Wadesmill Turnpike and Toll House
The passage of wagons bringing barley into the town of Ware for malting made the roads almost impassable for much of the winter, with the result that, in 1663, England's first turnpike, and the world, was set up at Wadesmill, in an attempt to control the malting traffic. Immediately, travelers began to find alternative routes. Before 1663, Samuel Pepys traveled to Cambridge by way of Ware - often complaining about the state of the road, particularly when he had to get down from the coach and fell into a ditch - but after the erection of the turnpike, he preferred to go via Bishop's Stortford. Others went by way of Hatfield, on what became known as the Great North Road.
Wadesmill Turnpike by the Feathers Pub?