The Bar House, Pool-in-Wharfedale: Well-known 18th-century tollkeeper's cottage with one of the best views in Yorkshire for sale

The Bar House in Pool-in-Wharfedale is at the end of a row of cottages at the top of Pool Bank, with stunning views of the Wharfe Valley below.

The three-bedroom property includes the toll booth and attached cottage, which after the abolition of turnpike roads, became a post office and general store for the village.

The building dates back to 1780, when it was constructed as part of the opening of the Leeds to Skipton turnpike. During this period, there was a major drive to improve the quality of roads to benefit the coaching trade, and tolls were levied to traffic to pay for their upkeep.

Local landowners, including the Lascelles family of Harewood House, were trustees of the toll roads, and at first their rules were unpopular, and there were even mob riots protesting against the tolls. Pool’s toll-bar was even pulled down in 1753, just 19 days after it had been built.

The Bar House was built for the purpose of collecting tolls and to house a tollkeeper, unlike other tollhouses which were converted cottages. In the 1860s, the toll man was paid £1 a fortnight, and they often had other jobs to make ends meet, such as shoemaking. In 1874, the toll system ended and the trustees sold the property for £50.

In the 1950s it was a well-known local landmark selling ice creams and newspapers, and it was a shop until conversion into a house relatively recently.

Estate agents Dale Eddison are offering The Bar House for sale for £349,000 with no chain.