The Dickensian Derbyshire Country Christmas Interactive Guide considers the sights, sounds, and other sensations that visitors to Markeaton Hall could have encountered in the late Georgian – early Victorian era (1820s – 1830s), including those from the immediate environs, such as adjacent roads. The guide therefore discusses nearby toll-roads and -houses shown on mid-1830s maps (and coach travel, as well as other transportation – and how they relate to Christmas customs).

Play the following audio clip to hear how a passing coach might have sounded.

The sound of a post-horn accompanies that of horses, harness, and the coach on the road, in the above clip. The guard on the back of the mail-coach used a horn – perhaps similar to that pictured below (though might be coiled, as a trumpet), to give advance warning and directions to toll-gate keepers, and to alert others to get out of the way.

While most traffic had to stop and pay to pass through toll-gates (or ‘turn-pikes’), mail-coaches had the right to continue without stopping, to ensure that post reached its destination on time. Footmen, grooms and postillions accompanying private and commercial horse-drawn coaches and chaises also used horns to alert other road-users.

Given the proximity of toll-roads and -gates to Markeaton Park, it’s possible that these noises were a familiar part of the soundscape for local people – especially at Christmas, with coach transportation and travel being involved in seasonal practices, in various way (as featured in The Pickwick Papers, and discussed in the Interactive Guide).

A series of horn calls, comprising different note sequences, were developed to notify and warn road-users and pedestrians – such as the example below.

Horn call.

There’s a coach fast approaching! Click on the sound clip above to hear the call, and see if you can work out what it means by comparing it with the calls, below. 

Slacken Pace

Clear the Road

Pull Up

Did you recognise the horn call? The answer is further down the page, beneath the holly.

More information on associations between coaches and Christmas in the popular imagination can be found in the Interactive Guide; and a follow-on post will provide a (Christmas Coach-)related craft activity.

Answer: Clear the Road