The Tolls for
the Old Shard Bridge

 The original Shard Bridge was an iron toll bridge built in 1864 over the River Wyre on the A588. It featured a distinctive cast-iron tolls board listing historical crossing charges in old currencies shillings (s) and pence (d). The charges were a few pence for pedestrians, bicycles, and horses, or ‘carriages propelled by steam’.

A concrete, toll-free replacement bridge was built just downstream in 1993, at which point the old bridge was demolished and signs removed. Today, the site of the old toll house is home to the Shard Riverside Inn in Poulton-le-Fylde.  

Toll Bridge Sign 1862
Toll Bridge Sign today

This sign has been in Wyre Council’s collection for some decades and came from the Old Shard Bridge toll site. Since 1864 there have been a number of slightly different toll bridge signs and it is difficult to accurately date this particular one, albeit this could arguably be the original sign as there is no reference to cars which would have been quite mainstream in the post war era.  

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