Gunville Gate House

Gunville Gate House

Gunville Gate House in Romsey is a historic toll house built by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1864 to manage the newly rerouted Southampton Turnpike Road near Broadlands; it features a distinctive hexagonal bay and serves as a simple, classic 19th-century tollhouse, marked by a blue plaque and later repurposed from its original gatekeeping role, becoming a residential property after tolls ended around the 1870s. 

Key Details:

• Date Built: 1864.

• Builder: London & South Western Railway (LSWR).

• Purpose: To control the redirected Southampton Turnpike Road, which was moved from the Broadlands Estate.

• Architecture: A simple, single-storey brick structure with a projecting, hexagonal bay containing observation windows and a doorway, typical of mid-19th-century toll houses.

• Historical Significance: It marks a period of railway development impacting local infrastructure, including the arrival of the train station in Romsey.

• Blue Plaque: A blue plaque on the wall commemorates its history as a toll house, notes its construction date, and mentions its connection to the rerouted turnpike.

• End of Tolls: Tolls on UK turnpikes ceased around 1872, leading to the building's transition from tollhouse to residential use.