Hyde Park Corner Toll-gate Goes Under the Hammer

Loretta reports:

When I've sent my characters on the road, I've had to make them stop at toll-gates.  As the introductory paragraph below indicates, early in the 19th century toll-gates were beginning to be a nuisance, impeding London's traffic, rather like the ancient city gates, which came down, too, eventually.

I had not realized, though, that the Hyde Park Corner toll-gate was removed as early as 1825.  And I never would have guessed it was auctioned off.

Here’s the story, courtesy Hone’s Every-day Book.  You can read the online version here. 

Please click on images to enlarge.