Tolls, at the present Toll Gate,

on the Abingdon road.

Tolls to be

one Gate

only.

tees) of the road from Friar Bacon's Study, in or near the City of Oxford, to the Mayor's Stone at the end of the Vineyard, in the Borough of Abingdon, in the County of Berks; And whereas it would be a saving of considerable expense to the Trustees for executing this Act, and a great convenience and accommodation to the public, if the last mentioned Trustees were empowered, with the leave of the Trustees of the said road, to make use of the said Toll House, Turnpike Gate, and Appurtenances, for collecting the Tolls by this Act granted, in order to avoid the interruption and inconvenience which may otherwise arise from the collecting the Tolls granted by this Act so near to the place, where the Tolls are collected for the said road: Be it therefore further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said Trustees for executing this Act, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, by and with the consent in writing of the Trustees of the said road, or any five or more of them, and of the Lessee of the Tolls of the said Road for the time being, to use or cause to be used the said Toll House, Turnpike Gate, and appurtenances, for the purpose of collecting the Tolls by this Act granted, and the said Trustees for executing this Act are hereby fully authorized and empowered to nominate and appoint the person or persons, who now is, or are, or may hereafter be appointed by the Trustees of the said road, or such other person or persons as they the said Trustees for executing this Act shall think proper, to collect the Tolls, granted by this Act, at such Gate or TollHouse, in like manner, as if the said Toll House and Gate had been erected by, and belonged to the Trustees under this Act; and such person or persons is and are hereby authorized and required to ask, demand, take, and collect the same accordingly; and shall, and is, and are hereby required, to keep a distinct and separate account of the Tolls granted by this Act; and shall, and is, and are hereby required to pay over the same to the Treasurer of the Trustees for executing this Act, and such Collector or Collectors shall be, and is, and are hereby made answerable and accountable for such Tolls, in such and the same manner, to all intents and purposes, as any Toll Collector is made answerable and accountable, under the provisions of this Act, for any Tolls by this Act granted; and all such Tolls, when so collected, paid, and received, shall be applied for and towards the purposes of this Act.

Provided always, and be it further enacted, That it shall not be collected at lawful to or for the said Trustees for executing this Act, to use, or cause to be used, any Turnpike Gate, which shall or may be erected and set up by virtue of this Act, and the said Turnpike Gate belonging to the Trustees of the said road, jointly, and at the same period of time, for collecting the Tolls by this Act granted; but that the said Tolls shall always be payable and collected at one Gate only; and the said Trustees are hereby directed and required, upon any change in the collection of the said Tolls, from one Gate to the other, to cause notice thereof in writing to be affixed up at each of the said

Gates, to the end that all Persons concerned may be duly apprised at which Gate the said Tolls by this Act granted shall from time to time be payable.

chial Taxes.

And be it further enacted, that the Tolls by this Act granted, Tolls, &c. and also any Toll House, or Toll Houses, that shall or may to be free be erected by virtue of this Act, shall be freed, exempted, from Paroacquitted, exonerated, and discharged of and from the payment of all Parochial Taxes, Rates, Assessments, and Impositions whatsoever.

And be it further enacted, that the said Tolls by this Tolls vested Act granted, shall be, and they are hereby vested in the in Trustees. said Trustees for executing this Act, and a table thercof shall be put up and continued at the Turnpike or Toll Gate, erected on or near the said Bridge, or the avenues leading thereto, or at the Toll House, where the same shall be collected; and it shall be lawful for the person, or persons, who shall be appointed Collector or Collectors of the said Tolls, to demand, collect, and receive the said Tolls; and if any person or persons, subject to the payment of any of the said Tolls, shall, after demand made thereof by any Collector or Collectors to be appointed as aforesaid, neglect or refuse to pay the same, or any part thereof, it shall be lawful for such Collector or Collectors, to stop and prevent the passage of the Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage, for or in respect of which such Tolls ought to be paid, until full payment thereof; or to seize and distrain, or cause to be seized and distrained, any Horse or Horses, or other Cattle, together with their Bridles, Saddles, Gears, Harness, or Accoutrements, or their Lading, or any Carriage with its loading, or any other Goods and Chattels of the person or persons chargeable with the said Tolls, or any of them: and if such Tolls, or any part or parts thereof, and the reasonable charges of such seizure and distress, and of detaining and keeping the same, shall not be paid within five days next after such seizure and distress made, the Person or Persons so seizing and distraining shall and may sell, or cause to be sold, the Horse or Horses, Carriages, Goods, Chattels, or things, so seized and distrained, or any part thereof; returning the overplus, (if any), and what shall remain unsold, upon demand, to the Owner or Owners thereof, after such Tolls, and the reasonable charges for distraining, keeping, and selling the same, shall be deducted and paid.

And be it further enacted, that if any dispute shall arise, Disputes touching the amount of Tolls due, or the costs and charges respecting of distraining, keeping, and selling any distress, it shall be Tolls to be settled by a lawful for the Collector, or Person so distraining, to detain Justice. the distress, or the money arising from the sale thereof, until the amount of the Tolls due, or the charges of distraining, keeping, and selling the distress (as the case may be) shall be ascertained by some Justice of the Peace for the said

ment of

County of Berks; who, upon application made to him for that purpose, shall examine the said matter upon the oath or oaths of the party or parties, or other witness or witnesses; and shall determine the amount of Tolls due, and shall award such Costs to be paid by either party to the other, as to such Justice shall seem meet and proper; all which costs, in case the same shall not be forthwith paid, shall and may be levied and recovered by Distress and Sale of the goods and chattels of the person or persons so directed to pay the same, by Warrant under the hand and seal of such Justice, rendering the overplus, if any, after payment of such costs, together with the charges of such distress and sale, to the person or persons whose goods and chattels shall have been so distrained and sold.

Power to And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said trustees, from compound time to time, to compound with any Person or Persons for any period of time, for the pay- not exceeding three years, for any Horses, Beasts, or Cattle, passing over th said Bridge, for all or any of the Tolls to be paid in respect of such Horses, Beasts, or Cattle, and all such composition money shall be paid in advance quarterly, or otherwise, as the said Trustees shall appoint, and in default thereof, such composition shall be null and void to all intents and purposes.

Tolls.

Turnpikes, &c. vested in the Trus

tees.

Tolls to be paid but once the

same day.

And be it further enacted, that in the mean time, and until all the Principal Money to be borrowed and secured upon the Credit of this Act, and the Interest thereof, shall be paid and satisfied, the right and property of the said Turnpikes, Toll House, and other Buildings to be erected by virtue of this Act, with the Ground, Fences, and all other Appurtenances thereto respectively belonging, and also of all Materials, Tools, and Implements, which are or shall be provided for making, erecting, and completing the said Bridge, Avenues, Ascents, or Approaches, and other Works, or any of them, by virtue of this Act, shall be vested in the said Trustees.

Provided always, and be it further enacted, that no person, who shall have paid the Toll for passing through the Turnpike or Toll-Gate, at which the Tolls granted by this Act shall, for the time being be payable, between the hour of one in the Morning of one Day and one in the Morning of the following Day, and shall produce a Note or Ticket denoting the payment of the said Toll at the said Gate, (which Note or Ticket the Receiver or Collector is hereby required to give gratis on the receipt of the said Toll), shall be subject or liable to the payment of any further or other Toll for passing or repassing such Gate, between the same hours, with the same Horse, or Horses, or other Cattle, or with the same Coach, Waggon, or other Carriage, drawn by the same Horse, or Horses, or other Cattle.

Collectors of And be it further enacted, that in case any dispute, suit, or litigation shall Tolls to be arise, touching or in any wise relating to the said Tolls, or any of them, the competent Person or Persons appointed to collect the same, or any other Person or Persons, Witnesses. acting by or under the authority of the said Trustees, shall not be disqualified from giving evidence in any such dispute, suit, or litigation, by reason of his or their appointment to collect such Tolls.

Toll Collectors to

And be it further enacted, that all and every Toll-Collector, appointed either by the said Trustees, or any five or more of them, or by any Lessee or Lessees put up their under them, to collect the Tolls payable at any Turnpike or Toll Gate, whereat Names. the Tolls granted by this Act shall or may, from time to time, be payable and collected, shall, and he is hereby required, to place his Christian and Surname, painted on a board in legible characters, in the front, or on some other conspicuous part, of such Toll House or Toll Gate, immediately upon his coming on duty, and shall continue the same so placed, during the whole time he shall be upon such duty, at any such Turnpike or Toll Gate; and if any Collector of the said Tolls shall not place and keep such Board as aforesaid, during the time

aforesaid, or shall demand or take a greater or less Toll, from any Person or Persons, than he shall be authorized to do, by virtue of the powers of this Act, or shall demand and take a Toll from any Person or Persons, who shall be exempt from the payment thereof, and claim such exemption, or shall refuse to permit or suffer, or shall in any wise hinder any Person or Persons, from reading such Christian or Surname, or shall refuse to tell his Christian or Surname to any Person or Persons, who shall demand the same, on having paid the said Tolls, or any of them, or shall give a false name or names, on such demand, or shall refuse or neglect to give a Ticket, to denote the payment of the Toll when demanded, or shall make use of any scurrilous or blasphemous language, to any Person or Persons, passing or going to pass over the said Bridge, or through any such Turnpike or Toll Gate, whereat the said Tolls shall be payable, or shall, without sufficient cause, detain or delay any Person or Persons, so passing or going to pass, then, and in every such case, every such Collector shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Forty Shillings, for every such offence.

And be it further enacted, that if any Person or Persons shall give to, offer, Penalty on or dispose of, or receive from any other Person or Persons, any such ticket as evading aforesaid; or shall forge or counterfeit, or knowingly make use of any forged Tolls. or counterfeit ticket, in order to avoid payment of the said Tolls, or any part thereof, or shall take off, or cause to be taken off, any Horse or other Beast, from any Carriage, whereby the payment of any of the said Tolls, or any part thereof, is or shall be evaded; or shall ride, lead, drive, or convey any Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage whatsoever, through, over, or across the said River, within one mile of the said Bridge, in order, or with intent, to evade the payment of the said Tolls, or shall do any other act for the purpose of evading the payment of the said Tolls, or any of them, or any part thereof, every Person so offending, in any of the cases aforesaid, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds; one moiety whereof shall go to the informer, and the other moiety shall be applied for the purposes of this Act.

Provided always, and be it further enacted, that no Toll shall be de- General manded or taken for the passage of any Cattle or Carriage, which shall be used Exempor employed only in conveying Stones, Timber, Iron, or other Materials for tions. building or repairing the said Bridge, or for other the purposes of this Act, nor for any Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage, employed in conveying any Dung or Manure, or from any Person or Persons going to or returning from his her or their proper parochial Church, Chapel, or other place of religious worship on Sundays, or any other day on which Divine Service is ordered by authority to be celebrated, or going to or returning from attending the Funeral of any Person, who shall die and be buried in the Parish in which the said Bridge lies, or from any Clergyman going to visit or returning from visiting any sick Person, or on other his Parochial or Ministerial Duty; nor shall any Toll be demanded or taken for any Horses, Mares, Geldings, Mules, or other Cattle, going to or returning from Pasture or Watering Places, within the several Parishes, in which the said Bridge and other Works, by this Act authorized to be erected and made, shall be situate; nor for any Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage, of whatever description employed, or to be employed, in conveying the Mails of Letters and Expresses, under the authority of His Majesty's Post-master General, either when employed in conveying, fetching, or guarding such Mails or Expresses, or in returning back from conveying the same, nor for any Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage, attending any Soldiers upon their march, or on duty, or attending them laden with their Arms or Baggage; nor for any Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage whatsoever, or the Horse, or Horses, or other Cattle, drawing the same, which shall be employed in conveying any Ordnance, Barrack, or Commissariat, or other public Stores, of or belonging to His Majesty, or for the use of His Majesty's forces; nor for any Horse, Mare,

F

Owners or Drivers of Waggons

or Gelding, furnished for or by any Person belonging to any Corps of Yeomanry or Volunteer Cavalry, or for or by any Field Officer, or other mounted Officer of any Corps of Volunteer Infantry, and rode by them in going to, or returning from the Place appointed for, and on the Days of Exercise, provided such Persons are in the uniform of their respective Corps, and have their Arms, Furniture, and Accoutrements according to the regulations provided for such Corps respectively, at the time of claiming such exemption; nor shall any Toll be demanded or taken for any Horse, Cattle, Beast, or Carriage going for, or returning with Materials, for repairing the public high ways, in any of the Parishes, through which the Turnpike road from Oxford to Abingdon leads, nor for any Horse, Cattle, Beast, or Carriage, employed in the conveyance of Vagrants, sent by legal passes, or returning therefrom; or for any Horse, Beast, Cattle, or Carriage, carrying or conveying any person or persons going to or returning from any Election of a Knight or Knights of the Shire to serve in Parliament, for the County of Berks, on the Day or Days of such Election, or on the Day before, or the Day after such Election shall begin, or be concluded; and if any person or persons shall in any fraudulent or collusive manner whatsoever, claim and take the benefit of any of the exemptions by this Act granted, not being entitled to the same, every such Person shall forfeit and pay for every such offence any sum not exceeding Five Pounds; one moiety whereof shall go to the Informer, and the other moiety shall be applied for the purposes of this Act.

And be it further enacted, that no Person owning, or driving, or causing to be driven, any Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, provided for the service of His Majesty's forces, or conveying any Ordnance, Barrack, or conveying Commissariat, or other public Stores, of or belonging to His Majesty, or for Military the use of His Majesty's forces, shall be subject to any penalty or forfeiture for Stores, not overweight; nor shall any such Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, be stopped or detained by reason of any weight in any such Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, or of being drawn by any number of Horses or Oxen; but it shall be lawful for any Owner or Driver of any such Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, to put any number of Horses or Oxen to such Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage, any thing in any Act or Acts of Parliament relating to Highways, or Turnpike Roads, or in this Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

subject to penalties for over weight.

Tolls may

be let.

And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said Trustees, and they are hereby empowered at any meeting upon Twenty-one Days Notice being affixed on the Toll-Gate or Turnpike, which may be erected by virtue of this Act, or on the Toll-House or Toll-Gate, at which the Tolls granted by this Act shall be collected, and by advertisement to be inserted in the Oxford Journal, and Reading Mercury, or in some other Newspaper, published or circulated in the said City of Oxford, and County of Berks, to let or farm the Tolls to be collected by virtue of this Act, or any part or parts thereof, to any person or persons at and for the largest yearly sum that can be reasonably had or gotten for the same, provided that the leases, contracts, or agreements, of or for letting the same be in writing, and be duly executed by the person or persons taking or farming such Tolls, and also by Seven or more of the said Trustees; but the same shall not be let for more than Three Years at any one time, and the rent which shall be agreed to be paid for the said Tolls, shall be made payable, and shall be paid to the Treasurer of the said Trustees, so that One Calendar Month's payment of such rent shall always be in advance, or sufficient security given for the payment of such rent, to the satisfaction of the said Trustees, or in default thereof, it shall be lawful for the said Trustees, if they shall see fit, to vacate and make void every such lease, contract, or agreement; and the monies arising from such leasing or letting to Farm, shall be applied in such and the same manner as the Tolls so to be leased or let are hereby directed to be applied.