Gate Cottage and the Green Road
Gate Cottage is a Grade II listed building, dating back to the 1700s. Although it was probably two dwellings originally, during much of the 1800s it was the village draper’s shop and family home. In 1861 the draper was Charles Pomroy, and living here with him were his wife, 2 daughters, a shop assistant, two apprentices and a servant. Charles moved his shop to Sutton House in the centre of the village and was replaced here by George West, a tailor.
In the 1700s there were two natural surface ‘green roads’ heading south of the village to Langley Burrell, leading to Chippenham. Sutton Lane, in the east of the village, eventually became the preferred road and was given a proper surface. The route you are now following was the alternative, leading south from Gate Farm. The black and white photo shows Gate Farm in 1920, when it was sold in the Draycot Estate auction.
The 'green road' from here fell out of favour and was never given a hard surface, possibly because it takes a few dog-legs around field boundaries, and because it can also get quite muddy after rain. However, the route is still well-marked all along this walk. It starts between Gate Court and the new houses at The Shearings.
The Toll House
Gate Farm, Gate Court and Gate Cottage get their names from the fact that there was a Toll Gate to the west of the village during the 1800s, when the High Street was part of a Turnpike road from Bristol to Oxford. Throughout that time there was a small Toll House on the north side of the road. The house, in the field immediately west of 2-4 High Street (Box Cottages), was demolished in the 1880s when the Turnpike system ended.
The toll gate can be seen on the 1839 map as a line across the road between #45 (now Gate Cottage) and #46 (the Toll House).
Gate Farm
In the 1700s and early 1800s Gate Farm and Arms Farm were two small unnamed farms, but were farmed together from about 1830. The farm was called Sutton Farm and the farmer in 1840 was John Lea. It was not until about 1880 that they were split up again, and the farm here became known as Gate Farm.