Tolsey Lane

Now part pedestrianised, and a bit of a backwater, Tolsey Lane was originally the main road to Gloucester, before the High Street was laid out, probably in the thirteenth century. The” tolsey” was the market toll house, and the precursor to the Town Hall. The Tolsey was opposite the entrance to the lane, when the area of the Cross was a larger open area used as a market.

The lane’s alternative name, Guest Lane, is a remembrance of Giles Geest, who was a wealthy citizen in the sixteenth century. In his will he gave twenty-one cottages to the town, the rents to be used to benefit the poor.