Ready Token

Ready Token is a hamlet in Gloucestershire, England, located in the Cotswold Hills near Poulton. Despite comprising only a handful of houses it is located at a high point and is notable for being the meeting place of six country roads and nine parish boundaries.^[1] It lies at the intersection of the ancient drove road known as the Welsh Way and the Roman Akeman Street.^[2] It once possessed an inn, recorded in 1738 as under the sign Ready Token Ash.^[3]

The crossroads at Ready Token looking towards Fairford in 2008

The name is a fusion of the Celtic word rhydd and the Saxon word tacen meaning the way to the ford. The ford being that across the River Coln at Fairford.^[3]

It is the site of an unusual house which has a butterfly shaped plan which mirrors the local butterfly shaped road pattern. It was designed by the Arts and Crafts movement architect, Norman Jewson, and built in 1928–1929.^[4] In 2025, it was given away in a prize raffle.^[5]