Kerne toll bridge.

Kerne bridge, erected in 1825, and now a grade 2 listed.

The toll was in operation until 1948. The station closed in 1959. The gentleman in  the picture is Sam Woolley.

Most of us must use the bridge frequently but we seldom think about it’s history, which is one of our newer lower Wye crossings.

The following is from an a news article published in the Ross Gazette on September 18th 1919. Perhaps we could assume that the tolls were removed in 1920.

WHITCHURCH
DISTRICT COUNCIL.

SHOULD KERNE BRIDGE TOLLS BE
ABOLISHED?

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION RAISED.

At the last meeting of the Whitchurch Rural District Council an important question on the abolition of the Kerne Bridge tolls was discussed and a resolution passed.
Mr. J. Herberts (Chairman) presided.

QUESTION OF KERNE BRIDGE.

Colonel G. N. Going said he wished to bring forward a point from Welsh Bicknor. There was not a single bridge between Ross and Monmouth, except Huntsham and Kerne Bridges to enable the people to get to the railway station at Kerne Bridge. The former bridge was out of their way, and there only remained Kerne Bridge, to go over which they had to pay a toll each time. In his opinion the toll should be abolished. This was the only bridge by which they could get to the railway station, and it was a very serious expense to both the parishioners of Welsh Bicknor and Whitchurch.
The Chairman said Mr. Moffats bought the
shares in the bridge when they were low.
Col. Going: It is the only place in England where I know these tolls are charged.
The Surveyor said the Council would have two things to consider which would place a difficult in their way. In the first place the bridge lay between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Beside this there was an Act of Parliament in connection with it.
The Chairman: The County Council should buy the bridge and do away with these tolls.
Col. Going said the parishioners of Welsh Bicknor should get their rights, and this was certainly a very serious tax put on them.
The Chairman said the bridge was a most paying concern for the owner. The Chairman: It can be done. We will approach both the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Councils.
Col. Going: It is not fair by any means. Eventually, on the proposition of Col. Going, seconded by the Chairman, the following resolution was adopted.
‘That the County Councils of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire be approached with a view to the toll charge at Kerne Bridge being abolished and the bridge thrown open to the public. This, being the only bridge by which access to a convenient railway station can be obtained from the parishes of Welsh Bicknor and Whitchurch, it is an unnecessary hardship on the inhabitants of these parishes that this toll should be levied on them.