East & West Molesey
A Dictionary of Local History
Rowland G. M. Baker, 1972
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These pillars, sometimes called Coal and Wine Posts, are
boundary marks set up under an Act of Parliament in 1861, when the area over
which the City of London exacted a toll on the entrance of coal and wine was
extended to cover the whole of the Metropolitan Police District. They are
mostly of cast iron about three and a half feet high emblazoned with the shield
of arms of the City of London, although one (on the Tow Path) is made of
granite. The duty was originally granted to pay for the upkeep of orphaned
children, but was later used for other purposes, mainly Metropolitan
Improvement Schemes and the freeing of London bridges, including those at Hampton Court and Walton, from toll. The tax was finally extinguished in July 1889. The
posts in Hurst Road by the reservoir; at the junction of Walton Road and
Molesey Road; in Molesey Road near the junction of Pool Road; and on the bank
of the river Ember near Esher Water Pollution Works. There were others but
these are now missing.
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