Coal-tax post

Coal-tax posts are marker posts, originally about 280 in number and erected in the 1860s.

They form an irregular loop between 12 and 18 miles from London to mark the points where taxes on coal were due to the Corporation of London.

Coal imported into London had been taxed since mediaeval times and, as it was originally all brought by sea to riverside wharfs, the collection of the duties was relatively easy. The Port of London, within which the duties were payable, stretched far beyond the boundaries of the City, all the way along the Thames from Yantlet Creek (downstream from Gravesend) to Staines.

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