The Toll-house at Abbey Mill  controlled a toll gate to a private road. The wooden tablet on the gate-keepers cottage displays the scale of charges levied on road users. 

The sign says:

"Private Tolls Payable as under

For every carriage drawn by 4 horses 1/-

   "                      "              3 horses 10d

   "                                      2              6d

   "                        "            1              3d

For single or saddle horse                 1 ½d

Beast, Ass or Mule                             1d

Sheep or pigs                                      ½d

Truck or Tricycle                                 1d

Motor Car                                          6d

Special Contracts Can Be Made At The Office"

This was one of two toll gates set up across  roads leading eastward from London - one in Abbey Lane and the other in High Street, Stratford.  These toll gates were originally set up by the Essex Quarter Sessions in 1681. The West Ham  parish Vestry maintained a gatekeeper there until the 18th century but, by the time the Hunt family acquired the lease of the Abbey Mill in 1881, it had become  a private toll gate attached to the mill property. This was the last toll-gate on the eastern side of London and operated into the 1930s.

Newham Heritage & Archives Ref B-7