of the village.

Importantly, the name-book of the 1853-4 Ordnance Survey [OS 1/15/45/9] lists the house as “A toll gate at which road dues are collected between Linton and Dunbar.

“It is the property of the County road trustees, and is at present occupied by Gilbert Miller.”

Thus it can be concluded that East Linton did, indeed, have a turnpike toll-house, probably dating back at least to the mid-18th century when the tollbars were set up and the houses constructed along the main turnpike road.

Like the other tolls mentioned here, it was a casualty to the railways being constructed, reducing road traffic very considerably and starving the toll-keepers out of existence in late Victorian times.

But where is the old toll-house today?

There is no building on the main road past East Linton in any way resembling a toll-house, and the crossroads where it once stood has long since disappeared after a scheme to construct a bypass outside the village.

Computerised super-imposition of a present-day map of East Linton onto Forrest’s 1799 map indicates that the toll-house would be situated close to what is today Lauder Place.

And, indeed, a stroll through those parts reveals the existence of the ‘Old Toll House’, accessed through a driveway from Lauder Place.

A humble, single-story building just like the other East Lothian toll-houses, it has been significantly extended at the back.

By the present owner, it was identified as the former toll-house by the original deeds, which have since been mislaid.

It would today have had a most tranquil situation, far from any of the major roads, had not the mainline railway been just a few feet away, with the trains roaring by with a deafening noise.

When its present owner bought the old toll-house 30 years ago, it was in decent repair, albeit very small and cramped.

Curiously, there was then a three foot square stone built room with a small window with iron bars, a prison cell perhaps, intended for people who refused to pay the toll?

But since the toll-keepers had no powers to imprison people, perhaps it was rather a whisky store, since the toll-keepers often doubled as low-level publicans?

It is also possible that the magistrates required a convenient holding-cell for local offenders before taking them to a burgh tolbooth.

Since the ‘cell’ has long since been removed and the toll-house extensively renovated, with no original features remaining, we will never know.

The East Lothian authorities built their toll-houses sturdy and strong, and the Old Toll House in East Linton is likely to stand for centuries to come.

Jan Bondeson