NO-ONE escaped paying the toll to cross the bridge at Iffley Lock, not even a future King of England.

Tollkeepers were on duty at the toll gate from 8am to 8pm to make sure everyone paid their halfpenny for a single journey or a penny return.

When the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, walked past the booth, it is said that the old woman on duty shouted at him to come back and pay.

When an aide asked: “Don’t you know who he is?”, her reply was: “I don’t care if ‘ese the King of England, ‘ese got to pay ‘is ‘alfpenny just the same.”

The right to collect the toll was granted to the bridge keeper called Ralph in about 1200. The privilege was later acquired by Lincoln College.

Thousands of people passed over the bridge every year, providing a steady income for the college coffers.

Iffley villagers resented having to pay the toll and would often march past the tollkeeper’s outstretched hand, saying simply “Iffley” to try to avoid paying.

The bridge had a curious tradition – it was said that if a corpse was carried across it, the toll would be broken forever and it would become a right of way.

There were several recorded incidents where bodies were refused access.

One occurred in April 1926 when the coffin of James Barton, 57-year-old landlord of the Isis Hotel at Iffley, who had drowned, was taken to the village church for his funeral service by river.

The coffin was carried from the Isis Hotel and put on a raft, which was punted into mid-stream by four watermen standing at each of the four corners.

The Oxford Chronicle newspaper reported: “The mourners walked in double file along the bank and over the lock bridge and weir to the spot where the body was landed.

“Then it was carried to the hearse which stood in a little lane nearby, and taken to Iffley Church, where the vicar, the Rev OS Clarendon, conducted the service.”

Bert Cunnington collected the toll for many years and also sold sweets, cigarettes and ice cream on behalf of the village shop.

By 1956, negotiations had begun between the college and the city council to abolish the tolls, and the practice ended in 1961.