Listed Building record MDR8955 - Nos. 20-24 Derby Road, Former Toll House, Belper

Nos. 20-24 Derby Road, former toll house, Belper, built c1800. Cottages shown on a map of 1805, updated to 1818. The central cottage juts out into the roadway, with a gate extending across the road. (1) 'The central cottage was built as a toll house on the Duffield & Heage Turnpike Road that ran through Belper. A document of 1835, giving the summary of a meeting of the Trustees of the Duffield and Heage Turnpike Road, indicates that the toll house had been constructed by Jedediah Strutt, presumably shortly after the Act of Parliament authorising the road had been obtained in 1793.' (2) From the National Heritage List for England: 'BELPER 950/0/10013 DERBY ROAD 12-NOV-03 20,22&24 II Set of three cottages, the central one a former toll house. c.1800. For the industrialist Jedediah Strutt. Coursed squared stone with plain tile roof and two massive brick ridge stacks. 2 storeys and attic. Symmetrical front facing the road with central projecting gable. Sash or C20 windows under flat arch heads. Left-hand cottage has central door with window to left and a window on both floors to right. Central cottage in the projecting gable has door in the left return, a window on each floor and in attic to the front, and a window on the right return. Right-hand cottage has central door, a window on both floors to left and a window to right. Each gable end has an attic window. Rear has various doors, windows and extensions. INTERIOR. Central cottage has exposed rafters, a winder stair, a c.1800 fireplace and plank doors. HISTORY. In 1793 Jedediah Strutt obtained an Act of Parliament to allow him to construct a private toll road to service his cotton mills and associated activities in Milford and Belper. A Strutt estate map of 1806 shows these cottages with the same ground-plan next to a toll bar across this 'Messrs. Strutts New Road'. This little-altered set of cottages, standing within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, is a significant survival of one of the most important early industrial sites in the country.' (3)