The Toll House by the Bridge

There is a small stone building at the end of the bridge in Ponteland which is now used as a shop. It is generally known as the Toll House however some local historians dispute this. Early maps of Ponteland show a much larger building which stood around the corner labelled as the Toll House and one map does show two gates attached to this other building, so at some stage, the other building must have been the toll house. However, the location, age and style of this building which is very similar to other toll houses, means that it is almost inconceivable that this building here was not built as a toll house.

What is now Rialto’s restaurant is a converted private house and butchers’ business. The Toll House is said to have been used by the butcher’s as a slaughter house. It does seem improbable that the slaughtering of cows and other large animals was carried out in this building given its size. It may even make sense as the blood could have run straight down into the river. But it could also be possible that served some other purpose for the butcher.

Since 1975 the building has been used for a variety of businesses including a hairdressers.