crusty_bint wrote:The toll house was built to (you guessed it) collect tolls from the newly built Pollokshaws and Barrhead Rd's. These were both built in 1797 to avoid the steep hills to the north and south of Pollokshaws and to bypass the congested village centre. These roads joined up at the afore-mentioned Round Toll, which became a regular stopping place for the Royal Sovereign stagecoach from Irvine and the Levern Trader from Barrhead.
The old tollhouse dates from around 1800 and was extensively restored in 1995 with the lighting being added as part of the same scheme that lights our bridges, the Clyde tidal wier, the roof of theGCBP, and of course, the water towers. Interestingly, at one point the toll house had a license and was much frequented, shall we say, by the racegoers of the Shaws races.
heres a wee quote i found:
The remaining landmarks, the Clock Tower, Burgh Hall, Sir John Maxwell School, the parish church, Round Toll and Auldhouse, are the visible reminders of a community remarkable for its inventiveness, stubbornness and accentricity, a people holding strong and extreme opinions, thrawn, superstitious, ingenious and ingenuous - the Queer Folk of the Shaws
Tolls were abolished in 1883 and after that the toll house was put to various uses including a pub, a carriage hire shop and even a house before finally being vacated.