London's Coal and Wine Duty Posts

This article was written by John Kemp. All views and opinions expressed are strictly his own.

Walking along the North Downs Way last weekend, I came across two striking cast iron posts near the summit of Colley Hill outside the town of Reigate in Surrey.

The posts stand about one metre high, are painted brilliant white, bear the coat of arms of the Corporation of London, and refer to a piece of legislation from the reign of Queen Victoria.

The posts mark the boundary where duties on the importation of coal and wine became payable to the Corporation of London under the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act of 1861.

From ancient times, the City claimed the right to levy fees (metage) for officially measuring coal for sale, most of which was imported from Newcastle via the North Sea and River Thames.

Following the Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire in 1666, the fees and extra duties were increased, broadened to cover wine, and applied to cover the costs of rebuilding.

The duties were initially applied to help with the cost of rebuilding St Paul’s Cathedral and other churches destroyed by the fire.

But they were extended multiple times throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and helped finance the construction of Newgate Gaol, rebuilding of London Bridge and the Royal Exchange, and other public works.

Later, the duties helped finance the construction of the Thames Embankment, removal of tolls on various bridges across the Thames, and the construction of the Holborn Viaduct.

Coal and wine duties became an important source of income for the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was responsible for sewage systems, roads and bridges and other infrastructure.

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, almost all coal arrived along the River Thames, with smaller quantities via the canal network, which made collecting the duties relatively simple.

From the 1840s, however, and increasing volume of coal arrived overland via the rapidly expanding rail network and within a decade the majority of coal was brought in by rail.

Laws authorising the construction of canals or railways usually included a provision requiring the collection of duties once coal was carried beyond a certain point towards London, which was to be marked by a stone or post.

The Coal Duties Act of 1845 generalised the system and made duties payable on any coal brought to the Port of London or within a distance of 20 miles from the General Post Office in the City of London by rail, canal or any other means of transport.

The Coal Duties Act of 1851 authorised the erection of obelisks and other markers on the boundary along the railways and highways into London to signify the point at which duties became payable.

London coal merchants or the railway companies themselves were responsible for collection and payment of the duties to the Corporation of London.

The London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act of 1861 narrowed the tax boundary to the Port of London, the City of London and the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police District.

The 1861 act stipulated duties were applicable to coal carried by shop, rail, canal or any other means of transport, and the point at which they became payable had to be marked by boxes, stations, boundary stones or permanent marks.

Some of the marks erected under the 1851 act were moved and re-used along the new boundary set by the 1861 law, the last time the boundary was moved, so the markers are still in place at this boundary.

The white posts near the top of Colley Hill are among more than 200 of these marks still in existence along rivers, canals, railways, roads and paths leading to the metropolis.

Most are small cast iron posts but there are some taller stone or cast iron obelisks that had been erected along the rail lines to London.

More continuation acts were passed by parliament in 1863 and 1868. But the duties became increasingly unpopular and parliament eliminated them with the London Coal Duties Abolition Act of 1889.

The posts are a fascinating relic of London’s energy supply system and how it changed with the coming of the railways, as well as how taxes on energy played a critical role in paying for the city’s infrastructure.